Abstract

Divergent-light halos are produced when light from nearby light sources is scattered by ice crystals in the atmosphere. We present a theory of divergent-light halos leading to an improved algorithm for the simulation of such halos. Contrary to the algorithm that we presented earlier for simulating such halos, the new algorithm includes a mathematically rigorous weighting of the events. The computer implementation is very compact, and the whole procedure is elegant and conceptually easy to understand. We also present a new simulation atlas showing halos produced by crystals of different shapes and orientations for a set of elevations of the light source.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

Observations and simulations of some divergent-light halos

Lars Gislén and Jan O. Mattsson
Appl. Opt. 42(21) 4269-4279 (2003)

Procedure for simulating divergent-light halos

Lars Gislén
Appl. Opt. 42(33) 6559-6563 (2003)

A general setting for halo theory

Walter Tape and Günther P. Können
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Approach to photorealistic halo simulations

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Ice analog halos

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