Ensemble-based assimilation of fractional snow-covered area satellite retrievals to estimate the snow distribution at Arctic sites

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Aalstad, Kristoffer, Westermann, Sebastian, Schuler, Thomas, Boike, Julia, Bertino, Laurent
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: National Snow and Ice Data Center 2018
• Subjects: Arctic; Lent; Norway; Svalbard; albedo; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10852/71167; http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-74283; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-247-2018

With its high albedo, low thermal conductivity and large water storing capacity, snow strongly modulates the surface energy and water balance, which makes it a critical factor in mid- to high-latitude and mountain en- vironments. However, estimating the snow water equiva- lent (SWE) is challenging i...