AUTOMATED TECHNOLOGY OF DUST STORM DIAGNOSIS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGES WITH ELEMENTS OF INTERACTIVE MODE AND GIS TECHNOLOGIES

The article presents an automated technology of dust storm diagnosis (ATDS) developed at HRMI based on NOAA/AVHRR satellite images. The technology consists of two main blocks – a primary block and a thematic block of image processing. Primary processing consists of transforming the image into a given cartographic projection and its geographic referencing. Thematic processing is the actual diagnosis of dust storms. Two approaches are used for this purpose. The first approach is based on calculating the NDDI dust index, aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and aerosol mass (MA, g/m3). Joint analysis of these three quantitative characteristics of a dust storm allows one to fairly reliably identify dust storm areas on a satellite image. The second approach is based on image classification using the IsoData module of the ENVI GIS package. The combined use of the two approaches allows one to perform highly reliable automated diagnosis with interactive elements (at the stage of image transformation and georeferencing using reference points) of dust storms based on satellite imagery.