Articles | Volume 15, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4261-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4261-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Evaluation of snow extent time series derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer global area coverage data (1982–2018) in the Hindu Kush Himalayas
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China
Institute of Geography and Oeschger Center for Climate Change
Research, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Kathrin Naegeli
Institute of Geography and Oeschger Center for Climate Change
Research, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Valentina Premier
EURAC Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Carlo Marin
EURAC Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Dujuan Ma
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China
Jingping Wang
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China
Stefan Wunderle
Institute of Geography and Oeschger Center for Climate Change
Research, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Related authors
Fei Pan, Xiaodan Wu, Qicheng Zeng, Rongqi Tang, Jingping Wang, Xingwen Lin, Dongqin You, Jianguang Wen, and Qing Xiao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 161–176, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-161-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-161-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To effectively tackle the challenges posed by spatial-scale differences and spatial heterogeneity, this paper presents a distinctive coarse pixel-scale ground “truth" dataset by upscaling sparsely distributed in situ measurements. This dataset is a valuable resource for validating and correcting global surface albedo products, enhancing reference data accuracy by 6.04 %. Remarkably, it substantially enhances 17.09 % in regions with strong spatial heterogeneity.
Rongqi Tang, Xiaodan Wu, Jingping Wang, Dujuan Ma, Qicheng Zeng, Jianguang Wen, and Qing Xiao
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-282, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-282, 2022
Publication in AMT not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
The vertical distribution characteristics of ozone in China have not been fully understood. This study first identified the vertical sensitivity of AIRS in detecting trends and verified the sensitivity in the near ground using in-situ measurements. Then a consistent ozone datasets dating back to the 1970s was constructed. we found that the spatiotemporal variation of ozone in the stratosphere shows a strong dependence on altitudes, and opposite results can be found at different altitudes.
Valentina Premier, Francesca Moschini, Jesús Casado-Rodríguez, Davide Bavera, Carlo Marin, and Alberto Pistocchi
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2157, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2157, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Earth observation-derived snow cover data is valuable for evaluating and improving snow modules in hydrological models. We propose a novel calibration of LISFLOOD’s snowmelt coefficient by minimizing errors between observed and modeled snow cover fraction, enhancing pixel-scale accuracy. While basin-scale performance shows minor discrepancies, a more realistic snow module leads to shifts in the timing and magnitude of snowmelt and total runoff, thus affecting the water balance.
Francesca Carletti, Carlo Marin, Chiara Ghielmini, Mathias Bavay, and Michael Lehning
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-974, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-974, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents the first high-resolution dataset of wet snow properties for satellite applications. With it, we validate links between Sentinel-1 backscattering and snowmelt stages, and investigate scattering mechanisms through a radiative transfer model. We disclose the influence of liquid water content and surface roughness at different melting stages and address future challenges, such as capturing large-scale scattering mechanisms and enhancing radiative transfer modules for wet snow.
Lea Hartl, Federico Covi, Martin Stocker-Waldhuber, Anna Baldo, Davide Fugazza, Biagio Di Mauro, and Kathrin Naegeli
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-384, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-384, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Glacier albedo determines how much solar radiation is absorbed by the glacier surface and is a key driver of glacier melt. Alpine glaciers are losing their snow and firn cover and the underlying, darker ice is becoming exposed. This means that more solar radiation is absorbed by the ice, which leads to increased melt. To quantify these processes, we explore data from a high elevation, on-ice weather station that measures albedo and combine this information with satellite imagery.
Riccardo Barella, Mathias Bavay, Francesca Carletti, Nicola Ciapponi, Valentina Premier, and Carlo Marin
The Cryosphere, 18, 5323–5345, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5323-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5323-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This research revisits a classic scientific technique, melting calorimetry, to measure snow liquid water content. This study shows with a novel uncertainty propagation framework that melting calorimetry, traditionally less trusted than freezing calorimetry, can produce accurate results. The study defines optimal experiment parameters and a robust field protocol. Melting calorimetry has the potential to become a valuable tool for validating other liquid water content measuring techniques.
