Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions
Knowing the timing and the evolution of the snow melting process is very important, since it allows the prediction of (i) the snowmelt onset, (ii) the snow gliding and wet-snow avalanches, (iii) the release of snow contaminants, and (iv) the runoff onset. The snowmelt can be monitored by jointly mea...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f072d65d55fd42b5b42ecfe694f19b42 2023-05-15T18:32:25+02:00 Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions C. Marin G. Bertoldi V. Premier M. Callegari C. Brida K. Hürkamp J. Tschiersch M. Zebisch C. Notarnicola 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-935-2020 https://doaj.org/article/f072d65d55fd42b5b42ecfe694f19b42 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/935/2020/tc-14-935-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-14-935-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f072d65d55fd42b5b42ecfe694f19b42 The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 935-956 (2020) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-935-2020 2022-12-31T14:12:59Z Knowing the timing and the evolution of the snow melting process is very important, since it allows the prediction of (i) the snowmelt onset, (ii) the snow gliding and wet-snow avalanches, (iii) the release of snow contaminants, and (iv) the runoff onset. The snowmelt can be monitored by jointly measuring snowpack parameters such as the snow water equivalent (SWE) or the amount of free liquid water content (LWC). However, continuous measurements of SWE and LWC are rare and difficult to obtain. On the other hand, active microwave sensors such as the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mounted on board satellites are highly sensitive to LWC of the snowpack and can provide spatially distributed information with a high resolution. Moreover, with the introduction of Sentinel-1, SAR images are regularly acquired every 6 d over several places in the world. In this paper we analyze the correlation between the multitemporal SAR backscattering and the snowmelt dynamics. We compared Sentinel-1 backscattering with snow properties derived from in situ observations and process-based snow modeling simulations for five alpine test sites in Italy, Germany and Switzerland considering 2 hydrological years. We found that the multitemporal SAR measurements allow the identification of the three melting phases that characterize the melting process, i.e., moistening, ripening and runoff. In particular, we found that the C-band SAR backscattering decreases as soon as the snow starts containing water and that the backscattering increases as soon as SWE starts decreasing, which corresponds to the release of meltwater from the snowpack. We discuss the possible reasons of this increase, which are not directly correlated to the SWE decrease but to the different snow conditions, which change the backscattering mechanisms. Finally, we show a spatially distributed application of the identification of the runoff onset from SAR images for a mountain catchment, i.e., the Zugspitze catchment in Germany. Results allow us to better understand the spatial ... Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 14 3 935 956 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
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Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 C. Marin G. Bertoldi V. Premier M. Callegari C. Brida K. Hürkamp J. Tschiersch M. Zebisch C. Notarnicola Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Knowing the timing and the evolution of the snow melting process is very important, since it allows the prediction of (i) the snowmelt onset, (ii) the snow gliding and wet-snow avalanches, (iii) the release of snow contaminants, and (iv) the runoff onset. The snowmelt can be monitored by jointly measuring snowpack parameters such as the snow water equivalent (SWE) or the amount of free liquid water content (LWC). However, continuous measurements of SWE and LWC are rare and difficult to obtain. On the other hand, active microwave sensors such as the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mounted on board satellites are highly sensitive to LWC of the snowpack and can provide spatially distributed information with a high resolution. Moreover, with the introduction of Sentinel-1, SAR images are regularly acquired every 6 d over several places in the world. In this paper we analyze the correlation between the multitemporal SAR backscattering and the snowmelt dynamics. We compared Sentinel-1 backscattering with snow properties derived from in situ observations and process-based snow modeling simulations for five alpine test sites in Italy, Germany and Switzerland considering 2 hydrological years. We found that the multitemporal SAR measurements allow the identification of the three melting phases that characterize the melting process, i.e., moistening, ripening and runoff. In particular, we found that the C-band SAR backscattering decreases as soon as the snow starts containing water and that the backscattering increases as soon as SWE starts decreasing, which corresponds to the release of meltwater from the snowpack. We discuss the possible reasons of this increase, which are not directly correlated to the SWE decrease but to the different snow conditions, which change the backscattering mechanisms. Finally, we show a spatially distributed application of the identification of the runoff onset from SAR images for a mountain catchment, i.e., the Zugspitze catchment in Germany. Results allow us to better understand the spatial ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Marin G. Bertoldi V. Premier M. Callegari C. Brida K. Hürkamp J. Tschiersch M. Zebisch C. Notarnicola |
author_facet |
C. Marin G. Bertoldi V. Premier M. Callegari C. Brida K. Hürkamp J. Tschiersch M. Zebisch C. Notarnicola |
author_sort |
C. Marin |
title |
Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
title_short |
Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
title_full |
Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
title_fullStr |
Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Use of Sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
title_sort |
use of sentinel-1 radar observations to evaluate snowmelt dynamics in alpine regions |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-935-2020 https://doaj.org/article/f072d65d55fd42b5b42ecfe694f19b42 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 935-956 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/935/2020/tc-14-935-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-14-935-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f072d65d55fd42b5b42ecfe694f19b42 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-935-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
935 |
op_container_end_page |
956 |
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1766216539219951616 |