Spectral Reflectance of Clouds in Multiple-resolution Satellite Remote Sensing Images

ABSTRACT: Cloud microphysical, radiative and optical properties, are important parameters influencing the radiation budget of Earth. The high reflective nature of clouds, is responsible for reflecting a large part of the Sun’s energy back into space and therefore having a direct impact on Earth’s climate. Although clouds are generally not desired from a remote sensing perspective, they can be useful as reference parameters for other radiometric calculations since they exhibit high reflectance and a rather flat spectral response. In this paper, we analyze the spectral properties of clouds, such as reflectance, spectral shape and variability, inferred from images captured by several remote sensing satellites.