Weather simulation system
First Claim
1. A method of using a computer to provide frames of display data representing weather conditions based on real-world weather data for use in rendering a three-dimensional display, comprising the steps of:
- accessing a real-world weather database to obtain a three-dimensional set of data elements, each data element having at least a location value and a liquid water content value;
accessing field-of-view data representing a current field-of-view for a current frame;
culling said data elements to determine which are within said field-of-view, to obtain a set of field-of-view data elements;
sorting said field-of-view data elements to form a list of data elements in depth order;
assigning a graphics primitive to each of said field-of-view data elements;
covering an image plane with the graphic primitives associated with the frontmost of said field-of-view data elements, such that a certain percentage of said image plane is covered;
repeating said covering step, using said field-of-view data elements in front to back order, until the image plane has been covered a predetermined number of times or until a predetermined number of said field-of-view data elements have been used; and
assigning said field-of-view data elements to one or more depth bins on the basis of the results of said covering step, so as to generate a prioritized display list for said current frame; and
repeating all of the above steps for each next frame, thereby providing said simulated display.
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Abstract
A weather simulation system that generates and distributes weather data to simulation subsystems for the real time simulation of weather conditions, from three-dimensional real world data. A real world database is accessed to obtain a dataspace of weather data elements, each having a set of various weather-related parameters. For "out-the-window" weather displays, these data elements are preprocessed to obtain color and transparency values for each data element. The preprocessed data elements are further processed to obtain a prioritized display list of those data elements that are in a field of view. Each data element in this list is assigned a graphics primitive, whose alignment is determined by a wind vector of that data element. Pixel values are assigned to the graphics primitives, using color and transparency values of the associated data elements.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of using a computer to provide frames of display data representing weather conditions based on real-world weather data for use in rendering a three-dimensional display, comprising the steps of:
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accessing a real-world weather database to obtain a three-dimensional set of data elements, each data element having at least a location value and a liquid water content value; accessing field-of-view data representing a current field-of-view for a current frame; culling said data elements to determine which are within said field-of-view, to obtain a set of field-of-view data elements; sorting said field-of-view data elements to form a list of data elements in depth order; assigning a graphics primitive to each of said field-of-view data elements; covering an image plane with the graphic primitives associated with the frontmost of said field-of-view data elements, such that a certain percentage of said image plane is covered; repeating said covering step, using said field-of-view data elements in front to back order, until the image plane has been covered a predetermined number of times or until a predetermined number of said field-of-view data elements have been used; and assigning said field-of-view data elements to one or more depth bins on the basis of the results of said covering step, so as to generate a prioritized display list for said current frame; and repeating all of the above steps for each next frame, thereby providing said simulated display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 30, 31)
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12. The method of 9, further comprising the step of calculating a color value, using said liquid water content value and said illumination data.
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20. A weather data generator for providing display data representing weather conditions based on real-world weather data for use in rendering a three-dimensional display, comprising:
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a preprocessor for accessing a real-world database to obtain a three-dimensional set of data elements, each data element having at least a location value and a liquid water content value; a memory for storing said data elements; and a data handler for (1) accessing field-of-view data representing a current field-of-view for a current frame, (2) culling said data elements to determine which are in said field-of-view, to obtain a set of field-of-view data elements, (3) sorting said field-of-view data elements to form a list of data elements in depth order, (4) assigning a graphics primitive to each of said field-of-view data elements, (5) covering an image plane with the graphics primitives associated with the frontmost of said field-of-view data elements, such that a certain percentage of said image plane is covered;
(6) repeating said covering step, using said field-of-view data elements in front to back order, until the image plane has been covered a predetermined number of times or until a predetermined number of said field-of-view data elements have been used; and
(7) assigning said field-of-view data elements to one or more depth bins on the basis of the results of said covering step, so as to generate a prioritized display list. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification