| Summary: | The work presented extends and contributes to research in the visualisation of
discharge channels with an expectation to extend to lightning channels. Although
previous work in this area has produced three-dimensional (3D) information of
discharge channels, there has not been a method to visualise the channel and
the characteristics of its shape in a 3D environment. In the research presented,
photographed discharge channels are reconstructed in a virtual interactive 3D envi-
ronment.
It is found that single-channelled discharges produce models that correctly follow the
inferred channel paths from the photograph datasets. Single-channelled discharges
have also been veri ed in the controlled laboratory environment, providing con -
dence in the two-image reconstruction algorithm. The algorithm is shown to fail
for an angular separation of cameras less than 15 , which produces thicker channel
segments. It is further shown that branched discharge channels can produce models
that correctly follow the channel paths. If images are not accurately normalised
for lens correction and slight camera tilts, missing segments and duplication of
reconstructed branches are evident in the models. Furthermore, it is shown that
the algorithm also fails for image perspectives with angular separations less than
15 , additional redundant branches are produced in addition to thicker channel
segments.
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