Simulation of atmospheric condensation at 3D scenes by using CUDA

To provide a realism of three-dimensional virtual scenes rendered by a computer and represented open (outdoor) spaces, the important factor is a simulation of natural phenomena in them such as atmospheric condensation. At this article methods of atmospheric condensation realization at 3D scenes are proposed, based on developed technology for distributed simulation and visualization of particle systems with using modern multi-core GPU. This technology includes two stages. The first consists in a calculation of particle system condition at specified time moment as data array about particles. It’s based on CUDA architecture of parallel computing on graphics processors. Second stage assumes a visualization of obtained array with «on the fly» synthesis of necessary particle geometry, calculation of their lighting and texture mapping. To implementation this stage the mechanism of shader rendering is employed with using three shader types: vertex, geometry and fragment. Geometry shader performs a synthesis of particle's polygonal model. Developed technology supports using of particle systems with number of elements about 10 6 in three-dimensional virtual scenes, saving a possibility of real-time rendering. The last is particularly important for such application fields as simulation-training complexes and virtual environment systems. Furthermore, in this work the simulation of atmospheric condensation at 3D scenes is performed, based on proposed technology. Real-time realization of falling snow by using textured particles in the form of "sprite" and simulation of rain formed by translucent tetrahedral drops are considered.