Atmospheric cloud modeling methods in computer graphics: A review, trends, taxonomy, and future directions Muhamad Najib Zamri a,b , Mohd Shahrizal Sunar a,b,⇑ a School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia b Media and Game Innovation Centre of Excellence, Institute of Human Centered Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia article info Article history: Received 6 June 2020 Revised 30 October 2020 Accepted 16 November 2020 Available online xxxx Keywords: Atmospheric cloud Cloud modeling Cloud shape Driven methods Computer graphics Visualization abstract The modeling of atmospheric clouds is one of the crucial elements in the natural phenomena visualiza- tion system. Over the years, a wide range of approaches has been proposed on this topic to deal with the challenging issues associated with visual realism and performance. However, the lack of recent review papers on the atmospheric cloud modeling methods available in computer graphics makes it difficult for researchers and practitioners to understand and choose the well-suited solutions for developing the atmospheric cloud visualization system. Hence, we conducted a comprehensive review to identify, analyze, classify, and summarize the existing atmospheric cloud modeling solutions. We selected 113 research studies from recognizable data sources and analyzed the research trends on this topic. We defined a taxonomy by categorizing the atmospheric cloud modeling methods based on the methods’ similar characteristics and summarized each of the particular methods. Finally, we underlined several research issues and directions for potential future work. The review results provide an overview and gen- eral picture of the atmospheric cloud modeling methods that would be beneficial for researchers and practitioners. Ó 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 00 2. Method .............................................................................................................. 00 2.1. Designing the review ............................................................................................. 00 2.2. Conducting the review ............................................................................................ 00 2.3. Analyzing the review ............................................................................................. 00 2.4. Documenting the review .......................................................................................... 00 3. Results............................................................................................................... 00 3.1. Analysis of the publication trends ................................................................................... 00 3.2. Taxonomy of the atmospheric cloud modeling methods ................................................................. 00 3.3. Summary of the existing atmospheric cloud modeling methods ........................................................... 00 3.3.1. Physics-driven methods .................................................................................... 00 3.3.2. Heuristic-driven methods .................................................................................. 00 3.3.3. Data-driven methods ...................................................................................... 00 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksuci.2020.11.030 1319-1578/Ó 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). ⇑ Corresponding author at: Media and Game Innovation Centre of Excellence, Institute of Human Centered Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. E-mail addresses: najibzamri@utm.my (M.N. Zamri), shahrizal@utm.my (M.S. Sunar). Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University. Production and hosting by Elsevier Journal of King Saud University – Computer and Information Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of King Saud University – Computer and Information Sciences journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com Please cite this article as: Muhamad Najib Zamri and Mohd Shahrizal Sunar, Atmospheric cloud modeling methods in computer graphics: A review, trends, taxonomy, and future directions, Journal of King Saud University – Computer and Information Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksuci.2020.11.030