Producing cloud free and cloud-shadow free mosaic from cloudy IKONOS images

The Southeast Asia region is always under partial or complete cloud covers. As a result, optical remote sensing images of this region always contain cloud covers and associated shadows. In this paper, we report an operational method for generating a "cloud-free" image mosaic of 1-m resolution IKONOS images. The inputs are several cloudy images acquired by the IKONOS satellite over an area of interest. This technique is especially useful in tropical regions with persistent and extensive cloud cover.