System and method for predicting sunset vibrancy

Abstract

A sunset prediction system performs the steps of determining a location of interest, and collecting weather forecast data at or around the time of either sunrise or sunset, at the location and a surrounding area adjacent the location. The collected weather forecast data includes cloud density and cloud altitude. The sun prediction system then determines from the collected weather forecast data whether there will be clouds at the location that are advantageous for photography at or around the time of sunrise or sunset, and whether the sunlight will be obstructed by obstructing clouds in the surrounding area. A forecast rating is then reported so that the user can determine whether to plan photography at the location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer implemented method for assessing an illumination value of a location comprising executing on a processor the steps of:
 (i) obtaining over a network, wireless or internet connection numerical weather prediction (NWP) raw data sets and storing the NWP raw data sets on a non-transitory computer storage device;   (ii) extracting data structures from the NWP raw data, and generating a model of the atmosphere at one or more instances of time at the location from the data structures;   (iii) obtaining over a network, wireless or internet connection terrain, geographical and/or weather data of the location and determining the physical and optical characteristics of an atmosphere in the location at the one or more instances of time;   (iv) determining one or more illumination characteristics of the location from an observer perspective taking into account the physical and optical characteristics of the atmosphere in the location;   (v) performing a ray trace of the location from the observer perspective on the model of the atmosphere and calculating a fraction of light rays in the location that bounce off of, are absorbed by or illuminate an object along a path between an illumination source and an observer, relative to the total number of light rays in the location that pass between the illumination source and the observer; and   (vi) making an illumination value available to a user's device over a network, wireless or internet connection.   
     
     
         2 . A computer implemented method for assessing conditions for photography of a location comprising executing on a processor the steps of:
 i) obtaining, over a network, weather prediction raw data sets and storing the raw data sets on a non-transitory computer storage device;   ii) extracting data structures from the raw data sets, and generating a model of the atmosphere at one or more instances of time at the location from the data structures;   iii) obtaining, over a network, terrain, geographical and/or weather data of the location and determining the physical and optical characteristics of an atmosphere in the location at the one or more instances of time;   iv) determining one or more illumination characteristics of the location taking into account the physical and optical characteristics of the atmosphere in the location;   v) determining the conditions for photography at the location from the illumination characteristics of the location and the model of the atmosphere; and   vi) reporting the conditions for photography to a user's device over the network.