Fei Pan, Xiaodan Wu, Qicheng Zeng, Rongqi Tang, Jingping Wang, Xingwen Lin, Dongqin You, Jianguang Wen, and Qing Xiao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 161–176, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-161-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-161-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To effectively tackle the challenges posed by spatial-scale differences and spatial heterogeneity, this paper presents a distinctive coarse pixel-scale ground “truth" dataset by upscaling sparsely distributed in situ measurements. This dataset is a valuable resource for validating and correcting global surface albedo products, enhancing reference data accuracy by 6.04 %. Remarkably, it substantially enhances 17.09 % in regions with strong spatial heterogeneity.
Riccardo Barella, Mathias Bavay, Francesca Carletti, Nicola Ciapponi, Valentina Premier, and Carlo Marin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2892, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2892, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Unlocking the potential of melting calorimetry, traditionally confined to school labs, this paper demonstrates its application in the field for accurate measurement of liquid water content in snow. Dispelling misconceptions about measurement uncertainty, it provide a robust protocol and quantifies associated uncertainties. The findings endorse the broader adoption of melting calorimetry for quantification of snow liquid water content in operational context.
Valentina Premier, Carlo Marin, Giacomo Bertoldi, Riccardo Barella, Claudia Notarnicola, and Lorenzo Bruzzone
The Cryosphere, 17, 2387–2407, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2387-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2387-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The large amount of information regularly acquired by satellites can provide important information about SWE. We explore the use of multi-source satellite data, in situ observations, and a degree-day model to reconstruct daily SWE at 25 m. The results show spatial patterns that are consistent with the topographical features as well as with a reference product. Being able to also reproduce interannual variability, the method has great potential for hydrological and ecological applications.
Rongqi Tang, Xiaodan Wu, Jingping Wang, Dujuan Ma, Qicheng Zeng, Jianguang Wen, and Qing Xiao
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-282, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-282, 2022
Publication in AMT not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
The vertical distribution characteristics of ozone in China have not been fully understood. This study first identified the vertical sensitivity of AIRS in detecting trends and verified the sensitivity in the near ground using in-situ measurements. Then a consistent ozone datasets dating back to the 1970s was constructed. we found that the spatiotemporal variation of ozone in the stratosphere shows a strong dependence on altitudes, and opposite results can be found at different altitudes.
Mickaël Lalande, Martin Ménégoz, Gerhard Krinner, Kathrin Naegeli, and Stefan Wunderle
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 1061–1098, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1061-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1061-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change over High Mountain Asia is investigated with CMIP6 climate models. A general cold bias is found in this area, often related to a snow cover overestimation in the models. Ensemble experiments generally encompass the past observed trends, suggesting that even biased models can reproduce the trends. Depending on the future scenario, a warming from 1.9 to 6.5 °C, associated with a snow cover decrease and precipitation increase, is expected at the end of the 21st century.
Pirmin Philipp Ebner, Franziska Koch, Valentina Premier, Carlo Marin, Florian Hanzer, Carlo Maria Carmagnola, Hugues François, Daniel Günther, Fabiano Monti, Olivier Hargoaa, Ulrich Strasser, Samuel Morin, and Michael Lehning
The Cryosphere, 15, 3949–3973, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3949-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3949-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A service to enable real-time optimization of grooming and snow-making at ski resorts was developed and evaluated using both GNSS-measured snow depth and spaceborne snow maps derived from Copernicus Sentinel-2. The correlation to the ground observation data was high. Potential sources for the overestimation of the snow depth by the simulations are mainly the impact of snow redistribution by skiers, compensation of uneven terrain, or spontaneous local adaptions of the snow management.
Ethan Welty, Michael Zemp, Francisco Navarro, Matthias Huss, Johannes J. Fürst, Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Johannes Landmann, Horst Machguth, Kathrin Naegeli, Liss M. Andreassen, Daniel Farinotti, Huilin Li, and GlaThiDa Contributors
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3039–3055, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3039-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3039-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Knowing the thickness of glacier ice is critical for predicting the rate of glacier loss and the myriad downstream impacts. To facilitate forecasts of future change, we have added 3 million measurements to our worldwide database of glacier thickness: 14 % of global glacier area is now within 1 km of a thickness measurement (up from 6 %). To make it easier to update and monitor the quality of our database, we have used automated tools to check and track changes to the data over time.
