Dataset Description

A dataset containing videos of clouds and cloud shadows captured by stationary ground-based cameras.

Timelapse Clouds Dataset

A collection of time-lapse videos of clouds that we use to evaluate our methods for estimating depth from cloud shadows. The videos were collected from a variety of sources, see below for details.

Obtaining the Dataset

If you want access to the Timelapse Clouds Dataset, please submit a request.

Dataset Details

The dataset is composed of a collection of videos that were mostly downloaded from the Internet. Information about the individual sequences are shown below.

Name	Sample Image	Additional Information
apache1		Source: youtube
apache2		Source: youtube
apache3		Source: youtube
valley		Source: youtube
shadow_valley		Source: vimeo
field		Source: Getty - Energy Films Library
desert		Source: Getty - Richard Kooris
colorado		Source: youtube - skytimelapse
badland		Source: shutterstock - Tim Pleasant
arch		Videographer: Robert Pless
ceske-krumlov		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
ceske1		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
ceske2		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
ceske3		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
ceske4		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
ceske5		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
city_cathedral		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena
teide		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2008 Series
novomestska		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2008 Series
praha4		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2009 Series
praha		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena
oedenwinkelkees		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2011 Series
francesco		Source: unknown, if you know where it is from, please send me a link so I can give proper credit. What we know: The original file name is Francescobonomi-TimeLapseClouds593.mpg.
lovos		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena
libus_ir_vis		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2011 Series
libus_ir_ir		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2011 Series
libus		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena
hazmburk		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2008 Series
cumulus		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2010 USA series
cordoba		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2010 series
capitolBuilding		Source: unknown, if you know where it is from, please send us a link so I can give proper credit. What we know: It looks like Boise, Idaho.
mountain		Source: unknown, if you know where it is from, please send us a link so I can give proper credit.
texas		Source: Getty - Richard Kooris
grand_canyon		Source: videohive
london		Source: youtube
nyc		Source: Getty - Energy Films Library
praha		Videographer: Martin Setvak Collection: Timelapse photography of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena Source: 2008 Series

Dataset Citation

If you use the dataset, please cite the following publications:

1. Jacobs N, Abrams A, Pless R. 2013. Two Cloud-Based Cues for Estimating Scene Structure and Camera Calibration. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI) 35:2526–2538. DOI: 10.1109/TPAMI.2013.55.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @article{jacobs13clouds,
     annotation = {dataset_tlc,webcam,clouds,timelapse,imagingwithnature,calibration,contextualeyes},
     author = {Jacobs, Nathan and Abrams, Austin and Pless, Robert},
     doi = {10.1109/TPAMI.2013.55},
     issn = {0162-8828},
     journal = {IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI)},
     note = {Impact factor: 5.694},
     number = {10},
     pages = {2526--2538},
     pdf = {https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AtetDKvjt8K7RkKSCikwAY_RRI8Hqok5/view?usp=sharing},
     project = {/research/clouds/},
     title = {Two Cloud-Based Cues for Estimating Scene Structure and Camera Calibration},
     volume = {35},
     year = {2013},
     month = aug
   }
   

2. Jacobs N, Bies B, Pless R. 2010. Using Cloud Shadows to Infer Scene Structure and Camera Calibration. In: IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). 1102–1109. DOI: 10.1109/CVPR.2010.5540093.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @inproceedings{jacobs10clouds,
     author = {Jacobs, Nathan and Bies, Brian and Pless, Robert},
     booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR)},
     title = {Using Cloud Shadows to Infer Scene Structure and Camera Calibration},
     year = {2010},
     month = jun,
     note = {Acceptance rate: 4.5\% (oral)},
     pages = {1102--1109},
     annotation = {dataset_tlc,spotlight,ugrad,webcam,clouds,timelapse,imagingwithnature,calibration,3d},
     bdsk-url-1 = {https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2010.5540093},
     doi = {10.1109/CVPR.2010.5540093},
     pdf = {https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eflM6RG6JAKW42ilT3xBApX8EzUFq74B/view?usp=sharing},
     project = {/research/clouds/},
     pubtype = {oral presentation},
     thumbnail = {/images/2013/11/thumb.gif}
   }
   

Related Publication(s)

1. Workman S, Souvenir R, Jacobs N. 2015. Scene Shape Estimation from Multiple Partly Cloudy Days. Computer Vision and Image Understanding (CVIU):116–129. DOI: 10.1016/j.cviu.2014.10.002.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @article{workman2015distributed,
     annotation = {tlc,spotlight,webcam,clouds,timelapse,imagingwithnature,calibration,journal,contextualeyes},
     author = {Workman, Scott and Souvenir, Richard and Jacobs, Nathan},
     doi = {10.1016/j.cviu.2014.10.002},
     journal = {Computer Vision and Image Understanding (CVIU)},
     month = apr,
     note = {Impact factor: 1.54},
     pages = {116--129},
     project = {/research/clouds/},
     thumbnail = {/thumbnails/multiday_clouds.jpg},
     title = {Scene Shape Estimation from Multiple Partly Cloudy Days},
     year = {2015},
     bdsk-url-1 = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cviu.2014.10.002}
   }
   

