Real-time rendering of seasonal influenced trees

We present an algorithm for the visualization of trees during the passing of the year, taking into account the changing and vanishing of the tree´s leaves as well as their color changes. In combination with the Phong lighting algorithm the color changes are directly integrated into the lighting model. In conjunction with the use of common off the shelf hardware shader programs we aim for a performance increase allowing for fast realtime rendering of trees. In contrast to earlier works we are able to rely on a more theoretical foundation of biological and chemical insights, taking into account botanic research results about biochemical reactions influencing the leaves´ pigments during the seasons. This permits us to make our algorithm as realistic as possible regarding the available information and current research results in both biology and chemistry