Reconstruction of Cloud Geometry from High-Resolution Multi-Angle Images

TL;DR

This paper investigates the limits of reconstructing cloud interfaces from a limited number of high-resolution multi-angle light measurements, using a simplified diffusion model in a 2D setting.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of what aspects of cloud geometry can be reconstructed from limited directional intensity data, supported by numerical simulations.

Findings

Reconstruction is possible for certain geometric features.

Limited number of measurement directions constrains the reconstructible information.

Numerical results validate the theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We consider the reconstruction of the interface of compact, connected "clouds" from satellite or airborne light intensity measurements. In a two dimensional setting, the cloud is modeled by an interface, locally represented as a graph, and an outgoing radiation intensity that is consistent with a diffusion model for light propagation in the cloud. Light scattering inside the cloud and the optical internal parameters of the cloud are not modeled. The main objective is to understand what can or cannot be reconstructed in such a setting from intensity measurements in a finite (on the order of 10) number of directions along the path of a satellite. Numerical simulations illustrate the theoretical predictions.