Dimitri Osmont, Sandra Brugger, Anina Gilgen, Helga Weber, Michael Sigl, Robin L. Modini, Christoph Schwörer, Willy Tinner, Stefan Wunderle, and Margit Schwikowski
The Cryosphere, 14, 3731–3745, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3731-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3731-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this interdisciplinary case study, we were able to link biomass burning emissions from the June 2017 wildfires in Portugal to their deposition in the snowpack at Jungfraujoch, Swiss Alps. We analysed black carbon and charcoal in the snowpack, calculated backward trajectories, and monitored the fire evolution by remote sensing. Such case studies help to understand the representativity of biomass burning records in ice cores and how biomass burning tracers are archived in the snowpack.
Cited articles
Anderson, K., Fawcett, D., Cugulliere, A., Benford, S., Jones, D., and Leng,
R.: Vegetation expansion in the subnival Hindu Kush Himalaya, Glob. Chang
Biol., 26, 1608–1625, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14919, 2020.
Arsenault, K. R., Houser, P. R., and De Lannoy, G. J.: Evaluation of the
MODIS snow cover fraction product, Hydrol. Process., 28, 980–998, 2014.
Bookhagen, B. and Burbank, D. W.: Topography, relief, and TRMM-derived
rainfall variations along the Himalaya, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L08405, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL026037,
2006.
Brown, R. D. and Mote, P. W.: The response of Northern Hemisphere snow
cover to a changing climate, J. Climate, 22, 2124–2145, 2009.
Crawford, C. J.: MODIS Terra Collection 6 fractional snow cover validation
in mountainous terrain during spring snowmelt using Landsat TM and ETM+,
Hydrol. Process., 29, 128–138, 2015.
Devasthale, A., Raspaud, M., Schlundt, C., Hanschmann, T., Finkensieper, S., Dybbroe, A., Hörnquist, S., Håkansson, N., Stengel, M., and Karlsson, K.: PyGac: An open-source, community-driven Python
interface to preprocess nearly 40-year AVHRR Global Area Coverage (GAC) data
record, Quarterly, 11, 3–5, 2017.
Fletcher, C. G., Kushner, P. J., Hall, A., and Qu, X.: Circulation responses
to snow albedo feedback in climate change, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, 1–4,
2009.
Foppa, N. and Seiz, G.: Inter-annual variations of snow days over Switzerland from 2000–2010 derived from MODIS satellite data, The Cryosphere, 6, 331–342, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-331-2012, 2012.
Foster, J. L., Hall, D. K., Eylan De R, J. B., Riggs, G. A., Nghiem, S.
V., and Te De Sco, M.: A blended global snow product using
visible, passive microwave and scatterometer satellite data, Int.
J. Remote S., 32, 1371–1395, 2011.
Friedl, M. A., Sulla-Menashe, D., Tan, B., Schneider, A., Ramankutty, N.,
Sibley, A., and Huang, X.: MODIS Collection 5 global land cover: Algorithm
refinements and characterization of new datasets, Remote Sens. Environ.,
114, 168–182, 2010.
Gafurov, A., Kriegel, D., Vorogushyn, S., and Merz, B.: Evaluation of
remotely sensed snow cover product in Central Asia, Hydrol. Res., 44,
506–522, 2012.
Gascoin, S., Grizonnet, M., Bouchet, M., Salgues, G., and Hagolle, O.: Theia Snow collection: high-resolution operational snow cover maps from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 493–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-493-2019, 2019.
Guangwei, C.: Summary reports of workshops on biodiversity conservation in
the Hindu Kush-Himalayan ecoregion, in: Biodiversity in the eastern
Himalayas: conservation through dialogue, ICIMOD, 2002.
Hall, D. K. and Riggs, G. A.: Accuracy assessment of the MODIS snow products, Hydrol. Process., 21, 1534–1547, 2007.
