CloudA: A Ground-Based Cloud Classification Method with a Convolutional Neural Network

Conventional classification methods are based on artificial experience to extract features, and each link is independent, which is a kind of “shallow learning.” As a result, the scope of the cloud category applied by this method is limited. In this paper, we propose a new convolutional neural network (CNN) with deep learning ability, called CloudA, for the ground-based cloud image recognition method. We use the Singapore Whole-Sky Imaging Categories (SWIMCAT) sample library and total-sky sample library to train and test CloudA. In particular, we visualize the cloud features captured by CloudA using the TensorBoard visualization method, and these features can help us to understand the process of ground-based cloud classification. We compare this method with other commonly used methods to explore the feasibility of using CloudA to classify ground-based cloud images, and the evaluation of a large number of experiments show that the average accuracy of this method is nearly 98.63% for ground-based cloud classification.