Tracing the origins and propagation of pre-tropical storm Debby (2006) mesoscale convective systems using pattern recognition and image fusion

This study is focused on developing pattern recognition and image fusion techniques to trace the origins and propagation of the pre-tropical storm (pre-TS) Debby (2006) mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) and African easterly waves (AEWs) using satellite imagery. These MCSs could be generating over mountains in North Africa and going through complicated splitting and merging processes. Therefore, an objectively analyzed MCS movement is essential. This study presents a technique which traces extracted features to find the origin of TS Debby. This technique produces a fused image with the most relevant information from water vapor and infrared satellite images, segments the cloud top height satellite images by clustering clouds, and tracks clouds to determine the origin of TS Debby (2006). The presented technique could be applied to other AEWs and MCSs which lead to tropical cyclogenesis to improve the numerical weather prediction over data sparse areas, such as over eastern and central North Africa.