Planetary Weather Modelling

Clouds are a crucial part of realistic virtual environment. However, there is a dearth of synoptic scale cloud systems. While the little work on synoptic scale systems focused on Eulerian models, modern research in small- and meso-scale systems focus on hybrid systems. We demonstrate a global system using Vimont et al.'s Skyscapes as a base for our hybrid simulation and procedural model. Our model is much more accurate in terms of thermodynamic, especially with regards to terrain and atmospheric heating. Our model also has a day-night and seasonal cycle, modelling the apparent movement of the sun. We implement the Coriolis effect, responsible for most of the Earth’s large-scale weather dynamics, and add a linked global vegetation model. We add an ocean circulation model to reflect the heat transport done by the ocean. A very modular system allows for components (such as the underlying grid) to be swapped out without difficulty.