A Versatile Method for Ice Particle Habit Classification Using Airborne Imaging Probe Data

A versatile method to automatically classify ice particle habit from various airborne optical array probes is presented. The classification is achieved using a multinomial logistic regression model. For each airborne probe, the model determines the particle habit (among six classes) based on a large set of geometrical and textural descriptors extracted from the two-dimensional image of a particle. The technique is applied and evaluated using three probes with significantly different specifications: the high volume precipitation spectrometer, the two-dimensional stereo probe, and the cloud particle imager. Performance and robustness of the method are assessed using standard machine learning tools on the basis of thousands of images manually labeled for each of the considered probes. The three classifiers show good performance characterized by overall accuracies and Heidke skill scores above 90%. Depending on the application and user preferences, the classification scheme can be easily adapted. For a more precise output, intraclass subclassification can be achieved in a nested fashion, illustrated here with columnar crystals and aggregates. A comparative study of the classification output obtained with the three probes is presented for two aircraft flight periods selected when the three probes were operating together. Results are globally consistent in term of proportions of habit identified (once blurry and partial images have been automatically discarded). A perfect agreement is not expected as the three considered probes are sensitive to different particle size range. Plain Language Summary An automatic classification method to identify ice particle habit from images is proposed. The technique is applied and evaluated using three airborne probes mounted on research aircraft with significantly different specifications: the high volume precipitation spectrometer, the two-dimensional stereo probe, and the cloud particle imager. The method relies on thousand of images manually classified and advanced machine learning techniques to determine the snow crystal habit among six preset classes. High classification performance is achieved, with accuracies above 90% for each of the considered probes.