Articles | Volume 18, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3177-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-18-3177-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Tower-based C-band radar measurements of an alpine snowpack
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Hans-Peter Marshall
Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA
Gabrielle De Lannoy
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Devon Dunmire
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Christian Mätzler
GAMMA Remote Sensing, Gümligen, Switzerland
Hans Lievens
Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
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Hans Lievens, Isis Brangers, Hans-Peter Marshall, Tobias Jonas, Marc Olefs, and Gabriëlle De Lannoy
The Cryosphere, 16, 159–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-159-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-159-2022, 2022
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Snow depth observations at high spatial resolution from the Sentinel-1 satellite mission are presented over the European Alps. The novel observations can improve our knowledge of seasonal snow mass in areas with complex topography, where satellite-based estimates are currently lacking, and benefit a number of applications including water resource management, flood forecasting, and numerical weather prediction.
Kajsa Holland-Goon, Randall Bonnell, Daniel McGrath, W. Brad Baxter, Tate Meehan, Ryan Webb, Chris Larsen, Hans-Peter Marshall, Megan Mason, and Carrie Vuyovich
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2435, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2435, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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As part of the NASA SnowEx23 campaign, we conducted detailed snowpack experiments in Alaska’s boreal forests and Arctic tundra. We collected ground-penetrating radar measurements of snow depth along 44 short transects. We then excavated the snowpack from below the transects and measured snow depth, noting any vegetation and void spaces. We used the detailed in situ measurements to evaluate uncertainties in ground-penetrating radar and airborne lidar methods for snow depth retrieval.
Lucas Boeykens, Devon Dunmire, Jonas-Frederik Jans, Willem Waegeman, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Ezra Beernaert, Niko E. C. Verhoest, and Hans Lievens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3327, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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We used AI to better estimate the height of the snowpack present on the ground across the European Alps, by using novel satellite data, complemented by weather information or snow depth estimates from a computer model. We found that both combinations improve the accuracy of our AI-based snow depth estimates, performing almost equally well. This helps us better monitor how much water is stored as snow, which is vital for drinking water, farming, and clean energy production in Europe.
Louise Busschaert, Michel Bechtold, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Dirk Raes, Sujay V. Kumar, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2550, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2550, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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This study estimates irrigation in the Po Valley using AquaCrop and Noah-MP models with sprinkler irrigation. Noah-MP shows higher annual rates than AquaCrop due to more water losses. After adjusting, both align with reported irrigation ranges (500–600 mm/yr). Soil moisture estimates from both models match satellite data, though both have limitations in vegetation and evapotranspiration modeling. The study emphasizes the need for observations to improve irrigation estimates.
Devon Dunmire, Michel Bechtold, Lucas Boeykens, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2306, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2306, 2025
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Snow is vital for society and the climate, yet estimates of snowpack remain uncertain due to observational and modeling limitations. Data assimilation (DA) helps by integrating observations with models. Here, we integrate snow depth retrievals into a physically-based snow model across the European Alps. This work offers advancements for snow data assimilation, such as incorporating a dynamic observational uncertainty, which is essential for forecasting and water resource management.
Anne Springer, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Matthew Rodell, Yorck Ewerdwalbesloh, Helena Gerdener, Mehdi Khaki, Bailing Li, Fupeng Li, Maike Schumacher, Natthachet Tangdamrongsub, Mohammad J. Tourian, Wanshu Nie, and Jürgen Kusche
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2058, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2058, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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The GRACE and GRACE Follow-On satellites monitor changes in Earth's water storage by observing gravity variations. By integrating these observations into hydrological models through data assimilation, estimates of groundwater, soil moisture, and hydrological trends are improved, helping to monitor droughts, floods, and human water use. This review highlights recent advances in GRACE data assimilation, identifies key challenges, and discusses future directions with upcoming satellite missions.