Hall, D. K. and Riggs, G. A.: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m
SIN Grid, Version 6. Boulder, Colorado USA, NASA National Snow and Ice Data
Center Distributed Active Archive Center [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD10A1.006, 2016.
Hao, S., Jiang, L., Shi, J., Wang, G., and Liu, X.: Assessment of
modis-based fractional snow cover products over the tibetan plateau, IEEE J.
Sel. Topics Appl. Earth Observ., PP, 1–16, 2018.
Hao, X., Luo, S., Che, T., Wang, J., Li, H., Dai, L., Huang, X., and Feng,
Q.: Accuracy assessment of four cloud-free snow cover products over the
Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Int. J. Digit. Earth, 12, 375–393, 2019.
Hori, M., Sugiura, K., Kobayashi, K., Aoki, T., Tanikawa, T., Kuchiki, K.,
Niwano, M., and Enomoto, H.: A 38-year (1978–2015) Northern Hemisphere
daily snow cover extent product derived using consistent objective criteria
from satellite-borne optical sensors, Remote Sens. Environ., 191, 402–418,
2017.
Hüsler, F., Jonas, T., Wunderle, S., and Albrecht, S.: Validation of a
modified snow cover retrieval algorithm from historical 1-km AVHRR data over
the European Alps, Remote Sens. Environ., 121, 497–515, 2012.
Huang, X., Liang, T., Zhang, X., and Guo, Z.: Validation of MODIS snow cover
products using Landsat and ground measurements during the 2001–2005 snow
seasons over northern Xinjiang, China, Int. J. Remote. Sens., 32,
133–152, 2011.
Huang, Y., Liu, H., Yu, B., Wu, J., Kang, E. L., Xu, M., Wang, S., Klein, A.,
and Chen, Y.: Improving MODIS snow products with a HMRF-based
spatio-temporal modeling technique in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, Remote
Sens. Environ., 204, 568–582, 2018.
Immerzeel, W. W., Droogers, P., Jong, S. M. D., and Bierkens, M.:
Large-scale monitoring of snow cover and runoff simulation in himalayan
river basins using remote sensing, Remote Sens. Environ., 113,
40–49, 2009.
IPCC: Climate Change 2013, The Physical Science Basic. Contribution of
Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 2013.
Jain, S. K., Goswami, A., and Saraf, A. K.: Accuracy assessment of MODIS,
NOAA and IRS data in snow cover mapping under Himalayan conditions, Int. J.
Remote. Sens., 29, 5863–5878, 2008.
Klein, A. G. and Barnett, A. C.: Validation of daily modis snow cover maps
of the upper rio grande river basin for the 2000–2001 snow year, Remote
Sens. Environ., 86, 162–176, 2003.
Liu, X., Jiang, L., Wu, S., Hao, S., Wang, G., and Yang, J.: Assessment of
methods for passive microwave snow cover mapping using FY-3C/MWRI data in
China, Remote Sens., 10, 524, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040524, 2018.
Marchane, A., Jarlan, L., Hanich, L., Boudhar, A., Gascoin, S., Tavernier,
A., Filali, N., Le Page, M., Hagolle, O., and Berjamy, B.: Assessment of
daily MODIS snow cover products to monitor snow cover dynamics over the
Moroccan Atlas mountain range, Remote Sens. Environ., 160, 72–86, 2015.
Metsämäki, S., Pulliainen, J., Salminen, M., Luojus, K., Wiesmann, A., Solberg, R., Böttcher, K., Hiltunen, M., and Ripper, E.: Introduction to
globsnow snow extent products with considerations for accuracy assessment,
Remote Sens. Environ., 156, 96–108, 2015.
Mir, R. A., Jain, S. K., Saraf, A. K., and Goswami, A.: Accuracy assessment and
trend analysis of MODIS-derived data on snow-covered areas in the Sutlej
basin, Western Himalayas, Int. J. Remote. Sens., 36, 3837–3858, 2015.
Naegeli, K., Neuhaus, C., Salberg, A.-B., Schwaizer, G., Wiesmann, A.,
Wunderle, S., and Nagler, T.: ESA Snow Climate Change Initiative
(Snow_cci): Daily global Snow Cover Fraction – snow on ground
(SCFG) from AVHRR (1982 - 2019), version1.0, NERC EDS Centre for
Environmental Data Analysis [data set],
https://doi.org/10.5285/5484dc1392bc43c1ace73ba38a22ac56, 2021.
