Fluid Structure and Motion Analysis from Multi-spectrum 2D Cloud Image Sequences

In this paper we present a novel approach to estimate and analyze 3D uid structur eand motion of clouds from multi-spectrum 2D cloud image sequences. A curate cloud-top structure and motion are very important for a host of meteorolo gical and climate applications. However, due to the extremely complex nature of cloud uid motion, classical nonrigid motion analysis methods will be insu cient to solve this particular problem. In this pap er, two spectra of satellite cloud images are utilized. The high-resolution visible channel is rst used to perform cloud tracking by using a recursive algorithm which inte grates lo cal motionanalysis with a set of global uid constr aints, de ned according to the physical uid dynamics. Then, the infrared channel (thermodynamic information) is incorporated to postprocess the cloud tracking results in order to captur e the cloud density variations and small details of cloud uidity. Experimental results on GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) cloud image sequences are presented in order to validate and evaluate both the e e ctiveness and robustness of our algorithm.