New satellite cloud products for cirrus and contrails (CLOUDMAP): example of multi-layer cloud detection using multi-spectral stereo

摘要

When thin Cirrus or contrails are present, multi-spectral stereo can be used to provide information on the first observable (from thermal IR, 11 μm) and the second highest contrast (from 1.6μm) cloud-top heights as shown on the front cover and described in more detail in Muller et al. (2007), Naud et al. (2007) and Denis et al. (2007). Operational applications of such multi-spectral stereo on polar-orbiting platforms are feasible and could provide much crucial information in polar regions (as thermal IR can operate at night) and in equatorial regions where existing methods are very poor.