A Remote Sensed Data Combined Method for Sea Fog Detection

Steam and advection fogs are frequently observed in the Yellow Sea from March to July except for May. This study uses remote sensing (RS) data for the monitoring of sea fog. Meteorological data obtained from the Ieodo Ocean Research Station provided a valuable information for the occurrence of steam and advection fogs as a ground truth. The RS data used in this study were GOES-9, MTSAT-1R images and QuikSCAT wind data. A dual channel difference (DCD) approach using IR and shortwave IR channel of GOES-9 and MTSAT-1R satellites was applied to detect sea fog. The results showed that DCD, texture-related measurement and the weak wind condition are required to separate the sea fog from the low cloud. The QuikSCAT wind data was used to provide the wind speed criteria for a fog event. The laplacian computation was designed for a measurement of the homogeneity. A new combined method, which includes DCD, QuikSCAT wind speed and laplacian computation, was applied to the twelve cases with GOES-9 and MTSAT-1R. The threshold values for DCD, QuikSCAT wind speed and laplacian are -2.0 K, $8m\;s^{-1}$ and 0.1, respectively. The validation results showed that the new combined method slightly improves the detection of sea fog compared to DCD method: improvements of the new combined method are $5{\sim}6%$ increases in the Heidke skill score, 10% decreases in the probability of false detection, and $30{\sim}40%$ increases in the odd ratio.