Rainey Aberle, Ellyn Enderlin, Shad O'Neel, Caitlyn Florentine, Louis Sass, Adam Dickson, Hans-Peter Marshall, and Alejandro Flores
The Cryosphere, 19, 1675–1693, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1675-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1675-2025, 2025
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Tracking seasonal snow on glaciers is critical for understanding glacier health. Yet previous work has not directly compared machine learning algorithms for snow classification across satellite image products. To address this, we developed a new automated workflow for tracking seasonal snow on glaciers using several image products and machine learning models. Applying this method can help provide insights into glacier health, water resources, and the effects of climate change on snow cover.
Paolo Nasta, Günter Blöschl, Heye R. Bogena, Steffen Zacharias, Roland Baatz, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Karsten H. Jensen, Salvatore Manfreda, Laurent Pfister, Ana M. Tarquis, Ilja van Meerveld, Marc Voltz, Yijian Zeng, William Kustas, Xin Li, Harry Vereecken, and Nunzio Romano
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 465–483, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-465-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-465-2025, 2025
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The Unsolved Problems in Hydrology (UPH) initiative has emphasized the need to establish networks of multi-decadal hydrological observatories to tackle catchment-scale challenges on a global scale. This opinion paper provocatively discusses two endmembers of possible future hydrological observatory (HO) networks for a given hypothesized community budget: a comprehensive set of moderately instrumented observatories or, alternatively, a small number of highly instrumented supersites.
Zachary Hoppinen, Ross T. Palomaki, George Brencher, Devon Dunmire, Eric Gagliano, Adrian Marziliano, Jack Tarricone, and Hans-Peter Marshall
The Cryosphere, 18, 5407–5430, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5407-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5407-2024, 2024
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This study uses radar imagery from the Sentinel-1 satellite to derive snow depth from increases in the returning energy. These retrieved depths are then compared to nine lidar-derived snow depths across the western United State to assess the ability of this technique to be used to monitor global snow distributions. We also qualitatively compare the changes in underlying Sentinel-1 amplitudes against both the total lidar snow depths and nine automated snow monitoring stations.
Louise Busschaert, Michel Bechtold, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Dirk Raes, Sujay V. Kumar, and Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4974019, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4974019, 2024
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This study estimates irrigation in the Po Valley using AquaCrop and Noah-MP models with sprinkler irrigation. Noah-MP shows higher annual rates than AquaCrop due to more water losses. After adjusting, both align with reported irrigation ranges (500–600 mm/yr). Soil moisture estimates from both models match satellite data, though both have limitations in vegetation and evapotranspiration modeling. The study emphasizes the need for observations to improve irrigation estimates.
Randall Bonnell, Daniel McGrath, Jack Tarricone, Hans-Peter Marshall, Ella Bump, Caroline Duncan, Stephanie Kampf, Yunling Lou, Alex Olsen-Mikitowicz, Megan Sears, Keith Williams, Lucas Zeller, and Yang Zheng
The Cryosphere, 18, 3765–3785, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3765-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3765-2024, 2024
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Snow provides water for billions of people, but the amount of snow is difficult to detect remotely. During the 2020 and 2021 winters, a radar was flown over mountains in Colorado, USA, to measure the amount of snow on the ground, while our team collected ground observations to test the radar technique’s capabilities. The technique yielded accurate measurements of the snowpack that had good correlation with ground measurements, making it a promising application for the upcoming NISAR satellite.
Firoz Kanti Borah, Jonas-Fredrick Jans, Zhenming Huang, Leung Tsang, Hans Lievens, and Edward Kim
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1825, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1825, 2024
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In this paper, we study radar data collected by Sentinel-1 over mountain regions of Alps. Using physical models of snow and soil surface scattering, we show the reasons for the high sensitivity of cross-polarized observations with snow depth. This accurate modelling for cross-pol using physical models can be then used to retrieve snow depth at for very deep snow at mountain regions using the cross-pol signal.
Tate G. Meehan, Ahmad Hojatimalekshah, Hans-Peter Marshall, Elias J. Deeb, Shad O'Neel, Daniel McGrath, Ryan W. Webb, Randall Bonnell, Mark S. Raleigh, Christopher Hiemstra, and Kelly Elder
The Cryosphere, 18, 3253–3276, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3253-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3253-2024, 2024
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Snow water equivalent (SWE) is a critical parameter for yearly water supply forecasting and can be calculated by multiplying the snow depth by the snow density. We combined high-spatial-resolution snow depth information with ground-based radar measurements to solve for snow density. Extrapolated density estimates over our study area resolved detailed patterns that agree with the known interactions of snow with wind, terrain, and vegetation and were utilized in the calculation of SWE.
