An efficient, general-purpose technique for identifying storm cells in geospatial images

Abstract

Existing techniques for identifying, associating, and tracking storms rely on heuristics and are not transferrable between different types of geospatial images. Yet, with the multitude of remote sensing instruments and the number of channels and data types increasing, it is necessary to develop a principled and generally applicable technique. In this paper, an efficient, sequential, morphological technique called the watershed transform is adapted and extended so that it can be used for identifying storms. The parameters available in the technique and the effects of these parameters are also explained. The method is demonstrated on different types of geospatial radar and satellite images. Pointers are provided on the effective choice of parameters to handle the resolutions, data quality constraints, and dynamic ranges found in observational datasets. © 2009 American Meteorological Society.