Calibrating lighting simulation with panoramic high dynamic range imaging

Abstract

Fast and accurate field measurement with high resolution considering the light reaching human eyes can help calibrate and validate lighting simulation. This study established a workflow of lighting simulation calibration aided by the recently developed panoramic high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) with a 360° field of view (FOV) and conducted a case study. The panoramic maps of illuminance and coefficient of variation of luminance (CVL ) can be retrieved by the HDR images to compare the directional light reaching preset viewpoints within occupants’ visual range. The case study showed a high correlation (rCVL ≥ 0.900, rE ≥ 0.990) of the spatial luminous distribution between the simulation and built reality. Close to 90% of the simulated illuminance data had an error rate within 20%(|e|≤20%), revealed by the 360° residual maps of illuminance. The proposed lighting calibration approach with panoramic HDR Imaging was validated to improve lighting simulation accuracy.