Ian E. McDowell, Kaitlin M. Keegan, S. McKenzie Skiles, Christopher P. Donahue, Erich C. Osterberg, Robert L. Hawley, and Hans-Peter Marshall
The Cryosphere, 18, 1925–1946, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1925-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1925-2024, 2024
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Accurate knowledge of firn grain size is crucial for many ice sheet research applications. Unfortunately, collecting detailed measurements of firn grain size is difficult. We demonstrate that scanning firn cores with a near-infrared imager can quickly produce high-resolution maps of both grain size and ice layer distributions. We map grain size and ice layer stratigraphy in 14 firn cores from Greenland and document changes to grain size and ice layer content from the extreme melt summer of 2012.
Shadi Oveisgharan, Robert Zinke, Zachary Hoppinen, and Hans Peter Marshall
The Cryosphere, 18, 559–574, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-559-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-559-2024, 2024
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The seasonal snowpack provides water resources to billions of people worldwide. Large-scale mapping of snow water equivalent (SWE) with high resolution is critical for many scientific and economics fields. In this work we used the radar remote sensing interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to estimate the SWE change between 2 d. The error in the estimated SWE change is less than 2 cm for in situ stations. Additionally, the retrieved SWE using InSAR is correlated with lidar snow depth.
Zachary Hoppinen, Shadi Oveisgharan, Hans-Peter Marshall, Ross Mower, Kelly Elder, and Carrie Vuyovich
The Cryosphere, 18, 575–592, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-575-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-575-2024, 2024
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We used changes in radar echo travel time from multiple airborne flights to estimate changes in snow depths across Idaho for two winters. We compared our radar-derived retrievals to snow pits, weather stations, and a 100 m resolution numerical snow model. We had a strong Pearson correlation and root mean squared error of 10 cm relative to in situ measurements. Our retrievals also correlated well with our model, especially in regions of dry snow and low tree coverage.
Jonas Mortelmans, Anne Felsberg, Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy, Sander Veraverbeke, Robert D. Field, Niels Andela, and Michel Bechtold
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 445–464, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-445-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-445-2024, 2024
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With global warming increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the boreal region, accurate risk assessments are becoming more crucial than ever before. The Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) is a renowned system, yet its effectiveness in peatlands, where hydrology plays a key role, is limited. By incorporating groundwater data from numerical models and satellite observations, our modified FWI improves the accuracy of fire danger predictions, especially over summer.
Anne Felsberg, Zdenko Heyvaert, Jean Poesen, Thomas Stanley, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3805–3821, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-3805-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-3805-2023, 2023
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The Probabilistic Hydrological Estimation of LandSlides (PHELS) model combines ensembles of landslide susceptibility and of hydrological predictor variables to provide daily, global ensembles of hazard for hydrologically triggered landslides. Testing different hydrological predictors showed that the combination of rainfall and soil moisture performed best, with the lowest number of missed and false alarms. The ensemble approach allowed the estimation of the associated prediction uncertainty.
Samuel Scherrer, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Zdenko Heyvaert, Michel Bechtold, Clement Albergel, Tarek S. El-Madany, and Wouter Dorigo
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 4087–4114, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4087-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4087-2023, 2023
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We explored different options for data assimilation (DA) of the remotely sensed leaf area index (LAI). We found strong biases between LAI predicted by Noah-MP and observations. LAI DA that does not take these biases into account can induce unphysical patterns in the resulting LAI and flux estimates and leads to large changes in the climatology of root zone soil moisture. We tested two bias-correction approaches and explored alternative solutions to treating bias in LAI DA.
