Detecting and measuring new snow accumulation on ice sheets by satellite remote sensing

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425705002488?casa_token=NaQYz7cF8WwAAAAA:sw7mD5DQZtFZcqHWp-n8LVSzUJiduocCnLoz6sNZexRYg098twiMRqs_vSBZ3pnMkkpU68hICQ

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2005.07.014
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/24293

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UMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)

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Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9606-767X

Date

2005-10-30

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journal articles
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Citation of Original Publication

"Bindschadler, Robert et al. Detecting and measuring new snow accumulation on ice sheets by satellite remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment 08 (Oct 30, 2005) 4, p 388-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2005.07.014"

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.

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Abstract

A new technique is described that detects when and where new snow falls on ice sheets and then determines the thickness of new accumulation. Measurements of vertically polarized passive emission at 85 GHz are filtered with the Hilbert–Huang Transform to identify periods where the surface snow has changed significantly. These are shown to be commonly the result of new snow by comparison with both field observations and in situ instrumentation. Temperature, atmospheric emission and clouds all affect the passive microwave signal but each is examined and shown not to prevent the identification of new snow events. The magnitude of the brightness temperature change is not strongly correlated with snowfall amount. To quantify the amount of new snow, the spatial extent and timing of new snowfalls are examined with ICESat/GLAS laser altimetry data. Crossover differences between altimetric profiles taken before, during, and after the snowfall event provide a measure of the thickness of new snow. Specific cases are presented where 11 and 13 cm of new snow were detected over large regions.