2. Jacobs N, King J, Bowers D, Souvenir R. 2014. Estimating Cloud Maps from Outdoor Image Sequences. In: IEEE Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV). 961–968. DOI: 10.1109/WACV.2014.6836000.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @inproceedings{jacobs14cloudmap,
     annotation = {tlc,webcam,weather,clouds,contextualeyes,conference,ugrad,motion,imagingwithnature,timelapse},
     author = {Jacobs, Nathan and King, Joshua and Bowers, Daniel and Souvenir, Richard},
     booktitle = {IEEE Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV)},
     doi = {10.1109/WACV.2014.6836000},
     note = {Acceptance rate: 40\%},
     pages = {961--968},
     pdf = {https://drive.google.com/file/d/15CYlZYdzxjx6j4dPabzixATuAwV-CsJm/view?usp=sharing},
     project = {/research/clouds/index.html},
     thumbnail = {/thumbnails/cloudmap_parse.jpg},
     title = {Estimating Cloud Maps from Outdoor Image Sequences},
     year = {2014},
     bdsk-url-1 = {https://doi.org/10.1109/WACV.2014.6836000}
   }
   

3. Jacobs N, Workman S, Souvenir R. 2013. Scene Geometry from Several Partly Cloudy Days. In: ACM/IEEE International Conference on Distributed Smart Cameras (ICDSC). 1–6. DOI: 10.1109/ICDSC.2013.6778227.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @inproceedings{jacobs13multiday,
     annotation = {tlc,webcam,weather,clouds,conference,motion,contextualeyes,imagingwithnature,calibration,timelapse},
     author = {Jacobs, Nathan and Workman, Scott and Souvenir, Richard},
     booktitle = {ACM/IEEE International Conference on Distributed Smart Cameras (ICDSC)},
     doi = {10.1109/ICDSC.2013.6778227},
     pages = {1--6},
     pdf = {https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ytXa8I-NtoPuKOFaBfgAeAxbFdwpBCOP/view?usp=sharing},
     project = {/research/clouds/index.html},
     thumbnail = {/thumbnails/multiday_clouds.jpg},
     title = {Scene Geometry from Several Partly Cloudy Days},
     year = {2013},
     bdsk-url-1 = {https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDSC.2013.6778227}
   }
   

4. Jacobs N, Abrams A, Pless R. 2013. Two Cloud-Based Cues for Estimating Scene Structure and Camera Calibration. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI) 35:2526–2538. DOI: 10.1109/TPAMI.2013.55.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @article{jacobs13clouds,
     annotation = {dataset_tlc,webcam,clouds,timelapse,imagingwithnature,calibration,contextualeyes},
     author = {Jacobs, Nathan and Abrams, Austin and Pless, Robert},
     doi = {10.1109/TPAMI.2013.55},
     issn = {0162-8828},
     journal = {IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI)},
     note = {Impact factor: 5.694},
     number = {10},
     pages = {2526--2538},
     pdf = {https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AtetDKvjt8K7RkKSCikwAY_RRI8Hqok5/view?usp=sharing},
     project = {/research/clouds/},
     title = {Two Cloud-Based Cues for Estimating Scene Structure and Camera Calibration},
     volume = {35},
     year = {2013},
     month = aug
   }
   

5. Jacobs N, Bies B, Pless R. 2010. Using Cloud Shadows to Infer Scene Structure and Camera Calibration. In: IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). 1102–1109. DOI: 10.1109/CVPR.2010.5540093.
   bibtex | website | doi

   close  

   @inproceedings{jacobs10clouds,
     author = {Jacobs, Nathan and Bies, Brian and Pless, Robert},
     booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR)},
     title = {Using Cloud Shadows to Infer Scene Structure and Camera Calibration},
     year = {2010},
     month = jun,
     note = {Acceptance rate: 4.5\% (oral)},
     pages = {1102--1109},
     annotation = {dataset_tlc,spotlight,ugrad,webcam,clouds,timelapse,imagingwithnature,calibration,3d},
     bdsk-url-1 = {https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2010.5540093},
     doi = {10.1109/CVPR.2010.5540093},
     pdf = {https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eflM6RG6JAKW42ilT3xBApX8EzUFq74B/view?usp=sharing},
     project = {/research/clouds/},
     pubtype = {oral presentation},
     thumbnail = {/images/2013/11/thumb.gif}
   }