Physically-based Simulation of Tornadoes

Abstract

In this physically-based tornado simulation, the tornado-scale approach techniques are applied to simulate the tornado formation environment. The three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluid flows are used to model the tornado dynamics. The boundary conditions applied in this simulation lead to rotating and uplifting flow movement as found in real tornadoes and tornado research literatures. Moreover, a particle system is incorporated with the model equation solutions to model the irregular tornado shapes. Also, together with appropriate boundary conditions, varied particle control schemes produce tornadoes with different shapes. Furthermore, a modified metaball scheme is used to smooth the density distribution. Texture mapping, antialising, animation and volume rendering are applied to produce realistic visual results. The rendering algorithm is implemented in OpenGL.