Mapping snow cover with satellite imagery: comparison of results from three sensor systems

Submitted by Armida on Mon, 02/11/2013 - 13:21
TitleMapping snow cover with satellite imagery: comparison of results from three sensor systems
Publication TypeConference Proceedings
Year of Conference1989
AuthorsHolroyd, III E. W., and Verdin J. P.
Conference Name57th Annual Western Snow Conference
Series TitleProceedings of the 57th Annual Western Snow Conference
Date PublishedApril 1989
PublisherWestern Snow Conference
Conference LocationFort Collins, Colorado
KeywordsGOESS-VISSR, Landsat-TM, NOAA-AVHRR, Snow cover mapping
Abstract

A satellite snow cover mapping project was jointly undertaken by the NWS, USGS, and the Bureau of Reclamation. It included an intercomparison of results obtained from three statellite sensor systems: GOES-VISSR, NOAA-AVHRR, AND Landsat-TM. The study area was the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado during the 1987 melting season. snow maps were operationally produced for 5 dates from GEOS visible (1+ km) data using successive images to remove clouds. snow maps for 8 dates derived from NOAA-AVHRR (1 km) data used a partitioning of albedo versus elevation. A second method partitioned spectral space defined by AHVRR Band 1 (visible) and the combination of band 3 minus band 4 (both IR) to lessen the thermal component of band 3. A similar partitioning of spectral space of Landsat-TM band 3 (red) and band 5 (mid-IR) defined snow.
URLsites/westernsnowconference.org/PDFs/1989Holroyd.pdf