A Volume Rendering Approach for Sea Surfaces Taking into Account Second Order Scattering Using Scattering Maps

Abstract

We present a fast volume rendering technique for sea surfaces taking into account second order scattering using graphics hardware. To generate realistic images of the sea surfaces, accurate simulation of light transport within water is necessary. In particular, multiple scattering due to particles in the water plays an important role in creating realistic images. In this paper, we introduce the concept of a scattering map for efficient computation of light scattering within water volume. In order to calculate second order scattering of light, we slice the water volume into virtual horizontal planes and calculate the radiance from second order scattering of light at sampling points on these planes. The radiance on the virtual planes can be treated as a texture map. This makes it possible to accelerate the computation using graphics hardware.