scholarly journals EVALUATING THE CONSISTENCY OF REMOTE SENSING BASED SNOW DEPTH PRODUCTS IN ARID ZONE OF WESTERN CHINA

Author(s):  
Q. Zhou ◽  
B. Sun
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinming Yang ◽  
Chengzhi Li

AbstractSnow depth mirrors regional climate change and is a vital parameter for medium- and long-term numerical climate prediction, numerical simulation of land-surface hydrological process, and water resource assessment. However, the quality of the available snow depth products retrieved from remote sensing is inevitably affected by cloud and mountain shadow, and the spatiotemporal resolution of the snow depth data cannot meet the need of hydrological research and decision-making assistance. Therefore, a method to enhance the accuracy of snow depth data is urgently required. In the present study, three kinds of snow depth data which included the D-InSAR data retrieved from the remote sensing images of Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar, the automatically measured data using ultrasonic snow depth detectors, and the manually measured data were assimilated based on ensemble Kalman filter. The assimilated snow depth data were spatiotemporally consecutive and integrated. Under the constraint of the measured data, the accuracy of the assimilated snow depth data was higher and met the need of subsequent research. The development of ultrasonic snow depth detector and the application of D-InSAR technology in snow depth inversion had greatly alleviated the insufficiency of snow depth data in types and quantity. At the same time, the assimilation of multi-source snow depth data by ensemble Kalman filter also provides high-precision data to support remote sensing hydrological research, water resource assessment, and snow disaster prevention and control program.


2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (215) ◽  
pp. 467-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Deems ◽  
Thomas H. Painter ◽  
David C. Finnegan

AbstractLaser altimetry (lidar) is a remote-sensing technology that holds tremendous promise for mapping snow depth in snow hydrology and avalanche applications. Recently lidar has seen a dramatic widening of applications in the natural sciences, resulting in technological improvements and an increase in the availability of both airborne and ground-based sensors. Modern sensors allow mapping of vegetation heights and snow or ground surface elevations below forest canopies. Typical vertical accuracies for airborne datasets are decimeter-scale with order 1 m point spacings. Ground-based systems typically provide millimeter-scale range accuracy and sub-meter point spacing over 1 m to several kilometers. Many system parameters, such as scan angle, pulse rate and shot geometry relative to terrain gradients, require specification to achieve specific point coverage densities in forested and/or complex terrain. Additionally, snow has a significant volumetric scattering component, requiring different considerations for error estimation than for other Earth surface materials. We use published estimates of light penetration depth by wavelength to estimate radiative transfer error contributions. This paper presents a review of lidar mapping procedures and error sources, potential errors unique to snow surface remote sensing in the near-infrared and visible wavelengths, and recommendations for projects using lidar for snow-depth mapping.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Douglas ◽  
Caiyun Zhang

The seasonal snowpack plays a critical role in Arctic and boreal hydrologic and ecologic processes. Though snow depth can be different from one season to another there are repeated relationships between ecotype and snowpack depth. Alterations to the seasonal snowpack, which plays a critical role in regulating wintertime soil thermal conditions, have major ramifications for near-surface permafrost. Therefore, relationships between vegetation and snowpack depth are critical for identifying how present and projected future changes in winter season processes or land cover will affect permafrost. Vegetation and snow cover areal extent can be assessed rapidly over large spatial scales with remote sensing methods, however, measuring snow depth remotely has proven difficult. This makes snow depth–vegetation relationships a potential means of assessing snowpack characteristics. In this study, we combined airborne hyperspectral and LiDAR data with machine learning methods to characterize relationships between ecotype and the end of winter snowpack depth. Our results show hyperspectral measurements account for two thirds or more of the variance in the relationship between ecotype and snow depth. An ensemble analysis of model outputs using hyperspectral and LiDAR measurements yields the strongest relationships between ecotype and snow depth. Our results can be applied across the boreal biome to model the coupling effects between vegetation and snowpack depth.


2021 ◽  
pp. 912-926
Author(s):  
Fadel Abbas Zwain ◽  
Thair Thamer Al-Samarrai ◽  
Younus I. Al-Saady

Iraq territory as a whole and south of Iraq in particular encountered rapid desertification and signs of severe land degradation in the last decades. Both natural and anthropogenic factors are responsible for the extent of desertification. Remote sensing data and image analysis tools were employed to identify, detect, and monitor desertification in Basra governorate. Different remote sensing indicators and image indices were applied in order to better identify the desertification development in the study area, including the Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Salinity index (SI), Top Soil Grain Size Index (GSI) , Land Surface Temperature (LST) , Land Surface Soil Moisture (LSM), and Land Degradation Risk Index (LDI) which was used for the assessment of degradation severity .Three Landsat images, acquired in 1973, 1993, and 2013, were used to evaluate the potential of using remote sensing analysis in desertification monitoring. The approach applied in this study for evaluating this phenomenon was proven to be an effective tool for the recognition of areas at risk of desertification. The results indicated that the arid zone of Basra governorate encounters substantial changes in the environment, such as decreasing surface water, degradation of agricultural lands (as palm orchards and crops), and deterioration of marshlands. Additional changes include increased salinization with the creeping of sand dunes to agricultural areas, as well as the impacts of oil fields and other facilities.


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