A novel algorithm for differentiating cloud from snow sheets using Landsat 8 OLI imagery.

The separation of clouds from snow is fundamentally very challenging because of their similar spectral signature. A new algorithm was proposed to detect clouds from snow in Landsat 8 imagery. Taking the Hetian District region, where there is frequent cloud and snow cover, in northwestern China as one of the typical case areas. The typical case is presented in detail to illustrate the approach produces and results. A band math method for cloud and snow discrimination index (CSDI) was firstly conducted in this paper, fractal digital number-frequency (DN-N) algorithm and hotspot analyses were applied to determine the threshold of the CSDI and eliminate false anomalies. The results showed that an overall accuracy exceeding 95% in areas with very bright land surfaces, which indicate that this algorithm is effective for detecting clouds in specific situations where the ground objects have some reflectance characteristics similar to cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]