Estimation of visibility from satellite imagery

Area of Science:

• Remote Sensing
• Atmospheric Science
• Image Processing

Background:

• Visibility estimation from satellite imagery is crucial for atmospheric studies.
• Traditionally, contrast has been used to assess atmospheric attenuation effects on visibility.
• Spatial and frequency domain analyses offer potential for improved visibility estimation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine methods for estimating visibility using satellite imagery.
• To compare luminance and contrast image properties in spatial and frequency domains.
• To demonstrate that luminance data alone is sufficient for calculating visibility parameters.

Main Methods:

• Deriving and comparing properties of luminance and contrast images.
• Analyzing image data in both spatial and frequency domains.
• Developing two novel methods for estimating visibility parameters.

Main Results:

• Luminance image properties contain all necessary information for standard visibility parameter calculation.
• The luminance image provides a more comprehensive dataset than contrast for visibility estimation.
• Both spatial and frequency domain analyses of luminance yield comparable results.

Conclusions:

• Luminance image data is superior to contrast for estimating visibility from satellite imagery.
• The proposed methods offer efficient and accurate ways to calculate visibility parameters.
• This research advances the field of remote sensing for atmospheric monitoring.