Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo
Efficient water resource management in glacier- and snow-dominated basins requires accurate estimates of the snow water equivalent (SWE) in late winter and spring and melt onset timing and intensity. To understand the high spatio-temporal variability of snow and glacier ablation, a spatially distrib...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:267735b940da4df480d7643a2c5f5de9 2024-02-27T08:40:45+00:00 Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo Andri Gunnarsson Sigurdur M. Gardarsson 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11010003 https://doaj.org/article/267735b940da4df480d7643a2c5f5de9 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/11/1/3 https://doaj.org/toc/2306-5338 doi:10.3390/hydrology11010003 2306-5338 https://doaj.org/article/267735b940da4df480d7643a2c5f5de9 Hydrology, Vol 11, Iss 1, p 3 (2023) seasonal snow albedo snow cover glacier melt Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11010003 2024-01-28T01:41:41Z Efficient water resource management in glacier- and snow-dominated basins requires accurate estimates of the snow water equivalent (SWE) in late winter and spring and melt onset timing and intensity. To understand the high spatio-temporal variability of snow and glacier ablation, a spatially distributed energy balance model combining satellite-based retrievals of albedo and snow cover was applied. Incoming short-wave energy, contributing to daily estimates of melt energy, was constrained by remotely sensed surface albedo for snow-covered surfaces. Fractional snow cover was used for non-glaciated areas, as it provides estimates of snow cover for each pixel to better constrain snow melt. Thus, available daily estimates of melt energy in a given area were the product of the possible melt energy and the fractional snow cover of the area or pixel for non-glaciated areas. This provided daily estimates of melt water to determine seasonal snow and glacier ablation in Iceland for the period 2000–2019. Observations from snow pits on land and glacier summer mass balance were used for evaluation, and observations from land and glacier-based automatic weather stations were used to evaluate model inputs for the energy balance model. The results show that the interannual SWE variability was generally high both for seasonal snow and glaciers. For seasonal snow, the largest SWE (>1000 mm) was found in mountainous and alpine areas close to the coast, notably in the East- and Westfjords, Tröllaskaga, and in the vicinity of glacier margins. Lower SWE values were observed in the central highlands, flatter inland areas, and at lower elevations. For glaciers, more SWE (glacier ablation) was associated with lower glacier elevations while less melt was observed at higher elevations. For the impurity-rich bare-ice areas that are exposed annually, observed SWE was more than 3000 mm. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Hydrology 11 1 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
seasonal snow albedo snow cover glacier melt Science Q |
spellingShingle |
seasonal snow albedo snow cover glacier melt Science Q Andri Gunnarsson Sigurdur M. Gardarsson Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo |
topic_facet |
seasonal snow albedo snow cover glacier melt Science Q |
description |
Efficient water resource management in glacier- and snow-dominated basins requires accurate estimates of the snow water equivalent (SWE) in late winter and spring and melt onset timing and intensity. To understand the high spatio-temporal variability of snow and glacier ablation, a spatially distributed energy balance model combining satellite-based retrievals of albedo and snow cover was applied. Incoming short-wave energy, contributing to daily estimates of melt energy, was constrained by remotely sensed surface albedo for snow-covered surfaces. Fractional snow cover was used for non-glaciated areas, as it provides estimates of snow cover for each pixel to better constrain snow melt. Thus, available daily estimates of melt energy in a given area were the product of the possible melt energy and the fractional snow cover of the area or pixel for non-glaciated areas. This provided daily estimates of melt water to determine seasonal snow and glacier ablation in Iceland for the period 2000–2019. Observations from snow pits on land and glacier summer mass balance were used for evaluation, and observations from land and glacier-based automatic weather stations were used to evaluate model inputs for the energy balance model. The results show that the interannual SWE variability was generally high both for seasonal snow and glaciers. For seasonal snow, the largest SWE (>1000 mm) was found in mountainous and alpine areas close to the coast, notably in the East- and Westfjords, Tröllaskaga, and in the vicinity of glacier margins. Lower SWE values were observed in the central highlands, flatter inland areas, and at lower elevations. For glaciers, more SWE (glacier ablation) was associated with lower glacier elevations while less melt was observed at higher elevations. For the impurity-rich bare-ice areas that are exposed annually, observed SWE was more than 3000 mm. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andri Gunnarsson Sigurdur M. Gardarsson |
author_facet |
Andri Gunnarsson Sigurdur M. Gardarsson |
author_sort |
Andri Gunnarsson |
title |
Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo |
title_short |
Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo |
title_full |
Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo |
title_fullStr |
Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial Estimation of Snow Water Equivalent for Glaciers and Seasonal Snow in Iceland Using Remote Sensing Snow Cover and Albedo |
title_sort |
spatial estimation of snow water equivalent for glaciers and seasonal snow in iceland using remote sensing snow cover and albedo |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11010003 https://doaj.org/article/267735b940da4df480d7643a2c5f5de9 |
genre |
glacier Iceland |
genre_facet |
glacier Iceland |
op_source |
Hydrology, Vol 11, Iss 1, p 3 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/11/1/3 https://doaj.org/toc/2306-5338 doi:10.3390/hydrology11010003 2306-5338 https://doaj.org/article/267735b940da4df480d7643a2c5f5de9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11010003 |
container_title |
Hydrology |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
3 |
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1792047887497035776 |