Methodology of cloud height estimation over rugged terrain using landsat TM imagery

This paper describes methodology of cloud height estimation over rugged terrain using spatial correlation as an evaluation function. Because of three dimensional effects of satellite observation such as sensor scanning and solar radiation over the rugged terrain, satellite images should be accurately overlaid with digital elevation model on the map coordinate system (UTM). The geometrical information is utilized to pair a cloud pixel with a shadow pixel for calculating the spatial correlation. The spatial correlation is optimized with regard not only to cloud height but also solar azimuth direction in order to take displacement of cloud position caused by the sensor scanning into account. The proposed method was successfully applied to a Landsat TM image which contained a number of small cloud with clear shape.