Here is some test output from an ongoing project of mine to come up with
a flexible atmosphere model which would provide blue skies, hazy skies,
red sunsets, yellow sunsets, etc, etc. ... all in one package. I based
my breakdown of the atmosphere on the Terragen model; specifically, a
"simple haze" (or fog) component, a blue scattering media component and
a "reddening" (or blue absorption) component. The whole technique is
still not really stable yet, so sorry but no source at this time.

The following images show the sun at elevations of 30, 15, 8, 6, 2 and 0
degrees above the horizon with the only variable being the sun
elevation. This is actually a bit of an exception since a noon sky and
an evening sky often want specific components tweaked (e.g. light
intensity, scattering color etc.) for the best effect. Actually, you
have to do this in Terragen too.

I'm pretty sure the sharpness of the "rays" in the last couple of images
are sampling artifacts - I just haven't been able to locate the
offending statement.

While I'm happy so far with the results, my big question is
incorporating clouds (media or pigment) and how they will be treated by
the atmosphere. 

Render time for this series was approx. 15 minutes on a 90 MHz pentium.
Not too slow, but not very fast either.

Any comment or criticism on this series of postage stamps is welcome.

Abe

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