Ning, W., Rawat, G. S., and Sharma, E.: High-altitude ecosystem interfaces
in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal, available at: https://lib.icimod.org/record/28841/files/HARc1.pdf (last access: 30 April 2020), 2014.
Parajka, J., Holko, L., Kostka, Z., and Blöschl, G.: MODIS snow cover mapping accuracy in a small mountain catchment – comparison between open and forest sites, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2365–2377, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2365-2012, 2012.
Qin, D., Liu, S., and Li, P.: Snow cover distribution, variability, and
response to climate change in western China, J. Climate, 19, 1820–1833,
2006.
Qiu, J.: Trouble in Tibet: Rapid changes in Tibetan grasslands are
threatening Asia's main water supply and the livelihood of nomads, Nature,
529, 142–145, 2016.
Riggs, G. A., Hall, D. K., and Román, M. O.: MODIS Snow Products
Collection 6 User Guide, available at:
https://modis-snow-ice.gsfc.nasa.gov/uploads/C6_MODIS_Snow_User_Guide.pdf (last access: 30 April 2020),
2016a.
Riggs, G. A., Hall, D. K., and Román, M. O.: VIIRS snow products user guide
for Collection 1 (C1), available at:
http://modissnow-ice.gsfc.nasa.gov/?c=userguides (last access: 8 March 2017), 2016b.
Rosenthal, W. and Dozier, J.: Automated mapping of montane snow cover at
subpixel resolution from the landsat thematic mapper, Water Resour. Res.,
32, 115–130, https://doi.org/10.1029/95WR02718, 1996.
Salomonson, V. V. and Appel, I.: Estimating fractional snow cover from modis using the normalized difference snow index, Remote Sens. Environ., 89, 351–360, 2004.
Salomonson, V. V. and Appel, I.: Development of the Aqua MODIS NDSI
fractional snow cover algorithm and validation results, IEEE T. Geosci.
Remote, 44, 1747–1756, 2006.
Serreze, M. C. and Francis, J. A.: The polar amplification debate, Clim.
Change, 76, 241–264, 2006.
Shan, L. U., Oki, K., and Omasa, K.: Mapping snow cover using
avhrr/ndvi 10-day composite data, J. Agric. Meteorol.,
60, 1215–1218, 2016.
Siljamo, N. and Hyvärinen, O.: New Geostationary Satellite–Based
Snow-Cover Algorithm, J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 50, 1275–1290, 2011.
Simpson, J. J., Stitt, J. R., and Sienko, M.: Improved estimates of the
areal extent of snow cover from AVHRR data, J. Hydrol., 204, 1–23,
1998.
Singh, D.: Re: What value of Heidke Skill Score is practically good for
categorical precipitation forecast? And what is the same for avalanche
forecast?, available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_value_of_Heidke_Skill_Score_is_practically_good_for_categorical_precipitation_forecast_And_what_is_the_same_for_avalanche_forecast/54e75aa0d3df3e2a468b464b/citation/download (last access: 30 April 2020), 2015.
Singh, S. K., Rathore, B. P., Bahuguna, I., and Prof, A.: Snow cover variability in the
himalayan–tibetan region, Int. J. Climatol., 34, 446–452, 2014.
Solberg, R., Wangensteen, B., Metsämäki, S., Nagler, T., Sandner, R., Rott, H., Wiesmann, A., Luojus, K., Kangwa, M., and Pulliainen, J.: GlobSnow snow extent product guide product version 1.0. Tech. rep., ESA Globsnow, 2010.
Stengel, M., Sus, O., Stapelberg, S., Schlundt, C., Poulsen, C., and
Hollmann, R.: ESA Cloud Climate Change Initiative (ESA Cloud_cci) data: Cloud_cci AVHRR-AM L3C/L3U CLD_PRODUCTS v2.0, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD),
https://doi.org/10.5676/DWD/ESA_Cloud_cci/AVHRR-AM/V002, 2017.
