Hey everyone,

I'm working on a simulation of weather patterns for generating cloud maps;
http://forums.vega-strike.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18030, so far I think I've hit
on the right concept, but I have trouble (as always) converting it from an idea
into pov format. ;)

I have some notes here; they set out what needs to be accomplished with what,
etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Given a set of parameters.
    (Planetary rotation speed, rotation direction, planetary size, temperature
(average&local), image
    map, normal map, etc)
Take a series of samples corresponding to a 2:1 power-of-two resolution (eg.
512x256, 4096x2048), based on the parameters and a set of rules determining
where cloud can be "spawned", ie. no or little cloud near the equator (except at
high altitude), increasing to half way, with random disturbances based on
probability via the normal and image maps, and decreasing cloud as it approaches
the polar regions, to no cloud at an around the poles.

Placement and location of disturbances to be determined by a probability based
on proximity to water, any variations in altitude of the land, wind speed, and
temperature.

Rotation of disturbances to be determined by rotation direction and speed of
planet, as well as direction and distance from equator (ie. north rotates
opposite to south).

Notes: 1. For planets with very flat surfaces, (ie. Oceanic, Plains) the weather
patterns would be very regular and predictable; disturbances would regular also,
and occur mainly around the tropical regions. (tropical in this context refers
to the latitude, not the climate or flora/fauna)
       2. These functions/macros as set out here would be constrained to
low-medium level clouds, higher level clouds up to the upper regions of the
stratosphere would need to be calculated via a derivative of the macro, using
the original as a parameter.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not everything has been covered here, but currently I cannot think of anything
else. However, the main problem remains converting the ideas to pov-ray.

Any help/feedback/suggestion of any sort appreciated and welcomed. :D

D103

Post a reply to this message