Ground Validation of Airborne Snow Observatory Spectral and Broadband Snow Albedo During Snowex ’17

Abstract

Despite the well-established understanding that the timing and magnitude of snowmelt is determined by net solar radiation, ground and remotely sensed measurements of snow reflectance and albedo at relevant [spatial, spectral, or temporal] resolution are sparse, particularly in complex mountainous terrain. The Airborne Snow Observatory, a coupled lidar and imaging spectrometer platform, has been monitoring time series of snow reflectance over entire mountain basins since 2013 and the ASO imaging spectrometer products, including albedo, build upon a legacy of algorithms for retrieving snow properties from the unique spectral signature of snow. Here, we present a ground validation of ASO spectral and broadband snow albedo from coincident ground measurements collected in Senator Beck Basin, San Juan Mountains, CO, USA during the February 2017 NASA SnowEx field campaign.