Machine Learning for Cloud Detection in IASI Measurements: A Data-Driven SVM Approach with Physical Constraints

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zugarini, Chiara, Sgattoni, Cristina, Sgheri, Luca
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zugarini, Chiara
Sgattoni, Cristina
Sgheri, Luca
author_facet Zugarini, Chiara
Sgattoni, Cristina
Sgheri, Luca
contents Cloud detection is essential for atmospheric retrievals, climate studies, and weather forecasting. We analyze infrared radiances from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) onboard Meteorological Operational (MetOp) satellites to classify scenes as clear or cloudy. We apply the Support Vector Machine (SVM) approach, based on kernel methods for non-separable data. In this study, the method is implemented for Cloud Identification (CISVM) to classify the test set using radiances or brightness temperatures, with dimensionality reduction through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cloud-sensitive channel selection to focus on the most informative features. Our best configuration achieves 88.30 percent agreement with reference labels and shows strong consistency with cloud masks from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), with the largest discrepancies in polar regions due to sensor differences. These results demonstrate that CISVM is a robust, flexible, and efficient method for automated cloud classification from infrared radiances, suitable for operational retrievals and future missions such as Far infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM), the ninth European Space Agency Earth Explorer Mission.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_10120
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Machine Learning for Cloud Detection in IASI Measurements: A Data-Driven SVM Approach with Physical Constraints
Zugarini, Chiara
Sgattoni, Cristina
Sgheri, Luca
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Machine Learning
Cloud detection is essential for atmospheric retrievals, climate studies, and weather forecasting. We analyze infrared radiances from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) onboard Meteorological Operational (MetOp) satellites to classify scenes as clear or cloudy. We apply the Support Vector Machine (SVM) approach, based on kernel methods for non-separable data. In this study, the method is implemented for Cloud Identification (CISVM) to classify the test set using radiances or brightness temperatures, with dimensionality reduction through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cloud-sensitive channel selection to focus on the most informative features. Our best configuration achieves 88.30 percent agreement with reference labels and shows strong consistency with cloud masks from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), with the largest discrepancies in polar regions due to sensor differences. These results demonstrate that CISVM is a robust, flexible, and efficient method for automated cloud classification from infrared radiances, suitable for operational retrievals and future missions such as Far infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM), the ninth European Space Agency Earth Explorer Mission.
title Machine Learning for Cloud Detection in IASI Measurements: A Data-Driven SVM Approach with Physical Constraints
topic Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.10120