US Patent 10083354 Advanced cloud detection using machine learning and optimization techniques

Techniques for automatically determining, on a pixel by pixel basis, whether imagery includes ground images or is obscured by cloud cover. The techniques include training a cloud dictionary and a ground dictionary, determining whether a given pixel is best represented by “words” from the cloud dictionary or “words” from the ground dictionary to make an initial determination of cloud or ground, and performing a max-flow, min-cut operation on the image to determine whether each pixel is a cloud or ground imagery.