RIM01: Clouds? Or Snow Again?! — Cracking Cloud Detection in the Arctic with Satellites!

Snow, ice, fog, and clouds… welcome to the polar regions, where even satellites struggle to tell what’s what. Our challenge? Teach Sentinel-2 how to make sense of the Arctic sky.  Join us in building a smarter cloud detection algorithm tailored for polar environments, where white is not just white — it could be a snowdrift, an iceberg, or an angry cumulus. Current methods often fail in these extreme environments, leading to misinterpretation of Earth Observation (EO) data crucial for climate monitoring, shipping routes, and Indigenous communities. We want your help to:  Separate clouds from snow and ice in Sentinel-2 imagery  Test and train AI/ML models with real polar datasets  Build a cool (pun intended) demo that shows how we can make the Arctic clearer from space  No need to be a remote sensing expert — we welcome coders, designers, data nerds, storytellers, and polar enthusiasts. Let's make clouds less mysterious and bring clarity to the coldest corners of the planet. Bonus points if you wear a parka while coding.

We aim to develop a robust and playful algorithm that can reliably distinguish clouds from snow and ice in Sentinel-2 images of polar regions. This will include:
A trained machine learning model (or a clever rule-based method!) tailored to polar reflectance characteristics
A visual web interface or interactive map to explore results, compare cloud masks, and toggle different layers
A demo dataset and basic API for future integration into Arctic monitoring platforms

Bonus: If time allows, we might even build a fun ""Cloud or Not?"" mini-game where users guess what's in the image — snow, ice, or cloud — and compare their answers with our AI!

To make this challenge a success, we're looking for a polar dream team with a mix of the following superpowers:

Data scientist / Machine learning wizard – to help train and evaluate cloud detection models

Remote sensing specialist – ideally familiar with Sentinel-2 or optical satellite data in snow/ice environments

Full-stack or web developer – to build a slick interface for visualizing results or launching a mini-game

GIS / Geomatics engineer – to handle projections, geospatial analysis, and data wrangling

Science communicator or UX designer – to help make the results accessible, fun, and visually appealing

No need to be an Arctic expert — just curious, collaborative, and ready to clear the skies in 48 hours!