Weather simulation system

A method of using a computer to provide frames of display data representing weather conditions based on real-world weather data for use in rendering a three-dimensional display, comprising the steps of:

• accessing a real-world weather database to obtain a three-dimensional set of data elements, each data element having at least a location value and a liquid water content value;
• accessing field-of-view data representing a current field-of-view for a current frame;
• culling said data elements to determine which are within said field-of-view, to obtain a set of field-of-view data elements;
• sorting said field-of-view data elements to form a list of data elements in depth order;
• assigning a graphics primitive to each of said field-of-view data elements;
• covering an image plane with the graphic primitives associated with the frontmost of said field-of-view data elements, such that a certain percentage of said image plane is covered;
• repeating said covering step, using said field-of-view data elements in front to back order, until the image plane has been covered a predetermined number of times or until a predetermined number of said field-of-view data elements have been used;
• and
• assigning said field-of-view data elements to one or more depth bins on the basis of the results of said covering step, so as to generate a prioritized display list for said current frame;
• and
• repeating all of the above steps for each next frame, thereby providing said simulated display.