Cloud–Aerosol Classification Based on the U-Net Model and Automatic Denoising CALIOP Data

Abstract

Precise cloud and aerosol identification hold paramount importance for a thorough comprehension of atmospheric processes, enhancement of meteorological forecasts, and mitigation of climate change. This study devised an automatic denoising cloud–aerosol classification deep learning algorithm, successfully achieving cloud–aerosol identification in atmospheric vertical profiles utilizing CALIPSO L1 data. The algorithm primarily consists of two components: denoising and classification. The denoising task integrates an automatic denoising module that comprehensively assesses various methods, such as Gaussian filtering and bilateral filtering, automatically selecting the optimal denoising approach. The results indicated that bilateral filtering is more suitable for CALIPSO L1 data, yielding SNR, RMSE, and SSIM values of 4.229, 0.031, and 0.995, respectively. The classification task involves constructing the U-Net model, incorporating self-attention mechanisms, residual connections, and pyramid-pooling modules to enhance the model’s expressiveness and applicability. In comparison with various machine learning models, the U-Net model exhibited the best performance, with an accuracy of 0.95. Moreover, it demonstrated outstanding generalization capabilities, evaluated using the harmonic mean F1 value, which accounts for both precision and recall. It achieved F1 values of 0.90 and 0.97 for cloud and aerosol samples from the lidar profiles during the spring of 2019. The study endeavored to predict low-quality data in CALIPSO VFM using the U-Net model, revealing significant differences with a consistency of 0.23 for clouds and 0.28 for aerosols. Utilizing U-Net confidence and a 532 nm attenuated backscatter coefficient to validate medium- and low-quality predictions in two cases from 8 February 2019, the U-Net model was found to align more closely with the CALIPSO observational data and exhibited high confidence. Statistical comparisons of the predicted geographical distribution revealed specific patterns and regional characteristics in the distribution of clouds and aerosols, showcasing the U-Net model’s proficiency in identifying aerosols within cloud layers.