An official website of the United States government
The segmentation of sky images into regions of cloud and clear sky allows atmospheric scientists to determine the fraction of cloud cover and the distribution of cloud without resorting to subjective estimates by a human observer. This is a challenging problem because cloud boundaries and cirroform cloud regions are often semi-transparent and indistinct. In this study, we propose a lightweight, unsupervised methodology to identify cloud regions in ground-based hemispherical sky images. Our method offers a fast and adaptive approach without the necessity of fixed thresholds by utilizing K-means clustering on transformed pixel values. We present the results of our method for two data sets and compare them with three different methods in the literature.
more »
« less
CloudPatch-7 Hyperspectral Dataset
The CloudPatch-7 Hyperspectral Dataset comprises a manually curated collection of hyperspectral images, focused on pixel classification of atmospheric cloud classes. This labeled dataset features 380 patches, each a 50x50 pixel grid, derived from 28 larger, unlabeled parent images approximately 5000x1500 pixels in size. Captured using the Resonon PIKA XC2 camera, these images span 462 spectral bands from 400 to 1000 nm. Each patch is extracted from a parent image ensuring that its pixels fall within one of seven atmospheric conditions: Dense Dark Cumuliform Cloud, Dense Bright Cumuliform Cloud, Semi-transparent Cumuliform Cloud, Dense Cirroform Cloud, Semi-transparent Cirroform Cloud, Clear Sky - Low Aerosol Scattering (dark), and Clear Sky - Moderate to High Aerosol Scattering (bright). Incorporating contextual information from surrounding pixels enhances pixel classification into these 7 classes, making this dataset a valuable resource for spectral analysis, environmental monitoring, atmospheric science research, and testing machine learning applications that require contextual data. Parent images are very big in size, but they can be made available upon request.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2003740
- PAR ID:
- 10527256
- Publisher / Repository:
- IEEE DataPort
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Right(s):
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
- Institution:
- Auburn University at Montgomery
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
This dataset includes 30 hyperspectral cloud images captured during the Summer and Fall of 2022 at Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama, USA (Latitude N, Longitude W) using aResonon Pika XC2 Hyperspectral Imaging Camera. Utilizing the Spectronon software, the images were recorded with integration times between 9.0-12.0 ms, a frame rate of approximately 45 Hz, and a scan rate of 0.93 degrees per second. The images are calibrated to give spectral radiance in microflicks at 462 spectral bands in the 400 – 1000 nm wavelength region with a spectral resolution of 1.9 nm. A 17 m focal length objective lens was used giving a field of view equal to 30.8 degrees and an integration field of view of 0.71 mrad. These settings enable detailed spectral analysis of both dynamic cloud formations and clear sky conditions. Funded by NSF grant 2003740, this dataset is designed to advance understanding of diffuse solar radiation as influenced by cloud coverage. The dataset is organized into 30 folders, each containing a hyperspectral image file (.bip), a header file (.hdr) with metadata, and an RGB render for visual inspection. Additional metadata, including date, time, central pixel azimuth, and altitude, are cataloged in an accompanying MS Excel file. A custom Python program is also provided to facilitate the reading and display of the HSI files. The images can also be read and analyzed using the free version of the Spectron software available at https://resonon.com/software.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Abstract. Current cloud and aerosol identification methods for multispectral radiometers, such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), employ multichannel spectral tests on individual pixels (i.e., fields of view). The use of the spatial information in cloud and aerosol algorithms has been primarily through statistical parameters such as nonuniformity tests of surrounding pixels with cloud classification provided by the multispectral microphysical retrievals such as phase and cloud top height. With these methodologies there is uncertainty in identifying optically thick aerosols, since aerosols and clouds have similar spectral properties in coarse-spectral-resolution measurements. Furthermore, identifying clouds regimes (e.g., stratiform, cumuliform) from just spectral measurements is difficult, since low-altitude cloud regimes have similar spectral properties. Recent advances in computer vision using deep neural networks provide a new opportunity to better leverage the coherent spatial information in multispectral imagery. Using a combination of machine learning techniques combined with a new methodology to create the necessary training data, we demonstrate improvements in the discrimination between cloud and severe aerosols and an expanded capability to classify cloud types. The labeled training dataset was created from an adapted NASA Worldview platform that provides an efficient user interface to assemble a human-labeled database of cloud and aerosol types. The convolutional neural network (CNN) labeling accuracy of aerosols and cloud types was quantified using independent Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and MODIS cloud and aerosol products. By harnessing CNNs with a unique labeled dataset, we demonstrate the improvement of the identification of aerosols and distinct cloud types from MODIS and VIIRS images compared to a per-pixel spectral and standard deviation thresholding method. The paper concludes with case studies that compare the CNN methodology results with the MODIS cloud and aerosol products.more » « less
-
A novel hyperspectral image classification algorithm is proposed and demonstrated on benchmark hyperspectral images. We also introduce a hyperspectral sky imaging dataset that we are collecting for detecting the amount and type of cloudiness. The algorithm designed to be applied to such systems could improve the spatial and temporal resolution of cloud information vital to understanding Earth’s climate. We discuss the nature of our HSI-Cloud dataset being collected and an algorithm we propose for processing the dataset using a categorical-boosting method. The proposed method utilizes multiple clusterings to augment the dataset and achieves higher pixel classification accuracy. Creating categorical features via clustering enriches the data representation and improves boosting ensembles. For the experimental datasets used in this paper, gradient boosting methods performed favorably to the benchmark algorithms.more » « less
-
Messinger, David W.; Velez-Reyes, Miguel (Ed.)Recent advances in data fusion provide the capability to obtain enhanced hyperspectral data with high spatial and spectral information content, thus allowing for an improved classification accuracy. Although hyperspectral image classification is a highly investigated topic in remote sensing, each classification technique presents different advantages and disadvantages. For example; methods based on morphological filtering are particularly good at classifying human-made structures with basic geometrical spatial shape, like houses and buildings. On the other hand, methods based on spectral information tend to perform better classification in natural scenery with more shape diversity such as vegetation and soil areas. Even more, for those classes with mixed pixels, small training data or objects with similar re ectance values present a higher challenge to obtain high classification accuracy. Therefore, it is difficult to find just one technique that provides the highest accuracy of classification for every class present in an image. This work proposes a decision fusion approach aiming to increase classification accuracy of enhanced hyperspectral images by integrating the results of multiple classifiers. Our approach is performed in two-steps: 1) the use of machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Machines (SVM), Deep Neural Networks (DNN) and Class-dependent Sparse Representation will generate initial classification data, then 2) the decision fusion scheme based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) will integrate all the classification results into a unified classification rule. In particular, the CNN receives as input the different probabilities of pixel values from each implemented classifier, and using a softmax activation function, the final decision is estimated. We present results showing the performance of our method using different hyperspectral image datasets.more » « less
