It is thought that satellite infrared (IR) images can aid the recognition of the structure of the cloud and aid the rainfall estimation. In this article, the authors explore the application of a classification metho...It is thought that satellite infrared (IR) images can aid the recognition of the structure of the cloud and aid the rainfall estimation. In this article, the authors explore the application of a classification method relevant to four texture features, viz. energy, entropy, inertial-quadrature and local calm, to the study of the structure of a cloud cluster displaying a typical meso-scaie structure on infrared satellite images. The classification using the IR satellite images taken during 4-5 July 2003, a time when a meso-scale torrential rainstorm was occurring over the Yangtze River basin, illustrates that the detailed structure of the cloud cluster can be obviously seen by means of the neural network classification method relevant to textural features, and the relationship between the textural energy and rainfall indicates that the structural variation of a cloud cluster can be viewed as an exhibition of the convection intensity evolvement. These facts suggest that the scheme of following a classification method relevant to textural features applied to cloud structure studies is helpful for weather analysis and forecasting.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 40405009 and 40575022, by the Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation Program through Grant No. BK2005141.
文摘It is thought that satellite infrared (IR) images can aid the recognition of the structure of the cloud and aid the rainfall estimation. In this article, the authors explore the application of a classification method relevant to four texture features, viz. energy, entropy, inertial-quadrature and local calm, to the study of the structure of a cloud cluster displaying a typical meso-scaie structure on infrared satellite images. The classification using the IR satellite images taken during 4-5 July 2003, a time when a meso-scale torrential rainstorm was occurring over the Yangtze River basin, illustrates that the detailed structure of the cloud cluster can be obviously seen by means of the neural network classification method relevant to textural features, and the relationship between the textural energy and rainfall indicates that the structural variation of a cloud cluster can be viewed as an exhibition of the convection intensity evolvement. These facts suggest that the scheme of following a classification method relevant to textural features applied to cloud structure studies is helpful for weather analysis and forecasting.