The retrieval of snow properties from SLSTR Sentinel-3 – Part 1: Method description and sensitivity study

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: L. Mei, V. Rozanov, C. Pohl, M. Vountas, J. P. Burrows
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2021
• Subjects: Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Geology; QE1-996.5; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2757-2021; https://doaj.org/article/469c4ec336c74a12af3737e46c9d51e0

The eXtensible Bremen Aerosol/cloud and surfacE parameters Retrieval (XBAER) algorithm has been designed for the top-of-atmosphere reflectance measured by the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) instrument on board Sentinel-3 to derive snow properties: snow grain size (SGS), snow particle shape (SPS) and specific surface area (SSA) under cloud-free conditions. This is the first part of the paper, to describe the retrieval method and the sensitivity study. Nine pre-defined SPSs (aggregate of 8 columns, droxtal, hollow bullet rosette, hollow column, plate, aggregate of 5 plates, aggregate of 10 plates, solid bullet rosette, column) are used to describe the snow optical properties. The optimal SGS and SPS are estimated iteratively utilizing a look-up-table (LUT) approach. The SSA is then calculated using another pre-calculated LUT for the retrieved SGS and SPS. The optical properties (e.g., phase function) of the ice crystals can reproduce the wavelength-dependent and angular-dependent snow reflectance features, compared to laboratory measurements. A comprehensive study to understand the impact of aerosols, SPS, ice crystal surface roughness, cloud contamination, instrument spectral response function, the snow habit mixture model and snow vertical inhomogeneity in the retrieval accuracy of snow properties has been performed based on SCIATRAN radiative transfer simulations. The main findings are (1) snow angular and spectral reflectance features can be described by the predefined ice crystal properties only when both SGS and SPS can be optimally and iteratively obtained; (2) the impact of ice crystal surface roughness on the retrieval results is minor; (3) SGS and SSA show an inverse linear relationship; (4) the retrieval of SSA assuming a non-convex particle shape, compared to a convex particle shape (e.g., sphere), shows larger retrieval results; (5) aerosol/cloud contamination due to unperfected atmospheric correction and cloud screening introduces underestimation of SGS, “inaccurate” SPS and ...