This article presents a novel technique for automatically locating tropical cyclone (TC) centers based on top cloud motions in consecutive geostationary satellite images. The high imaging rate and spatial resolution images of the Gaofen-4 geostationary satellite enable us to derive pixel-wise top cloud motion data of TCs, and from the data, TC spiral centers can be accurately determined based on an entirely different principle from those based on static image features. First, a physical motion field decomposition is proposed to eliminate scene shift and TC migration in the motion data without requiring any auxiliary geolocation data. This decomposition does not generate the artifacts that appear in the results of the previously published motion field decomposition. Then, an algorithm of a motion direction-based index embedded in a pyramid searching structure is fully designed to automatically and effectively locate the TC centers. The test shows that the TC concentric motions are more clearly revealed after the proposed motion field decomposition and the located centers are in good agreement with the cloud pattern centers in a visual sense and also with the best track data sets of four meteorological agencies. Index Terms-Geostationary satellite, motion field decomposition, tropical cyclone (TC), typhoon eye.
I. INTRODUCTIONT ROPICAL cyclones (TCs) are intense warm-cored cyclonic vortices, developed from low-pressure systems over the tropical oceans and driven by complex air-sea interaction [1]. Recent trend analyses based on both archive data and future projections consistently suggest an increase of the mean intensity of global TCs over coming decades [2]-[6], although there could be a decrease in TC frequency [7], [8].