ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2023, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 271-286

On cloud type classification by a threshold method based on satellite IR data

E.V. Volkova 1 
1 State Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology “Planeta”, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 05.12.2022
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2023-20-1-271-286
Clouds have a great influence on the weather and the climate through forming radiation, heating and water exchange between the earth and the atmosphere. Each cloud type is connected to a certain set of meteorological processes and events including dangerous ones. That is why any information about cloud classes (their types, forms and shapes) is very important for both operational weather monitoring and studying the climate. The cloud classification adopted by the World Meteorological Organization is discussed below, so is a review of the main satellite cloud classifications based on satellite measurements of albedo and brightness temperatures. The author step-by-step introduces algorithms of a threshold pixel-by-pixel cloud classification technology utilizing only brightness temperatures in different spectral channels, gives a detailed description of classified cloud classes, mentions possible sources of errors and difficulties when cloud analyzing. The algorithms, offered by the author, can be applied to AVHRR/NOAA, SEVIRI/Meteosat, MSU-MR/Meteor-M, MSU-GS-VE/Arktika-M infrared data and similar satellite information.
Keywords: cloud types, satellite cloud classification, cloud analysis, threshold methods, AVHRR/NOAA, SEVIRI/Meteosat, MSU-MR/Meteor-M, MSU-GS-VE/Arktika-M
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