A New Detection Method of Volcanic Ash Cloud Based on MODIS Image

The volcanic ash can affect the global climate changes and aviation safety, and has become a hot topic for public security research. The satellite remote sensing sensor can quickly and accurately obtain the volcanic ash cloud information. However, the satellite image has pretty strong inter-band correlation and data redundancy. Principal component analysis (PCA) can overcome the inter-band correlation and data redundancy of satellite images and compress a large number of complex information effectively into a few principal components. Taking the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic ash cloud formed on 19 April 2010 for example, in this paper, the PCA method is used to detect the volcanic ash cloud based on moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) image. The results show that: the PCA method can obtain the volcanic ash cloud from MODIS image; it is much simpler and the detected volcanic ash cloud has a good consistency with the previous research on the basis of spatial distribution and SO2 concentration.