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A framework for the experimental comparison of solar and skydome illumination

Published: 19 November 2014 Publication History
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  • Abstract

    The illumination and appearance of the solar/skydome is critical for many applications in computer graphics, computer vision, and daylighting studies. Unfortunately, physically accurate measurements of this rapidly changing illumination source are difficult to achieve, but necessary for the development of accurate physically-based sky illumination models and comparison studies of existing simulation models.
    To obtain baseline data of this time-dependent anisotropic light source, we design a novel acquisition setup to simultaneously measure the comprehensive illumination properties. Our hardware design simultaneously acquires its spectral, spatial, and temporal information of the skydome. To achieve this goal, we use a custom built spectral radiance measurement scanner to measure the directional spectral radiance, a pyranometer to measure the irradiance of the entire hemisphere, and a camera to capture high-dynamic range imagery of the sky. The combination of these computer-controlled measurement devices provides a fast way to acquire accurate physical measurements of the solar/skydome. We use the results of our measurements to evaluate many of the strengths and weaknesses of several sun-sky simulation models. We also provide a measurement dataset of sky illumination data for various clear sky conditions and an interactive visualization tool for model comparison analysis available at http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/resources/clearsky/.

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    1. A framework for the experimental comparison of solar and skydome illumination

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        cover image ACM Transactions on Graphics
        ACM Transactions on Graphics  Volume 33, Issue 6
        November 2014
        704 pages
        ISSN:0730-0301
        EISSN:1557-7368
        DOI:10.1145/2661229
        Issue’s Table of Contents
        Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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        Publication History

        Published: 19 November 2014
        Published in TOG Volume 33, Issue 6

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        Author Tags

        1. measurements
        2. skylight models
        3. spectral
        4. validation

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        • (2022)Deep Synthesis of Cloud LightingIEEE Computer Graphics and Applications10.1109/MCG.2022.317284642:5(8-18)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2022
        • (2022)Clear-sky spectral radiance modeling under variable aerosol conditionsRenewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews10.1016/j.rser.2022.112901168(112901)Online publication date: Oct-2022
        • (2022)Non-image forming potential in urban settings – An approach considering orientation-dependent spectral properties of daylightEnergy and Buildings10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112080265(112080)Online publication date: Jun-2022
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