A PC-Based Interactive Imaging System Designed for INSAT Data Analysis and Monsoon Studies

Abstract

A PC-based interactive image processing system has been developed for aiding the analysis of Indian Geosynchronous Satellite (INSAT) data for Asian monsoon studies. In view of its diminutive stature, the system has been given the name “MIDGET,” for a Micro-based Image Display and Graphics Enhancement Tool. Various analysis procedures involving INSAT data and other monsoon datasets are described in conjunction with the MIDGET system. These include the use of the system for monitoring monsoon evolution and the behavior of organized tropical storms, analysis of low-frequency intraseasonal oscillations, diagnostic studies of cloudiness, retrieval of monsoon precipitation and its relationship to satellite cloudiness, and statistical prediction of monsoon cloud bands associated with low-frequency intraseasonal fluctuations of monsoon rainfall. The system is designed as a workstation terminal in a supercomputer environment. The basic virtue of this system is that it is an inexpensive approach for generating a high-resolution video time-lapse of large satellite datasets in an interactive environment familiar to PC users. The motivation for developing this system derives from a new source of Indian satellite data that has been made available to United States scientists through archive holdings at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.