Efficient Rendering of Lightning Taking into Account Scattering Effects due to Cloud and Atmospheric Particles

A number of methods have been developed for creating realistic images of natural scenes. Their applications include flight simulators, the visual assessment of outdoor scenery, etc. Previously, many of these methods have focused on creating images under clear or slightly cloudy days. Simulations under bad weather conditions, however, are one of the important issues for realism. Lightning is one of the essential elements for these types of simulations. This paper proposes an efficient method for creating realistic images of scenes including lightning. Our method can create photo-realistic images by taking into account the scattering effects due to clouds and atmospheric particles illuminated by lightning. Moreover, graphics hardware is utilized to accelerate the image generation. The usefulness of our method is demonstrated by creating images of outdoor scenes that include lightning.