Rajashree Tri Datta, Adam Herrington, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, David P. Schneider, Luke Trusel, Ziqi Yin, and Devon Dunmire
The Cryosphere, 17, 3847–3866, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3847-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3847-2023, 2023
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Precipitation over Antarctica is one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in sea level rise estimates. Earth system models (ESMs) are a valuable tool for these estimates but typically run at coarse spatial resolutions. Here, we present an evaluation of the variable-resolution CESM2 (VR-CESM2) for the first time with a grid designed for enhanced spatial resolution over Antarctica to achieve the high resolution of regional climate models while preserving the two-way interactions of ESMs.
Jack Tarricone, Ryan W. Webb, Hans-Peter Marshall, Anne W. Nolin, and Franz J. Meyer
The Cryosphere, 17, 1997–2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1997-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1997-2023, 2023
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Mountain snowmelt provides water for billions of people across the globe. Despite its importance, we cannot currently measure the amount of water in mountain snowpacks from satellites. In this research, we test the ability of an experimental snow remote sensing technique from an airplane in preparation for the same sensor being launched on a future NASA satellite. We found that the method worked better than expected for estimating important snowpack properties.
Devon Dunmire, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Rajashree Tri Datta, and Tessa Gorte
The Cryosphere, 16, 4163–4184, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4163-2022, 2022
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Earth system models (ESMs) are used to model the climate system and the interactions of its components (atmosphere, ocean, etc.) both historically and into the future under different assumptions of human activity. The representation of Antarctica in ESMs is important because it can inform projections of the ice sheet's contribution to sea level rise. Here, we compare output of Antarctica's surface climate from an ESM with observations to understand strengths and weaknesses within the model.
Ghislain Picard, Henning Löwe, and Christian Mätzler
The Cryosphere, 16, 3861–3866, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3861-2022, 2022
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Microwave satellite observations used to monitor the cryosphere require radiative transfer models for their interpretation. These models represent how microwaves are scattered by snow and ice. However no existing theory is suitable for all types of snow and ice found on Earth. We adapted a recently published generic scattering theory to snow and show how it may improve the representation of snows with intermediate densities (~500 kg/m3) and/or with coarse grains at high microwave frequencies.
Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Michel Bechtold, Hans Lievens, Angelica Tarpanelli, Luca Brocca, Luca Zappa, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4685–4706, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4685-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4685-2022, 2022
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Given the crucial impact of irrigation practices on the water cycle, this study aims at estimating irrigation through the development of an innovative data assimilation system able to ingest high-resolution Sentinel-1 radar observations into the Noah-MP land surface model. The developed methodology has important implications for global water resource management and the comprehension of human impacts on the water cycle and identifies main challenges and outlooks for future research.
Anne Felsberg, Jean Poesen, Michel Bechtold, Matthias Vanmaercke, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3063–3082, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3063-2022, 2022
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In this study we assessed global landslide susceptibility at the coarse 36 km spatial resolution of global satellite soil moisture observations to prepare for a subsequent combination of the two. Specifically, we focus therefore on the susceptibility of hydrologically triggered landslides. We introduce ensemble techniques, common in, for example, meteorology but not yet in the landslide community, to retrieve reliable estimates of the total prediction uncertainty.
Leung Tsang, Michael Durand, Chris Derksen, Ana P. Barros, Do-Hyuk Kang, Hans Lievens, Hans-Peter Marshall, Jiyue Zhu, Joel Johnson, Joshua King, Juha Lemmetyinen, Melody Sandells, Nick Rutter, Paul Siqueira, Anne Nolin, Batu Osmanoglu, Carrie Vuyovich, Edward Kim, Drew Taylor, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Ludovic Brucker, Mahdi Navari, Marie Dumont, Richard Kelly, Rhae Sung Kim, Tien-Hao Liao, Firoz Borah, and Xiaolan Xu
The Cryosphere, 16, 3531–3573, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, 2022
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Snow water equivalent (SWE) is of fundamental importance to water, energy, and geochemical cycles but is poorly observed globally. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements at X- and Ku-band can address this gap. This review serves to inform the broad snow research, monitoring, and application communities about the progress made in recent decades to move towards a new satellite mission capable of addressing the needs of the geoscience researchers and users.
