Detection of clouds and identification of their parameters from the satellite data in the daytime

A complex method for analysis of measurement data of the AVHRR radiometer of the NOAA satellite is presented, which allows detecting clouds, classifying their types, detecting precipitation zones, and estimating cloud and precipitation parameters in the daytime the year round in the midlatitudes. Tuning and testing of the method (threshold algorithms of classification) are carried out on the synchronous satellite and surface meteorological and radar data archive for central European Russia in 1998–2006. As a result of validation, characteristics are presented of reliability of satellite estimates of cloud amount, top height, maximum liquid water content in the cloud layer, and precipitation rate.