Interactive Visualization of Atmospheric Effects for Celestial Bodies

We present an atmospheric model tailored for the interactive visualization of planetary surfaces. As the exploration of the solar system is progressing with increasingly accurate missions and instruments, the faithful visualization of planetary environments is gaining increasing interest in space research, mission planning, and science communication and education. Atmospheric effects are crucial in data analysis and to provide contextual information for planetary data. Our model correctly accounts for the non-linear path of the light inside the atmosphere (in Earths case), the light absorption effects by molecules and dust particles, such as the ozone layer and the Martian dust, and a wavelength-dependent phase function for Mie scattering. The mode focuses on interactivity, versatility, and customization, and a comprehensive set of interactive controls make it possible to adapt its appearance dynamically. We demonstrate our results using Earth and Mars as examples. However, it can be readily adapted for the exploration of other atmospheres found on, for example, of exoplanets. For Earths atmosphere, we visually compare our results with pictures taken from the International Space Station and against the CIE clear sky model. The Martian atmosphere is reproduced based on available scientific data, feedback from domain experts, and is compared to images taken by the Curiosity rover. The work presented here has been implemented in the OpenSpace system, which enables interactive parameter setting and real-time feedback visualization targeting presentations in a wide range of environments, from immersive dome theaters to virtual reality headsets.Funding Agencies|NASANational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [NNX16AB93A]; VRSwedish Research Council [2015-05462]; Swedish e-Science Research Centre; NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [CNS-1229185, CCF-1533564, CNS-15447.53, CNS-1626098, CNS-1730396, CNS-1828576]; Knut Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the WISDOME project