Line integral convolution

Image of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the nearest galaxies to our Milky Way, created with LIC

In scientific visualization, line integral convolution (LIC) is a method to visualize a vector field (such as fluid motion) at high spatial resolutions.[1] The LIC technique was first proposed by Brian Cabral and Leith Casey Leedom in 1993.[2]

In LIC, discrete numerical line integration is performed along the field lines (curves) of the vector field on a uniform grid. The integral operation is a convolution of a filter kernel and an input texture, often white noise.[1] In signal processing, this process is known as a discrete convolution.[3]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Stalling 1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cabral, Brian; Leedom, Leith Casey (August 2–6, 1993). "Imaging Vector Fields Using Line Integral Convolution". Proceedings of the 20th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH '93. Anaheim, California. pp. 263–270. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.115.1636. doi:10.1145/166117.166151. ISBN 0-89791-601-8.
  3. ^ Ward, Matthew O. (February 5, 1996). "Line Integral Convolution for Flow Visualization". Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Retrieved 2024-07-21.