Cloud detection based on high resolution stereo pairs of the geostationary meteosat images

Due to the considerable impact of clouds on the energy balance in the atmosphere and on the earth surface, they are of great importance for various applications in meteorology or remote sensing. An important aspect of the cloud research studies is the detection of cloudy pixels from the processing of satellite images. In this research, we investigated a stereographic method on a new set of Meteosat images, namely the combination of the high resolution visible (HRV) channel of the Meteosat-8 Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) as a stereo pair with the HRV channel of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Meteosat-10 image at 0° E. In addition, an approach based on the outputs from stereo analysis was proposed to detect cloudy pixels. This approach is introduced with a 2D-scatterplot based on the parallax value and the minimum intersection distance. The mentioned scatterplot was applied to determine/detect cloudy pixels in various image subsets with different amounts of cloud cover. Apart from the general advantage of the applied stereography method, which only depends on geometric relationships, the cloud detection results are also improved because: (1) The stereo pair is the HRV bands of the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) sensor, with the highest spatial resolution available from the Meteosat geostationary platform; and (2) the time difference between the image pairs is nearly 5 s, which improves the matching results and also decreases the effect of cloud movements. In order to prove this improvement, the results of this stereo-based approach were compared with three different reflectance-based target detection techniques, including the adaptive coherent estimator (ACE), constrained energy minimization (CEM), and matched filter (MF). The comparison of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) detection curves and the area under these curves (AUC) showed better detection results with the proposed method. The AUC value was 0.79, 0.90, 0.90, and 0.93 respectively for ACE, CEM, MF, and the proposed stereo-based detection approach. The results of this research shall enable a more realistic modelling of down-welling solar irradiance in the future

Сapabilities evaluation of spaceborne scientific equipment for geophysical applications

The physical phenomena such as earthquake precursors recorded by on-board scientific equipment are examined in details. The selection method for geophysical satellite data of informative sources is discussed. The on-board scientific instruments complex application possibility for seismic activity diagnosis is shown. The development prospects of earthquakes precursors space monitoring system are defined

Сapabilities evaluation of spaceborne scientific equipment for geophysical applications

The physical phenomena such as earthquake precursors recorded by on-board scientific equipment are examined in details. The selection method for geophysical satellite data of informative sources is discussed. The on-board scientific instruments complex application possibility for seismic activity diagnosis is shown. The development prospects of earthquakes precursors space monitoring system are defined

Application of satellites system based on different heights for ionospheric disturbances monitoring

Results of data processing on-board Langmuir probes of CHAMP and DEMETER satellites are presented. The characteristics of satellites are given. Analysis of ionospheric parameters before strong earthquake is performed. At the altitudes of the satellites anomalous changes in the ionosphere parameters were detected a few days before the seismic event. Frequency distribution of anomalous ionospheric disturbances is obtained

Application of satellites system based on different heights for ionospheric disturbances monitoring

Results of data processing on-board Langmuir probes of CHAMP and DEMETER satellites are presented. The characteristics of satellites are given. Analysis of ionospheric parameters before strong earthquake is performed. At the altitudes of the satellites anomalous changes in the ionosphere parameters were detected a few days before the seismic event. Frequency distribution of anomalous ionospheric disturbances is obtained

Aspects of design antennas for radio occultation method of ionosphere diagnostics

The ionosphere is the ionized part of Earth's upper atmosphere, from about 60 km to 1,000 km altitude, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important role in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere. It has practical importance because, among other functions, it influences radio propagation to distant places on the Earth. The region below the ionosphere is called neutral atmosphere, or neutrosphere. In this paper aspects of design antennas for radio occultation method of ionosphere diagnostics are presented

Singular-spectrum time series analysis for oil and gas industry production forecasting

The article considers theoretical aspects of using the model of singular-spectral analysis of time series with the use of decision trees, and also provides justification of the feasibility of using this model for forecasting the production of products for both oil and gas industry and dual-use products. To reduce the risks of distortion of aggregated forecast values when working with large data sets, the expert should carry out preliminary manual selection and exclusion of products, the release of which has been completed or suspended