Petri Varsa is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Waterloo. He earned an M.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Calgary in 2004, and a B.Math. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in 2001. His research interests include simulation and rendering of natural phenomena.

Petri's extracurricular interests include photography, cross-country skiing, canoeing, and hiking.

• A Physical Simulation of Ball Lightning for Computer Graphics

• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Varsa, P.M.
  Environmentally induced snow transmittance variations in the photosynthetic spectral domain:
  Photobiological implications for subnivean vegetation under climate warming conditions
  Remote Sensing, Volume 16, Number 5, pp. 927:1-22, March 2024.
• Varsa, P.M.; Baranoski, G.V.G.
  Rendering the bluish appearance of snow: When light transmission matters (Errata & Video)
  IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Volume 44, Number 1, pp. 50-61, January/February 2024.
  

  Media Coverage

    Waterloo News: Rendering a Winter Wonderland
    NSERC Research Stories: Rendering a Winter Wonderland
    City News: UW Researchers Using New Tech to Track Impact of Snow on Ecosystems
    The Waterloo Region Record: Digital Model Simulates Impact of Light on Snow
    Phys.org: Rendering a Winter Wonderland: New Light Transport Model Could Improve Understanding of Climate Change Impacts
  
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Varsa, P.
  In Silico Assessment of Tanning Masking Effects on Skin Chromatic Attributes Elicited by Anemia and Hyperbilirubinemia (Presentation Slides)
  In: Proceedings of the 44th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC),
  Glasgow, Scotland, UK - July 11 to 15, 2022, pp. 4716-4722.
• Varsa, P.M.; Baranoski, G.V.G.
  On the sensitivity of snow bidirectional reflectance to variations in grain characteristics (Video)
  Proc. of SPIE Vol. 11856, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XXIII,
  SPIE Remote Sensing, Online Only
  Eds. C.M.U. Neale and A. Maltese, pp. 118560G-1-10, September 2021.
• Varsa, P.M.; Baranoski, G.V.G.
  In silico assessment of light penetration into snow: Implications to the prediction of slab failures leading to avalanches (Video)
  Proc. of SPIE Vol. 11863, Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications XII,
  SPIE Remote Sensing, Online Only
  Ed. K. Schulz, pp. 1186305-1-10, September 2021.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Iwanchyshyn, M.; Kimmel, B.W; Varsa, P.M.; Van Leeuwen, S.R.
  Evaluating the effects of distinct water saturation states on the light penetration depths of sand-textured soils (Video)
  Proc. of SPIE Vol. 11856, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XXIII,
  SPIE Remote Sensing, Online Only
  Eds. C.M.U. Neale and A. Maltese, pp. 118560U-1-14, September 2021.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Iwanchyshyn, M.; Kimmel, B.W; Varsa, P.; Van Leeuwen, S.R.
  Exploring the Transmission of VNIR Light Through Martian Regolith (Video),
  Proceedings of 2021 IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium - IGARSS 2021
  Brussels, Belgium, pp. 6155-6158, July 12-16, 2021.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Iwanchyshyn, M.; Kimmel, B.W; Varsa, P.; Van Leeuwen, S.R.
  On the Red to Far-Red Ratios of Light Propagated by Sand-Textured Soils (Video),
  Proceedings of 2021 IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium - IGARSS 2021
  Brussels, Belgium, pp. 6443-6446, July 12-16, 2021.
• Varsa, P.M.; Baranoski, G.V.G.; Kimmel, B.W.
  SPLITSnow: A spectral light transport model for snow (Errata)
  Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 255, pp. 112272:1-20, March, 2021.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Kimmel, B.W; Varsa, P.; Iwanchyshyn, M.
  On the Light Penetration in Natural Sands
  Proceedings of 2019 IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium - IGARSS 2019
  Yokohama, Japan, pp. 6933-6936, July 28-August 2, 2019.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Kimmel, B.W; Varsa, P.; Iwanchyshyn, M.
  What Can Terrestrial Sand-Textured Soils Reveal About the Composition of Core Materials Forming Martian Regolith?
  Proceedings of 2019 IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium - IGARSS 2019
  Yokohama, Japan, pp. 6015-6018, July 28-August 2, 2019.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Kimmel, B.W; Varsa, P.; Iwanchyshyn, M.
  Porosity Effects on the Red to Far-Red Ratios of Light Transmitted in Natural Sands: Implications for Photoblastic Seed Germination (Errata)
  Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 11149, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XXI,
  SPIE Remote Sensing, Strasbourg, France
  Eds. C.M.U. Neale and A. Maltese, pp. 111490O-1-14, September, 2019.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Kimmel, B.W.; Varsa, P.
  Assessing the Impact of Porosity Variations on the Reflectance and Transmittance of Natural Sands
  Journal of Applied Remote Sensing
  Volume 13, Number 2, pp. 024522:1-15, June, 2019.
• Baranoski, G.V.G.; Chen, T.F., Varsa, P.
  On the Effective Differentiation and Monitoring of Variable Degrees of Hyperbilirubinemia Severity Through Noninvasive Screening Protocols
  In: Proceedings of the 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC),
  Honolulu, HI, USA, July, 2018, pp. 4981-4986.
• Varsa, P.; Rokne, J.
  Simulation of the Ball Lightning Phenomenon
  Computers & Graphics, Volume 30, Issue 4, August 2006, pp. 485-493

Research Related Images

• Rendering the bluish appearance of snow: When light transmission matters
  

Research Related Videos

• Rendering the bluish appearance of snow: When light transmission matters