Generation of daily snow depth from multi-source satellite images and in situ observations

Abstract

Snow depth (SD) is a key parameter for research into global climate changes and land surface processes. A method was developed to obtain daily SD images at a higher 4 km spatial resolution and higher precision with SD measurements from in situ observations and passive microwave remote sensing of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) and snow cover measurements of the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). AMSR-E SD at 25 km spatial resolution was retrieved from AMSR-E products of snow density and snow water equivalent and then corrected using the SD from in situ observations and IMS snow cover. Corrected AMSR-E SD images were then resampled to act as “virtual” in situ observations to combine with the real in situ observations to interpolate at 4 km spatial resolution SD using the Cressman method. Finally, daily SD data generation for several regions of China demonstrated that the method is well suited to the generation of higher spatial resolution SD data in regions with a lower Digital Elevation Model (DEM) but not so well suited to regions at high altitude and with an undulating terrain, such as the Tibetan Plateau. Analysis of the longer time period SD data generation for January between 2003 and 2010 in northern Xinjiang also demonstrated the feasibility of the method.