Daytime Cloud Mask for Himawari-8/9 Satellite Imagery

This collection is a daytime cloud mask product for Himawari-8/9 satellite imagery, developed by CSIRO for the Australian continent and surrounding waters. The algorithm was validated against space-borne LiDAR data. The data is provided in both a regular latitude/longitude grid and the original geostationary projection.

Use Cases

• Apply the cloud mask to daytime Himawari-8/9 imagery to isolate cloud-free land and water surfaces for environmental monitoring.
• Validate new cloud detection algorithms against this LiDAR-validated mask product for the Australian region.
• Analyze cloud cover patterns over Australia and surrounding waters using the provided latitude/longitude grid data.
• Prepare data for input into meteorological models by using the mask to filter cloud-contaminated satellite pixels.

Strengths

• Algorithm validated against space-borne LiDAR data to ensure quality.
• Covers the Australian continent and surrounding waters.
• Available in both a regular latitude/longitude grid and the original Himawari geostationary projection (WGS84, sub-satellite longitude = 140.7°E).

Limitations

• Data access requires contacting the authors, as it is hosted on the Australian National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).
• Product is currently for daytime imagery only; a near-real-time processor for improved availability is under development.
• Available file formats (HTML, PNG, WMS) may not be ideal for bulk quantitative analysis without conversion.

Provenance

Source

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Collection Method

Generated using a newly developed algorithm applied to Himawari-8/9 daytime imagery.

Freshness

Last updated March 20, 2026.

Geography

Australian continent and surrounding waters.