The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2629-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2629-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
Research article
 | 
06 Jul 2023
Research article |  | 06 Jul 2023

How do tradeoffs in satellite spatial and temporal resolution impact snow water equivalent reconstruction?

Edward H. Bair, Jeff Dozier, Karl Rittger, Timbo Stillinger, William Kleiber, and Robert E. Davis

Data sets

SPIReS: Western USA snow cover and snow surface properties, water years 2001-2021 E. H. Bair and T. Stillinger https://doi.org/10.21424/R4H05T

SPIReS-MODIS-ParBal Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction: Western USA, water years 2001-2021 Edward Bair https://doi.org/10.25349/D9TK7H

Snow cover and snow water equivalent for "How do tradeoffs in satellite spatial and temporal resolution impact snow water equivalent reconstruction?" Edward Bair https://doi.org/10.25349/D9PW47

Model code and software

edwardbair/ParBal: 2023 updates (v1.1) Ned Bair https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8106305

edwardbair/SPIRES: 2023 release (v1.2) Ned Bair https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8106303

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Short summary
To test the title question, three snow cover products were used in a snow model. Contrary to previous work, higher-spatial-resolution snow cover products only improved the model accuracy marginally. Conclusions are as follows: (1) snow cover and albedo from moderate-resolution sensors continue to provide accurate forcings and (2) finer spatial and temporal resolutions are the future for Earth observations, but existing moderate-resolution sensors still offer value.
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