scholarly journals A Compilation of Snow Cover Datasets for Svalbard: A Multi-Sensor, Multi-Model Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2002
Author(s):  
Hannah Vickers ◽  
Eirik Malnes ◽  
Ward J. J. van Pelt ◽  
Veijo A. Pohjola ◽  
Mari Anne Killie ◽  
...  

Reliable and accurate mapping of snow cover are essential in applications such as water resource management, hazard forecasting, calibration and validation of hydrological models and climate impact assessments. Optical remote sensing has been utilized as a tool for snow cover monitoring over the last several decades. However, consistent long-term monitoring of snow cover can be challenging due to differences in spatial resolution and retrieval algorithms of the different generations of satellite-based sensors. Snow models represent a complementary tool to remote sensing for snow cover monitoring, being able to fill in temporal and spatial data gaps where a lack of observations exist. This study utilized three optical remote sensing datasets and two snow models with overlapping periods of data coverage to investigate the similarities and discrepancies in snow cover estimates over Nordenskiöld Land in central Svalbard. High-resolution Sentinel-2 observations were utilized to calibrate a 20-year MODIS snow cover dataset that was subsequently used to correct snow cover fraction estimates made by the lower resolution AVHRR instrument and snow model datasets. A consistent overestimation of snow cover fraction by the lower resolution datasets was found, as well as estimates of the first snow-free day (FSFD) that were, on average, 10–15 days later when compared with the baseline MODIS estimates. Correction of the AVHRR time series produced a significantly slower decadal change in the land-averaged FSFD, indicating that caution should be exercised when interpreting climate-related trends from earlier lower resolution observations. Substantial differences in the dynamic characteristics of snow cover in early autumn were also present between the remote sensing and snow model datasets, which need to be investigated separately. This work demonstrates that the consistency of earlier low spatial resolution snow cover datasets can be improved by using current-day higher resolution datasets.

2021 ◽  
Vol 973 (7) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Е.А. Rasputina ◽  
A.S. Korepova

The mapping and analysis of the dates of onset and melting the snow cover in the Baikal region for 2000–2010 based on eight-day MODIS “snow cover” composites with a spatial resolution of 500 m, as well as their verification based on the data of 17 meteorological stations was carried out. For each year of the decennary under study, for each meteorological station, the difference in dates determined from the MODIS data and that of weather stations was calculated. Modulus of deviations vary from 0 to 36 days for onset dates and from 0 to 47 days – for those of stable snow cover melting, the average of the deviation modules for all meteorological stations and years is 9–10 days. It is assumed that 83 % of the cases for the onset dates can be considered admissible (with deviations up to 16 days), and 79 % of them for the end dates. Possible causes of deviations are analyzed. It was revealed that the largest deviations correspond to coastal meteorological stations and are associated with the inhomogeneity of the characteristics of the snow cover inside the pixels containing water and land. The dates of onset and melting of a stable snow cover from the images turned out to be later than those of weather stations for about 10 days. First of all (from the end of August to the middle of September), the snow is established on the tops of the ranges Barguzinsky, Baikalsky, Khamar-Daban, and later (in late November–December) a stable cover appears in the Barguzin valley, in the Selenga lowland, and in Priolkhonye. The predominant part of the Baikal region territory is covered with snow in October, and is released from it in the end of April till the middle of May.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1881-1893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahangama Kankanamge Rasika Nishamanie Ranasinghe ◽  
Ranmalee Bandara ◽  
Udeni Gnanapriya Anuruddha Puswewala ◽  
Thilantha Lakmal Dammalage

Abstract. Through the recent technological developments of radar and optical remote sensing in (i) the areas of temporal, spectral, spatial, and global coverage; (ii) the availability of such images either at a low cost or free of charge; and (iii) the advancement of tools developed in image analysis techniques and GIS for spatial data analysis, there is a vast potential for landslide studies using remote sensing and GIS as tools. Hence, this study aimed to assess the efficacy of using radar-derived factors (RDFs) in identifying landslide susceptibility using the bivariate information value method (InfoVal method) and the multivariate multi-criteria decision analysis based on the analytic hierarchy process statistical analysis. Using identified landslide causative factors, four landslide prediction models – bivariate with and without RDFs as well as multivariate with and without RDFs – were generated. Twelve factors such as topographical, hydrological, geological, land cover and soil plus three RDFs are considered. The weight of index for landslide susceptibility is calculated by using the landslide failure map, and susceptibility regions are categorized into four classes as very low, low, moderate, and high susceptibility to landslides. With the integration of RDFs, boundary detection between high- and very-low-susceptibility regions are increased by 7 % and 4 % respectively.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Pimentel ◽  
Javier Herrero ◽  
María José Polo

Abstract. Subgrid variability introduces non-negligible scale effects on the GIS-based representation of snow. This heterogeneity is even more evident in semiarid regions, where the high variability of the climate produces various accumulation melting cycles throughout the year and a large spatial heterogeneity of the snow cover. This variability in a watershed can often be represented by snow depletion curves (DCs). In this study, terrestrial photography (TP) of a cell-sized area (30 x 30 m) was used to define local snow DCs at a Mediterranean site. Snow cover fraction (SCF) and snow depth (h) values obtained with this technique constituted the two datasets used to define DCs. A flexible sigmoid function was selected to parameterize snow behaviour on this subgrid scale. It was then fitted to meet five different snow patterns in the control area: one for the accumulation phase and four for the melting phase in a cycle within the snow season. Each pattern was successfully associated with the snow conditions and previous evolution. The resulting DCs were able to capture certain physical features of the snow, which were used in a decision-tree and included in the point snow model formulated by Herrero et al. (2009). The final performance of this model was tested against field observations recorded over four hydrological years (2009–2013). The calibration and validation of this DC-snow model was found to have a high level of accuracy with global RMSE values of 84.2 mm for the average snow depth and 0.18 m2 m-2 for the snow cover fraction in the control area. The use of DCs on the cell scale proposed in this research provided a sound basis for the extension of point snow models to larger areas by means of a gridded distributed calculation.


Author(s):  
Alfonso Calera ◽  
Isidro Campos ◽  
Anna Osann ◽  
Guido D´Urso ◽  
Massimo Menenti

The experiences gathered during the past 30 years support the operational use of irrigation scheduling based on frequent multi-spectral image data. Currently, the operational use of dense time series of multispectral imagery at high spatial resolution makes monitoring of crop biophysical parameters feasible, capturing crop water use across the growing season, with suitable temporal and spatial resolutions. These achievements, and the availability of accurate forecasting of meteorological data, allow for precise predictions of crop water requirements with unprecedented spatial resolution. This information is greatly appreciated by the end users, i.e. professional farmers or decision-makers, and can be provided in an easy-to-use manner and in near-real-time by using the improvements achieved in web-GIS methodologies. This paper reviews the most operational and explored methods based on optical remote sensing for the assessment of crop water requirements, identifying strengths and weaknesses and proposing alternatives to advance towards full operational application of this methodology. In addition, we provide a general overview of the tools which facilitates co-creation and collaboration with stakeholders, paying special attention to these approaches based on web-GIS tools.


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