Juha Lemmetyinen, Juval Cohen, Anna Kontu, Juho Vehviläinen, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Stefan Scheiblauer, Helmut Rott, Thomas Nagler, Elisabeth Ripper, Kelly Elder, Hans-Peter Marshall, Reinhard Fromm, Marc Adams, Chris Derksen, Joshua King, Adriano Meta, Alex Coccia, Nick Rutter, Melody Sandells, Giovanni Macelloni, Emanuele Santi, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Richard Essery, Cecile Menard, and Michael Kern
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3915–3945, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3915-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3915-2022, 2022
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The manuscript describes airborne, dual-polarised X and Ku band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data collected over several campaigns over snow-covered terrain in Finland, Austria and Canada. Colocated snow and meteorological observations are also presented. The data are meant for science users interested in investigating X/Ku band radar signatures from natural environments in winter conditions.
Louise Busschaert, Shannon de Roos, Wim Thiery, Dirk Raes, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3731–3752, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3731-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3731-2022, 2022
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Increasing amounts of water are used for agriculture. Therefore, we looked into how irrigation requirements will evolve under a changing climate over Europe. Our results show that, by the end of the century and under high emissions, irrigation water will increase by 30 % on average compared to the year 2000. Also, the irrigation requirement is likely to vary more from 1 year to another. However, if emissions are mitigated, these effects are reduced.
Hans Lievens, Isis Brangers, Hans-Peter Marshall, Tobias Jonas, Marc Olefs, and Gabriëlle De Lannoy
The Cryosphere, 16, 159–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-159-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-159-2022, 2022
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Snow depth observations at high spatial resolution from the Sentinel-1 satellite mission are presented over the European Alps. The novel observations can improve our knowledge of seasonal snow mass in areas with complex topography, where satellite-based estimates are currently lacking, and benefit a number of applications including water resource management, flood forecasting, and numerical weather prediction.
Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Alexander Gruber, Hans Lievens, Angelica Tarpanelli, Renato Morbidelli, and Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 6283–6307, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6283-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6283-2021, 2021
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Worldwide, the amount of water used for agricultural purposes is rising and the quantification of irrigation is becoming a crucial topic. Land surface models are not able to correctly simulate irrigation. Remote sensing observations offer an opportunity to fill this gap as they are directly affected by irrigation. We equipped a land surface model with an observation operator able to transform Sentinel-1 backscatter observations into realistic vegetation and soil states via data assimilation.
Shannon de Roos, Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy, and Dirk Raes
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 7309–7328, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7309-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7309-2021, 2021
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A spatially distributed version of the field-scale crop model AquaCrop v6.1 was developed for applications at various spatial scales. Multi-year 1 km simulations over central Europe were evaluated against biomass and surface soil moisture products derived from optical and microwave satellite missions, as well as in situ observations of soil moisture. The regional version of the AquaCrop model provides a suitable setup for subsequent satellite-based data assimilation.
Karen E. Alley, Christian T. Wild, Adrian Luckman, Ted A. Scambos, Martin Truffer, Erin C. Pettit, Atsuhiro Muto, Bruce Wallin, Marin Klinger, Tyler Sutterley, Sarah F. Child, Cyrus Hulen, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Michelle Maclennan, Eric Keenan, and Devon Dunmire
The Cryosphere, 15, 5187–5203, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021, 2021
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We present a 20-year, satellite-based record of velocity and thickness change on the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS), the largest remaining floating extension of Thwaites Glacier (TG). TG holds the single greatest control on sea-level rise over the next few centuries, so it is important to understand changes on the TEIS, which controls much of TG's flow into the ocean. Our results suggest that the TEIS is progressively destabilizing and is likely to disintegrate over the next few decades.
Michiel Maertens, Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy, Sebastian Apers, Sujay V. Kumar, and Sarith P. P. Mahanama
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 4099–4125, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4099-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4099-2021, 2021
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In this study, we simulated the water balance over the South American Dry Chaco and assessed the impact of land cover changes thereon using three different land surface models. Our simulations indicated that different models result in a different partitioning of the total water budget, but all showed an increase in soil moisture and percolation over the deforested areas. We also found that, relative to independent data, no specific land surface model is significantly better than another.
