Conference Paper

Proceedings of Building Simulation 2021: 17th Conference of IBPSA

ThRend: a ray tracing module for infrared rendering of urban scenes

Jose Pedro Aguerre, Eduardo Fernández
UdelaR, Uruguay

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26868/25222708.2021.30435
Abstract: This paper presents ThRend, a ray tracing software that allows for accurate and physically plausible infrared rendering of urban environments. ThRend is designed to rapidly generate simulated thermograms based on a set of scene and material specifications. It can be considered as a post-processing tool that takes the output of thermal simulation software and simulates the behavior of long-wave radiation reaching a virtual infrared sensor. The software provides a simple interface that gives the user the possibility to test different emissivity and reflectivity configurations to render thermal images. The results can be used to compare thermal simulations against real measurements performed with thermal cameras. This approach enables the use of thermography as a more reliable tool to assess the energy efficiency and performance of buildings in their corresponding urban context. Combining computational simulation of classic thermal solvers with infrared rendering appears as an alternative to better understand the results captured in a measurement campaign.
Keywords: Infrared rendering, urban computational physics, ray tracing
Pages: 1588 - 1595
Paper: