LAUSR

In this paper, we studied the method for measuring the cloud bottom boundary altitude using the stereo pair of cloud images obtained using two digital photo cameras. We suggested a method for determining the camera orientation parameters using the nighttime images of star sky. The range to the cloud is calculated using the shift of the image of a cloud fragment as a whole. A given fragment on the photographs is identified using the methods of morphological image analysis. When the stereo base is 60 m and images are taken with a resolution of 1200 pixels within a field of view of 60°, the uncertainty does not exceed 10% when cloud altitude is less than 4 km. Optimizing the parameters of photography and increasing the stereo base may substantially improve the accuracy of the cloud base altitude estimation. Examples are presented of cloud bottom boundary determination using a prototype of the experimental setup as compared to data of a laser range finder.