A Cloud Top-Height Retrieval Algorithm Using Simultaneous Observations from the Himawari-8 and FY-2E Satellites

• Main Authors: Jonghyuk Lee, Dong-Bin Shin, Chu-Yong Chung, JaeKwan Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-06-01
• Series: Remote Sensing
• Subjects: Himawari-8; FY-2E; cloud top height; satellite parallax; CALIOP; CPR
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/12/1953

In this paper, we introduce a cloud top-height (CTH) retrieval algorithm using simultaneous observations from the Himawari-8 and FengYun (FY)-2E geostationary (GEO) satellites (hereafter, dual-GEO CTH algorithm). The dual-GEO CTH algorithm estimates CTH based on the parallax, which is the difference in the apparent position of clouds observed from two GEO satellites simultaneously. The dual-GEO CTH algorithm consists of four major procedures: 1) image remapping, 2) image matching, 3) CTH calculation, and 4) quality control. The retrieved CTHs were compared with other satellite CTHs from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and the Cloud-Profiling Radar (CPR), on three occasions. Considering the geometric configuration and footprint sizes of the two GEO satellites, the theoretical accuracy of the dual-GEO CTH algorithm is estimated as ±0.93 km. The comparisons show that the retrieval accuracy generally tends to fall within the theoretical accuracy range. As the dual-GEO CTH algorithm is based on parallax, it could be easily applied for the estimation of the height of any elevated feature in various fields.