Shadow is a main obstacle in features extraction from high
resolution satellite images. Water areas provide low reflectance;
therefore, they are commonly classified as shadow. In traditional
shadow identification procedures, shadow is identified
from image histogram in which, water and shadow pixels are
mixed. In this study, a new image index is presented. The index
histogram separates non-shadow, shadow, and water pixels
using a proposed threshold method. The developed index is
then integrated into a complete approach for shadow identification.
Five study areas including water, shadow on water, and
shallow water regions are tested using the developed approach.
Afterward, an accuracy assessment is made to demonstrate the
approach efficiency. The experimental results show that the
proposed approach achieved overall accuracy about ninetythree
percent. The rate of detecting shadow on water is about
seventy-four percent. On the other hand, shallow water is still
misclassified as shadow.