3D Stochastic cloud generation for performance evaluation of space-based optical system

A three-dimensional (3D) stochastic cloud generation architecture is developed to simulate radiative scenes for performance evaluation of space-based optical system. The rescale-and-add fractal algorithm is employed to generate internal and external structure data of clouds. The Spherical Harmonic Discrete Ordinate (SHDOM) code is selected to solve the 3D radiative transfer equation numerically. The flowchart of the simulation system is shown. The methods for generating 3D grid data of cloud spatial structure and liquid water content (LWC), as well as the radiative quantities, are presented. Two types of clouds are generated as illustrations. Radiative cloud scenes under different imaging conditions could be conveniently available using this framework. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods and architecture.