| Title | Evaluation of multiple datasets for snow cover indicators for Canada |
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| Author | Fernandes, R ;
Zhou, F; Song, H |
| Source | IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings 2014, 6946401, 2014 p. 239-242, https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2014.6946401 |
| Year | 2014 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20181432 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Meeting | 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium; Québec, QC; CA; July 13-18, 2014 |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Canada; British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut;
Canada |
| NTS | 1; 2; 3; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 62; 63; 64; 65;
66; 67; 68; 69; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
| Subjects | geophysics; environmental geology; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; remote sensing; satellite imagery; snow; mapping techniques; climate effects; Climate change |
| Program | Remote Sensing Science |
| Released | 2014 11 06 |
| Abstract | Snow cover extent (SCE) is an essential climate variable. Indicators of trends in the temporal and spatial patterns of SCE are increasingly used to both monitoring climate variability and change and
quantifying regional environmental conditions. However, the choice and accuracy of the indicators are often depends on the input snow cover data. A survey of snow cover indicators is performed to identify those that would satisfy user requirements
over Canada in addition to the current practices for international reporting. Four different input data sets are then used to generate snow cover indicators over a five year period (2006-2010): the Canadian Meteorological Centre snow depth analysis
with systematic in-situ measurements; cloud free MODIS MOD10C1 SCE product; NOAA Interactive Mapping Service 4km SCE product; and CCRS SCE product that assimilated both CMC inputs and NOAA AVHRR satellite imagery. Then snow cover indicators,
including snow cover onset and melt, are evaluated through their sensitivity to documented data uncertainties, by comparison to continuous monitored in-situ data, and through inter-comparison. Recommendations for suitable indicators as a function of
input dataset are provided. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Snow cover information is essential to support modelling and decision support within transportation, tourism, climate, weather and water resource
sectors. The Government of Canada has included a national snow cover indicator in their National Indicators. The indicator corresponds to the timing (melt, onset) and amount (days per season) of snow cover over Canada. Here we quantify the
sensitivity of this indicator over each of Canada's climate ones to the type of input snow cover maps used: MODIS satellite based maps, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration global maps, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing satellite based
maps, and Canadian Meteorological Centre maps based on in-situ sites. The comparison found good agreement amongst all satellite based products except for mountainous regions and dense forests. Biases over forests are due to the way forest masking
of snow is treated in satellite algorithms. A clear explanation of differences in mountains could not be provided due to the lack of sufficient in-situ data in these regions. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 311787 |
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