Devon Dunmire, Alison F. Banwell, Nander Wever, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, and Rajashree Tri Datta
The Cryosphere, 15, 2983–3005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2983-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2983-2021, 2021
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Here, we automatically detect buried lakes (meltwater lakes buried below layers of snow) across the Greenland Ice Sheet, providing insight into a poorly studied meltwater feature. For 2018 and 2019, we compare areal extent of buried lakes. We find greater buried lake extent in 2019, especially in northern Greenland, which we attribute to late-summer surface melt and high autumn temperatures. We also provide evidence that buried lakes form via different processes across Greenland.
Ahmad Hojatimalekshah, Zachary Uhlmann, Nancy F. Glenn, Christopher A. Hiemstra, Christopher J. Tennant, Jake D. Graham, Lucas Spaete, Arthur Gelvin, Hans-Peter Marshall, James P. McNamara, and Josh Enterkine
The Cryosphere, 15, 2187–2209, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2187-2021, 2021
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We describe the relationships between snow depth, vegetation canopy, and local-scale processes during the snow accumulation period using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). In addition to topography and wind, our findings suggest the importance of fine-scale tree structure, species type, and distributions on snow depth. Snow depth increases from the canopy edge toward the open areas, but wind and topographic controls may affect this trend. TLS data are complementary to wide-area lidar surveys.
Jianxiu Qiu, Jianzhi Dong, Wade T. Crow, Xiaohu Zhang, Rolf H. Reichle, and Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1569–1586, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1569-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1569-2021, 2021
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The SMAP L4 dataset has been extensively used in hydrological applications. We innovatively use a machine learning method to analyze how the efficiency of the L4 data assimilation (DA) system is determined. It shows that DA efficiency is mainly related to Tb innovation, followed by error in precipitation forcing and microwave soil roughness. Since the L4 system can effectively filter out precipitation error, future development should focus on correctly specifying the SSM–RZSM coupling strength.
Rhae Sung Kim, Sujay Kumar, Carrie Vuyovich, Paul Houser, Jessica Lundquist, Lawrence Mudryk, Michael Durand, Ana Barros, Edward J. Kim, Barton A. Forman, Ethan D. Gutmann, Melissa L. Wrzesien, Camille Garnaud, Melody Sandells, Hans-Peter Marshall, Nicoleta Cristea, Justin M. Pflug, Jeremy Johnston, Yueqian Cao, David Mocko, and Shugong Wang
The Cryosphere, 15, 771–791, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-771-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-771-2021, 2021
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High SWE uncertainty is observed in mountainous and forested regions, highlighting the need for high-resolution snow observations in these regions. Substantial uncertainty in snow water storage in Tundra regions and the dominance of water storage in these regions points to the need for high-accuracy snow estimation. Finally, snow measurements during the melt season are most needed at high latitudes, whereas observations at near peak snow accumulations are most beneficial over the midlatitudes.
Miguel A. Aguayo, Alejandro N. Flores, James P. McNamara, Hans-Peter Marshall, and Jodi Mead
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2020-451, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2020-451, 2020
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Renaud Hostache, Dominik Rains, Kaniska Mallick, Marco Chini, Ramona Pelich, Hans Lievens, Fabrizio Fenicia, Giovanni Corato, Niko E. C. Verhoest, and Patrick Matgen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4793–4812, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4793-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4793-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Our objective is to investigate how satellite microwave sensors, particularly Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), may help to reduce errors and uncertainties in soil moisture simulations with a large-scale conceptual hydro-meteorological model. We assimilated a long time series of SMOS observations into a hydro-meteorological model and showed that this helps to improve model predictions. This work therefore contributes to the development of faster and more accurate drought prediction tools.
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Short summary
To better understand the interactions between C-band radar waves and snow, a tower-based experiment was set up in the Idaho Rocky Mountains. The reflections were collected in the time domain to measure the backscatter profile from the various snowpack and ground surface layers. The results demonstrate that C-band radar is sensitive to seasonal patterns in snow accumulation but that changes in microstructure, stratigraphy and snow wetness may complicate satellite-based snow depth retrievals.
To better understand the interactions between C-band radar waves and snow, a tower-based...