Evaluation of an AVHRR Cloud Detection and Classification Method over the Central Arctic Ocean

Abstract A cloud classification method that uses both multispectral and textural features with a maximum likelihood discriminator is applied to full-resolution AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) data from 100 NOAA polar-orbiter overpasses tracked from an icebreaker during the 1994 Arctic Ocean Section. The cloud classification method is applied to the 32 × 32 pixel cell centered about the ship’s position during each overpass. These overpasses have matching surface weather observations in the form of all-sky photographs or, during a period of heavy weather, an objective record that the sky was overcast with low water clouds. The cloud classifications from the maximum likelihood method are compared with the surface weather observations to determine if the automated satellite cloud classifier actually produces realistic descriptions of the scene. These comparisons are favorable in most cases, with the exception of a frequent error in which the classifier confuses Ci/Cc/Ac with extensive low wat...