Crowds for Clouds: Using an Internet Workforce to Interpret Satellite Images

Before these satellite images can be used for this purpose, they need to be examined for clouds and cloud shadow that may hide important features of the landscape and would lead to misinterpretation of forest conditions. Once clouds and their shadow have been identified, researchers can then look for other images that include the feature of interest, taken a bit earlier or later in time, to fill in the "missing information" for the original image. Therefore, the task of identifying clouds and their shadow is extremely important for the correct and efficient use of each image.