Clouds and Clouds Shadows Detection and Matching in MODIS Multispectral Satellite Images

Due to weather influence, it is difficult to obtain cloud-free images in MODIS multispectral remote sensing data. Most remote sensing images are more or less influenced by clouds and cloud shadows in data acquisition processing, which cause serious problems for data application. As a result, many researchers have presented effective methods to detect and remove these clouds and their shadows from remote sensing images. However, there is still important clouds three-dimensional information included in cloud shadows based on the principle of shadow imaging, for example, cloud height. Therefore, through analyzing and extracting the features of clouds and cloud shadows, the information of cloud height can be further detected. In this paper, clouds and cloud shadows detection and matching methods are discussed for MODIS multispectral satellite data. The research results can be further applied to detect cloud height, which support wider application fields for remote sensing data application.