Abstract
Since 2002, global snow water equivalent (SWE) estimates have been generated using Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E)/Aqua data. Accurate estimates of SWE are important to improve monitoring and managing of water resources in specific regions. SWE and snow map product accuracy are functions of topography and of land cover type because landscape characteristics have a strong influence on redistribution and physical properties of snow cover, and influence the microwave properties of the surface. Here we evaluate the AMSR-E SWE and derived snow map products in the Mackenzie River Basin (MRB), Canada, which is characterized by complex topography and varying land cover types from tundra to boreal forest. We compare in situ snow depth observations and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow cover maps from January 2003 to December 2007 with passive microwave remotely sensed SWE from AMSR-E and derived snow cover maps. In the MRB the mean absolute error ranges from 12 mm in the early winter season to 50 mm in the late winter season and overestimations of snow cover maps based on a 1 mm threshold of AMSR-E SWE varies from 4% to 8%. The optimal threshold for AMSR-E SWE to classify the pixels as snow ranges from 6 mm to 9 mm. The overall accuracy of new snow cover maps from AMSR-E varies from 91% to 94% in different sub-basins in the MRB.
Highlights
The spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover extent (SCE) and snow water equivalent (SWE)is a very important component of the hydrology of northern watersheds [1,2]
In the Mackenzie River Basin (MRB) the mean absolute error ranges from 12 mm in the early winter season to 50 mm in the late winter season and overestimations of snow cover maps based on a 1 mm threshold of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) SWE varies from 4% to 8%
The quantitative comparison between the AMSR-E and in situ SWE is based on the mean absolute error (MAE) (Equation 1) and mean relative error (MRE) (Equation 2), which were adopted by Derksen et al [8,9] to evaluate the agreement between Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) retrieved and in situ SWE
Summary
The spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover extent (SCE) and snow water equivalent (SWE). We evaluate the accuracy of the SWE retrieval from AMSR-E L3 data in Northern America, in the Mackenzie River Basin (MRB), Western Canada. This region is characterized by a very different topography and snow process compared to Eastern Turkey, and represents a good validation for SWE estimate in the northern latitudes characterized by highly variable topography and combinations of different land cover, such as tundra and boreal forest. The AMSR-E derived daily L3 Global SWE Equal Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) products are evaluated based on in situ observations in different snow seasons in the MRB. Maps from AMSR-E SWE in different topography regions in MRB are determined based on the MODIS SCE maps, and we estimated the error introduced by the previously used thresholds
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