Flow Visualization Based on Rendering of 3D Surface Texture

Inspired by Jarke J. van Wijkpsilas rdquoImage Based Flow Visualizationrdquo (IBFV) and bump mapping techniques, this paper proposes a new algorithm for flow visualization based on rendering of 3D surface texture. Instead of using spot noise as background image, we use a set of height maps that are generated by fractal models. By changing model parameters, we can produce different rough surface textures, which can be rendered to produce 3D effect. Meanwhile, more visually attractive scenes can be obtained by changing different illumination directions. The proposed method is particularly effective for visualizing flow field with height data.