Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2019, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 63-73
Automatic detection of volcanic ash using satellite data
1 Far-Eastern Center of State Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology “Planeta”, Khabarovsk, Russia
Accepted: 22.03.2019
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2019-16-4-63-73
The paper presents an algorithm for automatic detection of volcanic ash from satellite data using five spectral channels at wavelengths of 0.6, 1.6, 3.7, 11 and 12 microns. Such a choice of spectral channels was physically based on the example of interaction of volcanic ash with electromagnetic spectrum. The detection quality of volcanic ash presented by the “five-channel” algorithm was compared with the classical reverse absorption technique. The reverse absorption technique is based on the brightness temperature difference of 11–12 um (BTD [11, 12]). The comparison was made using several thematic satellite scenes, these scenes represent direct emission of volcanic ash. As a result, the new “five-channel” algorithm is not only more sensitive to the presence of volcanic ash, but also, as a rule, it is less prone to errors inherent in the reverse absorption technique. The algorithm can also detect cloud-mixed volcanic ash when the BTD[11, 12] useful signal of the reverse absorption technique is lost due to the presence of water/ice in the cloud.
Keywords: volcanic ash, brightness temperature, satellite data
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