Do we still need reflectance? From radiance to snow properties in mountainous terrain: a case study with the EMIT imaging spectrometer

Bohn, Niklas; Bair, Edward H.; Brodrick, Philip G.; Carmon, Nimrod; Green, Robert O.; Painter, Thomas H.; Thompson, David R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1279-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1279-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1279-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

Research article

|

17 Mar 2025

Research article |

| 17 Mar 2025

Do we still need reflectance? From radiance to snow properties in mountainous terrain: a case study with the EMIT imaging spectrometer

Niklas Bohn, Edward H. Bair, Philip G. Brodrick, Nimrod Carmon, Robert O. Green, Thomas H. Painter, and David R. Thompson

Data sets

EMIT L1B At-Sensor Calibrated Radiance and Geolocation Data 60 m V001 R. Green https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL1BRAD.001

Model code and software

ISOFIT - Imaging Spectrometer Optimal FITting Philip G. Brodrick et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14907697

Short summary

A new type of Earth-observing satellite is measuring reflected sunlight in all its colors. These measurements can be used to characterize snow properties, which give us important information about climate change. In our work, we emphasize the difficulties of obtaining these properties from rough mountainous regions and present a solution to the problem. Our research was inspired by the growing number of new satellite technologies and the increasing challenges associated with climate change.