A computationally cheap trick to determine shadow in a voxel model

Journal Article (2018)
Author(s)

B. G.H. Gorte (University of New South Wales)

K. Zhou (TU Delft - Optical and Laser Remote Sensing)

C. J. Van Der Sande (NEO BV.)

C. Valk (NEO BV.)

Research Group
Optical and Laser Remote Sensing
Copyright
© 2018 B. G.H. Gorte, K. Zhou, C. J. Van Der Sande, C. Valk
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-IV-4-67-2018
More Info
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Publication Year
2018
Language
English
Copyright
© 2018 B. G.H. Gorte, K. Zhou, C. J. Van Der Sande, C. Valk
Research Group
Optical and Laser Remote Sensing
Issue number
4
Volume number
4
Pages (from-to)
67-71
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Abstract

Representation of scenes on the Earth surface by using voxels is gaining attention because of its suitability for integrating heterogeneous data sources in simulations and quantitative models. Computation of shadows in such models is needed, for example, to obtain crop suitability of agricultural fields in the presence of trees and buildings, or to analyze urban heat island causes and effects. We present an efficient algorithm to compute which of the voxels in a dataset receive direct sunlight, given the solar azimuth and elevation angles. The algorithm can work with multiple (sparse and dense) voxel storage strategies.