Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities
Snow melt timing and the last day of snow cover have a significant impact on vegetation phenology in the Svalbard archipelago. The aim of this study is to assess the seasonal variations of the snow using a multi-sensor approach and to analyze the sensitivity of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) bac...
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MDPI AG
2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2b884029a347498a8d49d977f4eb3cc7 2023-05-15T13:05:40+02:00 Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities Laura Stendardi Stein Rune Karlsen Eirik Malnes Lennart Nilsen Hans Tømmervik Elisabeth J. Cooper Claudia Notarnicola 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14081866 https://doaj.org/article/2b884029a347498a8d49d977f4eb3cc7 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/8/1866 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs14081866 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/2b884029a347498a8d49d977f4eb3cc7 Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 1866, p 1866 (2022) remote sensing Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series analysis snow melt Svalbard tundra Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14081866 2022-12-30T22:51:52Z Snow melt timing and the last day of snow cover have a significant impact on vegetation phenology in the Svalbard archipelago. The aim of this study is to assess the seasonal variations of the snow using a multi-sensor approach and to analyze the sensitivity of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter to vegetation growth and soil moisture in an arctic environment. A combined approach using time series data from active remote sensing sensors such as SAR and passive optical sensors is a known technique in snow monitoring, while there is little knowledge of the radar C-band’s response pattern to vegetation dynamics in the arctic. First, we created multi-sensor masks using the HV backscatter coefficients from Sentinel-1 and the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) time series from Sentinel-2, monitoring the snow dynamics in Adventdalen (Svalbard) for the season from 2017 to 2018. Second, radar sensitivity analysis was performed using the HV polarized channel responses to vegetation growth and soil moisture dynamics. (1) Our results showed that the C-band radar data are capable of monitoring the seasonal variability in timing of snow melting in Adventdalen, revealing an earlier start by approximately 20 days in 2018 compared to 2017. (2) From the sensitivity analyses, the HV channel showed a major response to the vegetation component in areas with drier graminoid dominated vegetation without water-saturated soil (R = 0.69). However, the temperature was strongly correlated with the HV channel (R = 0.74) during the years with delayed snow melting. Areas of frozen tundra with drier vegetation dominated by graminoids had delayed soil thawing processes and therefore this may limit the ability of the radar to follow the vegetation growth pattern and soil moisture. Article in Journal/Newspaper Adventdalen Arctic Svalbard Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Adventdalen ENVELOPE(16.264,16.264,78.181,78.181) Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Remote Sensing 14 8 1866 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
remote sensing Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series analysis snow melt Svalbard tundra Science Q |
spellingShingle |
remote sensing Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series analysis snow melt Svalbard tundra Science Q Laura Stendardi Stein Rune Karlsen Eirik Malnes Lennart Nilsen Hans Tømmervik Elisabeth J. Cooper Claudia Notarnicola Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities |
topic_facet |
remote sensing Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series analysis snow melt Svalbard tundra Science Q |
description |
Snow melt timing and the last day of snow cover have a significant impact on vegetation phenology in the Svalbard archipelago. The aim of this study is to assess the seasonal variations of the snow using a multi-sensor approach and to analyze the sensitivity of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter to vegetation growth and soil moisture in an arctic environment. A combined approach using time series data from active remote sensing sensors such as SAR and passive optical sensors is a known technique in snow monitoring, while there is little knowledge of the radar C-band’s response pattern to vegetation dynamics in the arctic. First, we created multi-sensor masks using the HV backscatter coefficients from Sentinel-1 and the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) time series from Sentinel-2, monitoring the snow dynamics in Adventdalen (Svalbard) for the season from 2017 to 2018. Second, radar sensitivity analysis was performed using the HV polarized channel responses to vegetation growth and soil moisture dynamics. (1) Our results showed that the C-band radar data are capable of monitoring the seasonal variability in timing of snow melting in Adventdalen, revealing an earlier start by approximately 20 days in 2018 compared to 2017. (2) From the sensitivity analyses, the HV channel showed a major response to the vegetation component in areas with drier graminoid dominated vegetation without water-saturated soil (R = 0.69). However, the temperature was strongly correlated with the HV channel (R = 0.74) during the years with delayed snow melting. Areas of frozen tundra with drier vegetation dominated by graminoids had delayed soil thawing processes and therefore this may limit the ability of the radar to follow the vegetation growth pattern and soil moisture. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laura Stendardi Stein Rune Karlsen Eirik Malnes Lennart Nilsen Hans Tømmervik Elisabeth J. Cooper Claudia Notarnicola |
author_facet |
Laura Stendardi Stein Rune Karlsen Eirik Malnes Lennart Nilsen Hans Tømmervik Elisabeth J. Cooper Claudia Notarnicola |
author_sort |
Laura Stendardi |
title |
Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities |
title_short |
Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities |
title_full |
Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities |
title_fullStr |
Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multi-Sensor Analysis of Snow Seasonality and a Preliminary Assessment of SAR Backscatter Sensitivity to Arctic Vegetation: Limits and Capabilities |
title_sort |
multi-sensor analysis of snow seasonality and a preliminary assessment of sar backscatter sensitivity to arctic vegetation: limits and capabilities |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14081866 https://doaj.org/article/2b884029a347498a8d49d977f4eb3cc7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(16.264,16.264,78.181,78.181) |
geographic |
Adventdalen Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Adventdalen Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
genre |
Adventdalen Arctic Svalbard Tundra |
genre_facet |
Adventdalen Arctic Svalbard Tundra |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 1866, p 1866 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/8/1866 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs14081866 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/2b884029a347498a8d49d977f4eb3cc7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14081866 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1866 |
_version_ |
1766390366778425344 |