Synthesizing realistic natural scenes is a challenging and important problem in computer graphics. The challenge stems not only from the complexity and diversity of objects and natural phenomena interacting together, but also from the huge amount of small details that should be modeled to obtain realistic models and physically plausible simulations. Therefore, there is still a need for interactive modeling and simulation techniques capable for handling complex synthetic sceneries. The purpose of this workshop is to explore novel techniques for modeling, animating, simulating and rendering complex natural phenomena.

The workshop will build on work done in recent years including simulating aging and weathering of synthetic objects, plant modeling, ecosystem simulation, gaseous phenomena and liquid flows. It will focus on non conscious or inanimate nature like rock, trees, oceans, wind, meadows (animals and humans as part of nature should be excluded). Work in this area, promising as it is, is still far from complete.

Authors are invited to submit technical papers in these or related areas. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Plant structure modeling
• Ecosystem simulation
• Gaseous phenomena (clouds, fog...)
• Simulating liquid flows
• Modeling fire and smoke
• Aging and weathering
• Terrain modeling

Authors are requested to submit papers, no longer than 8 pages, with the main body set in Eurographics Conference Paper Format.

Papers can be submitted electronically at : http://egmcp1.cgv.tugraz.at/SRM_NPH09 . Please follow the submission procedure exactly.

You can download a set of LaTeX style files from http://egwnp.liris.cnrs.fr . Each paper should contain title, authors' names and affiliations, abstract, keywords, text, illustrations and references. Detailed guidelines are available through the Workshop Site under instructions for authors. Submissions will be done electronically. We will accept papers in PDF format only. Please contact the conference organizers should you experience any problems with electronic submission.

Post-workshop proceedings will be available on-line through the Eurographics Digital Library and in paper book form in the Eurographics Book Series. Selection will be based upon technical and scientific content and relevance to the workshop.

This year the workshop will take place in the tracks of the Eurographics'09 Conference (April 1, Munich, Germany). As such, it will provide a very interesting opportunity for researchers that want to attend or present communications at both events. The workshop will be held in two tracks on Wednesday afternoon. Participation is open to everyone, not requiring submission of a paper.

See the overview of the Eurographics 2009 timetable: the tracks for the Workshop on Natural Phenomena are labeled as NP on Wednesday afternoon.

January 6, 2000 Submission deadline
January 30, 2009 Notification of acceptance
February 14, 2009 Deadline for camera-ready copies
April 1, 2009 Workshop (Wednesday afternoon)

The program is also accessible on the Eurographics 2009 web site

NP1: Modelling Nature

Date: Wednesday, April 1^st, Time: 13:30 - 15:00, Room:
Session Chair:

Procedural Modeling of Leather Texture with Structural Elements
Kaisei Sakurai, Kazunori Miyata, Naoki Kawai, Kazuo Matsufuji

Interactive Modeling of Virtual Ecosystems
Bedrich Benes, Ondrej Stava, Nathan Andrysco

A Geometric Algorithm for Snow Distribution in Virtual Scenes
Niels v. Festenberg, Stefan Gumhold

NP2: Fluids

Date: Wednesday, April 1^st, Time: 16:00 - 17:30, Room:
Session Chair:

Corotated SPH for deformable Solids
Markus Becker, Markus Ihmsen, Matthias Teschner

Real-Time Open Water Environments with Interacting Objects
Hilko Cords, Oliver Staadt

The workshop will be co-located with Eurographics 2009. Workshop participants will be charged a registration fee that includes a workshop proceedings book (printed by Eurographics Press), coffee breaks and a social event in the first evening of the workshop. Comprehensive information about Munich, travelling and accommodation can be found on the Eurographics 2009 web site.

Eric Galin
Ming Lin

Eric Galin
Jens Schneider

Loïc Barthe, FR
William Baxter, USA
Bedrich Benes, USA
Robert Bridson, CN
Mark Carlson, USA
Norishige Chiba, J
Jean-Michel Dischler, F
Yoshinori Dobashi, JP
Davis Ebert, USA
Eric Galin, F
Jeong-Mo Hong, KR
Theodore Kim, USA
Ming Lin, USA
Stephane Merillou, F
Matthias Mueller, CH
Pierre Poulin, CA
Jos Stam, USA
Brian Wyvill, CA
Yizhou Yu, US

Eric Galin eric.galin@liris.cnrs.fr.