Automated cloud screening of AVHRR imagery using split-and-merge clustering☆

Previous methods to segment clouds from ocean in AVHRR imagery have shown varying degrees of success, with nighttime approaches being the most limited. An improved method of automatic image segmentation, the principal component transformation split-and-merge clustering (PCTSMC) algorithm, is presented and applied to cloud screening of both nighttime and daytime AVHRR data. The method combines spectral differencing, the principal component transformation, and split-and-merge clustering to sample objectively the natural classes in the data. This segmentation method is then augmented by supervised classification techniques to screen clouds from the imagery. Comparisons with other nighttime methods demonstrate its improved capability in this application. The sensitivity of the method to clustering parameters is presented; the results show that the method is insensitive to the split-and-merge thresholds.

[1]  Theodosios Pavlidis,et al.  Waveform Segmentation Through Functional Approximation , 1973, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[2]  M. Duggin.  Factors limiting the discrimination and quantification of terrestrial features using remotely sensed radiance , 1985 .

[3]  B. A. Eckstein,et al.  Cloud screening Coastal Zone Color Scanner images using channel 5 , 1991 .

[4]  Peter H. Stone,et al.  Efficient Three-Dimensional Global Models for Climate Studies: Models I and II , 1983 .

[5]  A. R. Harrison,et al.  Standardized principal components , 1985 .

[6]  Ann Henderson-Sellers,et al.  De-fogging cloud determination algorithms , 1982, Nature.

[7]  Barbara M. Hickey,et al.  The California current system—hypotheses and facts☆ , 1979 .

[8]  G. Ohring,et al.  The Effect of Changes in Cloud Amount on the Net Radiation at the Top of the Atmosphere , 1980 .

[9]  Claude L. Fennema,et al.  Scene Analysis Using Regions , 1970, Artif. Intell..

[10]  Theodosios Pavlidis,et al.  Picture Segmentation by a Tree Traversal Algorithm , 1976, JACM.

[11]  Giles M. Foody,et al.  The effects of viewing geometry on image classification , 1988 .

[12]  Keinosuke Fukunaga,et al.  Application of the Karhunen-Loève Expansion to Feature Selection and Ordering , 1970, IEEE Trans. Computers.

[13]  The Impact of Satellite Data on Global Numerical Weather Prediction , 1987 .

[14]  Erik Liljas.  Multispectral Classification of Cloud, Fog and Haze , 1987 .

[15]  Youji Fukada.  Spatial clustering procedures for region analysis , 1980, Pattern Recognit..

[16]  James J. Simpson,et al.  On the accurate detection and enhancement of oceanic features observed in satellite data , 1990 .

[17]  Paul M. Mather,et al.  Computer Processing of Remotely-Sensed Images: An Introduction , 1988 .

[18]  T. M. Lillesand,et al.  Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation , 1980 .

[19]  Keith Price,et al.  Picture Segmentation Using a Recursive Region Splitting Method , 1998 .

[20]  S. Ingebritsen,et al.  Principal components analysis of multitemporal image pairs , 1985 .

[21]  Geoffrey H. Ball,et al.  ISODATA, A NOVEL METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS AND PATTERN CLASSIFICATION , 1965 .

[22]  Josef Kittler,et al.  Pattern recognition : a statistical approach , 1982 .

[23]  R. Kettig,et al.  Classification of Multispectral Image Data by Extraction and Classification of Homogeneous Objects , 1976, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience Electronics.

[24]  Josef Kittler,et al.  Clustering algorithms for use with images of clouds , 1986 .

[25]  David C. Mason,et al.  Segmentation of remotely-sensed images by a split-and-merge process+ , 1988 .

[26]  Charles A. Harlow,et al.  The Analysis of Radiographic Images , 1973, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[27]  Keinosuke Fukunaga,et al.  A Criterion and an Algorithm for Grouping Data , 1970, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[28]  David A. Landgrebe,et al.  The minimum distance approach to classification , 1971 .

[29]  F. Sabins.  Remote Sensing: Principles and Interpretation , 1987 .

[30]  E. Backer,et al.  Cluster analysis by optimal decomposition of induced fuzzy sets , 1978 .

[31]  B. A. Eckstein,et al.  Aerosol and Rayleigh radiance contributions to coastal zone color scanner images , 1991 .

[32]  Theodosios Pavlidis,et al.  The Use of Algorithms of Piecewise Approximations for Picture Processing Applications , 1976, TOMS.

[33]  Anita M. Seddon,et al.  Segmentation of clouds using cluster analysis , 1985 .

[34]  Theodosios Pavlidis,et al.  Segmentation of pictures and maps through functional approximation , 1972, Comput. Graph. Image Process..

[35]  R. Wetherald,et al.  The effect of a geographical cloud distribution on climate: A numerical experiment with an atmospheric general circulation model , 1981 .

[36]  Henri Maître,et al.  A robust method for picture segmentation based on a split-and-merge procedure , 1986, Comput. Vis. Graph. Image Process..

[37]  Patrick C. Chen,et al.  Image segmentation as an estimation problem , 1979, 1979 18th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control including the Symposium on Adaptive Processes.

[38]  Theodosios Pavlidis,et al.  Structural pattern recognition , 1977 .

[39]  Robert A. Schowengerdt,et al.  Techniques for image processing and classification in remote sensing , 1983 .

[40]  Veerabhadran Ramanathan,et al.  The role of earth radiation budget studies in climate and general , 1987 .

[41]  H. P. Friedman,et al.  On Some Invariant Criteria for Grouping Data , 1967 .

[42]  A. Henderson‐sellers,et al.  A preliminary global oceanic cloud climatology from satellite albedo observations , 1983 .

[43]  Michael R. Anderberg,et al.  Cluster Analysis for Applications , 1973 .

[44]  Anil K. Jain,et al.  Algorithms for Clustering Data , 1988 .

[45]  G. Dalu,et al.  Emittance effect on the remotely sensed sea surface temperature , 1985 .

[46]  Garry E. Hunt,et al.  A bispectral method for the automatic determination of parameters for use in imaging satellite cloud retrievals , 1985 .

[47]  James J. Simpson,et al.  An automated cloud screening algorithm for daytime advanced very high resolution radiometer imagery , 1990 .

[48]  R. Preisendorfer,et al.  Principal Component Analysis in Meteorology and Oceanography , 1988 .

[49]  K. Browning.  Use of Radar and Satellite Imagery for the Measurement and Short-Term Prediction of Rainfall in the United Kingdom , 1987 .

[50]  F. Bretherton,et al.  Cloud cover from high-resolution scanner data - Detecting and allowing for partially filled fields of view , 1982 .

[51]  R. E. Walker,et al.  Color enhancement of highly correlated images. I - Decorrelation and HSI contrast stretches. [hue saturation intensity , 1986 .

[52]  Vincent V. Salomonson,et al.  A Simulation Study Exploring the Effects of Sensor Spatial Resolution on Estimates of Cloud Cover from Satellites , 1972 .

[53]  R. Saunders,et al.  An improved method for detecting clear sky and cloudy radiances from AVHRR data , 1988 .

[54]  R. Bernstein,et al.  Sea surface temperature estimation using the NOAA 6 satellite advanced very high resolution radiometer , 1982 .