Ray Tracing And Global Illumination

In order to represent real-world images with a computer, a program has to relate three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional monitor screen. Several ways of doing this exist with varying degrees of realism. One of the most successful methods can be grouped in a screen-to-world method of viewing, which is also known as ray-tracing. This computer graphics technology simulates light rays within a 3D environment. Since light rays have predictable physical properties, the raytracing algorithm can attempt to calculate the exact coloring of each ray/object intersection at any given pixel. Advanced levels of ray tracing allow light rays to bounce from object to object, mimicking what they do in real life. Local illumination represents the basic form of ray tracing. It only takes into account the relationship between light sources and a single object, but does not consider the effects that result from the presence of multiple objects. For instance, a light source can be intersected by another surface and therefore be obscured to any point behind that surface. Similarly, light can be contributed not by a light source, but by a reflection of light from some other object. The local illumination model does not visually show this reflection of light. Therefore, special techniques have to be used to represent these effects. In real life there are often multiple sources of light and multiple reflecting objects that interact with each other in many ways. Global illumination, the more advanced form of ray tracing, adds to the local model by reflecting light from surrounding surfaces to the object. A global illumination model is more comprehensive, more physically correct, and it produces more realistic images.Ray tracing is an essential subject when it comes to computer graphics. It combines issues of efficiency and realism, thus finding a favorable balance of the time and effort involved to make realistic three dimensional images. In the process of researching the many different ways of implementing a ray tracer, the study began with local illumination and graduated to global illumination, using some pre-established techniques and the development of new techniques

Urban Heat Islands: Causes, Impacts, & Mitigation

The purpose of this project is to understand the factors contributing to the urban heat island effect and why it is important to consider when planning a city. This senior project will review the factors that contribute to an urban heat island, what kind of effects urban heat islands have on our city’s and their inhabitants, and how the effects can be mitigated and minimized. This project will review current mitigation strategies that have been developed to combat urban heat islands and analyze the benefits that can be attained from these mitigation strategies. Case studies will be used to understand the relative effectiveness of current mitigation strategies. The project will conclude with a review of costs and issues that may be present when attempting to mitigate an urban heat island before giving a final set of recommendations that a city can use when mitigating an urban heat island

Teacher Compensation and Student Outcomes: A District Examination in Kentucky

Teacher effectiveness is an often examined topic in our educational policy arena today, especially when it comes to its effects on student outcomes. Teachers are often considered one of the most important factors in affecting student outcomes. Because the quality of teachers attracted to the teaching profession is presumed to be influenced by their compensation, we are interested in measuring how teacher compensation and student outcomes are related. This study will examine not only current compensation, but include pension compensation as well. By combining both current salaries and pension payments as a unit for total compensation, this paper will examine the effects of total teacher compensation on student outcomes. While not the main goal of this paper, the discussion will include an examination of locales, as defined by the NCES, and The Federal classification of Appalachian Counties to further the spectrum of this analysis. This paper examines these questions examining panel data for county school districts in the state of Kentucky. The data is from The Kentucky Teachers Retirement System (KTRS), Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) from the years 2008-2013. The data from the KTRS is obtained on a county basis, while the data from both the KDE and NCES are at the district level. This is obviously not perfect, but it is what is available. For those counties with two or more districts, the county district is always used. A model is then used to answer the research question of this paper; consisting of various variables responsible for school characteristics, district locale, year, and test scores. The paper finds that while both compensations (controlled for inflation) and average composite ACT scores have risen over the examined time period, this trend is spurious and is not causational. While this may not be the case nationwide, the analysis has shown that in the state of Kentucky, increased compensation is not increasing test scores on a district level. This paper does find that the number of board certified teachers are useful in increasing test scores for the districts. Policies focused on attracting these individuals may be a worthwhile undertaking for the state of Kentucky