Articles | Volume 16, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3801-2022
© Author(s) 2022. 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-16-3801-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Sep 2022
Research article |
| 22 Sep 2022
| 22 Sep 2022
Sensitivity of modeled snow grain size retrievals to solar geometry, snow particle asphericity, and snowpack impurities
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Mark Flanner
Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Adam Schneider
Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
S. McKenzie Skiles
Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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Joachim Meyer, McKenzie Skiles, Jeffrey Deems, Kat Boremann, and David Shean
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Seasonally accumulated snow in the mountains forms a natural water reservoir which is challenging to measure in the rugged and remote terrain. Here, we use overlapping aerial images that model surface elevations using software to map snow depth by calculating the difference in surface elevations between two dates, one with snow and one without. Results demonstrate the utility of aerial images to improve our ability to capture the amount of water held as snow in remote and inaccessible locations.
Joachim Meyer, S. McKenzie Skiles, Jeffrey Deems, Kat Bormann, and David Shean
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-34, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-34, 2021
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Snow that accumulates seasonally in mountains forms a natural water reservoir and is difficult to measure in the rugged and remote landscapes. Here, we use modern software that models surface elevations from overlapping aerial images to map snow depth by calculating the difference in surface elevations between two dates, one with snow and one without. Results demonstrate the potential value of aerial images for understanding the amount of water held as snow in remote and inaccessible locations.
Zachary Fair, Mark Flanner, Kelly M. Brunt, Helen Amanda Fricker, and Alex Gardner
The Cryosphere, 14, 4253–4263, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4253-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4253-2020, 2020
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Short summary
Snow grain size is important to determine the age and structure of snow, but it is difficult to measure. Snow grain size can be found from airborne and spaceborne observations by measuring near-infrared energy reflected from snow. In this study, we use the SNICAR radiative transfer model and a Monte Carlo model to examine how snow grain size measurements change with snow structure and solar zenith angle. We show that improved understanding of these variables improves snow grain size precision.
Snow grain size is important to determine the age and structure of snow, but it is difficult to...
