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Environment and Weather Effects

Environment and Weather Effects

ENVIRONMENT AND WEATHER EFFECTS

MVRsimulation VRSG supports environment and weather effects such as:

  • Multiple atmospheric layers, ground fog, and haze.
  • Sun angle-dependent haze color and density.
  • Time options for setting the position of any celestial bodies in the sky and the light source angles. 
  • Multiple sky model options, which blend with the selected fog color as the sky merges with the horizon.
  • Volumetric ray-traced cloud system, which supports two cloud layers, continuously variable coverage from 0% to 100% fully overcast, and global coverage for layers controlled by the Dashboard, CIGI, or DIS interfaces.
  • 3D ocean sea states, wave motion and wakes, vessel surface motion, accurate environment reflections.

VRSG real-time scene with rain.

VRSG real-time scene with snow.

VRSG uses an ephemeris model to calculate sun position, moon position, star position, and moon phase from date, time, and geographic location. Lighting conditions can also be automatically calculated from date, time, and geographic location.  Lighting conditions can also be automatically calculated from date, time, and geographic location. A 40,000 light-point star field can be used for night scenes. Users can also provide a custom star field pattern with positions and intensities via a lighting table (.csv file).

VRSG’s high-fidelity particle-based multi-layer atmospheric model provides continuous variable visibility as a function of altitude and earth curvature of atmospheric layers.

With CIGI or DIS SetDataPDUs, users can instantiate multiple volumetric clouds from our library of over 13 cloud models. A cloud can be positioned, oriented, scaled, and moved over time. Volumetric clouds are particle masses that model light absorption, creating a realistic reduction in visibility when flown through. VSRG features a real-time dynamic lighting model for clouds that models light absorption as a function of particle depth into the cloud along the line-of-sight to the sun. Clouds can have a optional precipitation effect modeling either rainfall or snow. The precipitation effect is also a volumetric mass extending from the cloud base through ground level, creating a realistic reduction in visibility during flight.  The rain or snow precipitation effect is generated dynamically, so it can be applied to any cloud instance, at any cloud altitude.

VRSG has time options with which it can set the position of any celestial bodies in the sky and the light source angles based on your settings for the date and time, and the database's geographic location. You can specify an explicit time or you can have VRSG obtain the time from your system's clock. In turn, the time setting sets the position of any celestial bodies in the sky, and can optionally override any light source angle setting. In addition, you can have VRSG advance the time in the scene as in the manner of a clock, thus shifting the positions of celestial bodies and light source angles in the virtual world with the progression of time.