Stengel, M., Stapelberg, S., Sus, O., Finkensieper, S., Würzler, B., Philipp, D., Hollmann, R., Poulsen, C., Christensen, M., and McGarragh, G.: Cloud_cci Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer post meridiem (AVHRR-PM) dataset version 3: 35-year climatology of global cloud and radiation properties, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 41–60, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-41-2020, 2020.
Sun, Y., Zhang, T., Liu, Y., Zhao, W., and Huang, X.: Assessing Snow
Phenology over the Large Part of Eurasia Using Satellite Observations from
2000 to 2016, Remote Sens., 12, 2060, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12122060, 2020.
Tedesco, M.: Remote sensing of the cryosphere, John Wiley & Sons, Scientific Technical Academic Research (STAR), https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118368909.ch5, 2014.
Tedesco, M. and Jeyaratnam, J.: A New Operational Snow Retrieval Algorithm Applied to Historical AMSR-E Brightness Temperatures, Remote
Sensing, 8, 1037, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8121037, 2016.
USGS: USGS EROS Archive – Landsat Archives – Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) Level-1 Data Products, USGS [data set], https://doi.org/10.5066/F7N015TQ, 2020a.
USGS: USGS EROS Archive – Landsat Archives – Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) and TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor) Level-1 Data Products, USGS [data set], https://doi.org/10.5066/F71835S6, 2020b.
Wang, X., Xie, H., and Liang, T.: Comparison and validation of MODIS
standard and new combination of Terra and Aqua snow cover products in
northern Xinjiang, China, Hydrol. Process., 429, 419–429, 2009.
Wester, P., Mishra, A., Mukherji, A., and Shrestha, A. B.: The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment: Mountains, Climate Change, Sustainability and People, Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92288-1,
2019.
WMO: Review on remote sensing of the snow cover and on methods of mapping
snow, in: 14th Session of the WMO Commission for Hydrology, CHy-14,
26, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Geneva, Switzerland, 2012.
Wunderle, S., Gross, T., and Hüsler, F.: Snow extent variability in
Lesotho derived from MODIS data (2000–2014), Remote Sens., 8, 448, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8060448, 2016.
Xiao, X., Zhang, T., Zhong, X., Shao, W., and Li, X.: Support vector
regression snow-depth retrieval algorithm using passive microwave remote
sensing data, Remote Sens. Environ., 210, 48–64, 2018.
Yang, G., Ning, L., and Yao, T.: Evaluation of a cloud-gap-filled modis
daily snow cover product over the pacific northwest USA, J. Hydrol.,
404, 157–165, 2011.
Yang, J., Jiang, L., Ménard, C. B., Luojus, K., Lemmetyinen, J., and
Pulliainen, J.: Evaluation of snow products over the Tibetan Plateau,
Hydrol. Process., 29, 3247–3260, 2015.
You, Q. L., Ren, G. Y., Zhang, Y. Q., Ren, Y. Y., Sun, X. B., Zhan, Y. J., Shrestha, A., and Krishnan, R.: An overview of studies of observed climate change in
the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, Adv. Clim. Change Res., 8,
141–147, 2017.
Zhang, H., Zhang, F., Zhang, G., Che, T., Yan, W., Ye, M., and Ma, N.:
Ground-based evaluation of MODIS snow cover product V6 across China:
Implications for the selection of NDSI threshold, Sci. Total Environ., 651,
2712–2726, 2019.
Zhou, H., Aizen, E., and Aizen, V.: Deriving long term snow cover extent
dataset from AVHRR and MODIS data: Central Asia case study, Remote Sens.
Environ., 136, 146–162, 2013.
Short summary
We performed a comprehensive accuracy assessment of an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer global area coverage snow-cover extent time series dataset for the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. The sensor-to-sensor consistency, the accuracy related to snow depth, elevations, land-cover types, slope, and aspects, and topographical variability were also explored. Our analysis shows an overall accuracy of 94 % in comparison with in situ station data, which is the same with MOD10A1 V006.
We performed a comprehensive accuracy assessment of an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer...