Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation
Changes in snowpack associated with climatic warming has drastic impacts on surface energy balance in the cryosphere. Yet, traditional monitoring techniques, such as punctual measurements in the field, do not cover the full snowpack spatial and temporal variability, which hampers efforts to upscale...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2163/2022/tc-16-2163-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/article/5c1b940ce50f4391b4f640b1fa9795c6 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:5c1b940ce50f4391b4f640b1fa9795c6 2023-05-15T15:12:56+02:00 Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation J. Voglimacci-Stephanopoli A. Wendleder H. Lantuit A. Langlois S. Stettner A. Schmitt J.-P. Dedieu A. Roth A. Royer 2022-06-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2163/2022/tc-16-2163-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/article/5c1b940ce50f4391b4f640b1fa9795c6 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2163/2022/tc-16-2163-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/article/5c1b940ce50f4391b4f640b1fa9795c6 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 2163-2181 (2022) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2022 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 2023-01-22T19:15:34Z Changes in snowpack associated with climatic warming has drastic impacts on surface energy balance in the cryosphere. Yet, traditional monitoring techniques, such as punctual measurements in the field, do not cover the full snowpack spatial and temporal variability, which hampers efforts to upscale measurements to the global scale. This variability is one of the primary constraints in model development. In terms of spatial resolution, active microwaves (synthetic aperture radar – SAR) can address the issue and outperform methods based on passive microwaves. Thus, high-spatial-resolution monitoring of snow depth (SD) would allow for better parameterization of local processes that drive the spatial variability of snow. The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of the TerraSAR-X (TSX) SAR sensor and the wave co-polar phase difference (CPD) method for characterizing snow cover at high spatial resolution. Consequently, we first (1) investigate SD and depth hoar fraction (DHF) variability between different vegetation classes in the Ice Creek catchment (Qikiqtaruk/Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada) using in situ measurements collected over the course of a field campaign in 2019; (2) evaluate linkages between snow characteristics and CPD distribution over the 2019 dataset; and (3) determine CPD seasonality considering meteorological data over the 2015–2019 period. SD could be extracted using the CPD when certain conditions are met. A high incidence angle (>30∘) with a high topographic wetness index (TWI) (>7.0) showed correlation between SD and CPD (R2 up to 0.72). Further, future work should address a threshold of sensitivity to TWI and incidence angle to map snow depth in such environments and assess the potential of using interpolation tools to fill in gaps in SD information on drier vegetation types. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Herschel Herschel Island The Cryosphere Yukon Unknown Arctic Canada Herschel Island ENVELOPE(-139.089,-139.089,69.583,69.583) Yukon The Cryosphere 16 6 2163 2181 |
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language |
English |
topic |
geo envir |
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geo envir J. Voglimacci-Stephanopoli A. Wendleder H. Lantuit A. Langlois S. Stettner A. Schmitt J.-P. Dedieu A. Roth A. Royer Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
Changes in snowpack associated with climatic warming has drastic impacts on surface energy balance in the cryosphere. Yet, traditional monitoring techniques, such as punctual measurements in the field, do not cover the full snowpack spatial and temporal variability, which hampers efforts to upscale measurements to the global scale. This variability is one of the primary constraints in model development. In terms of spatial resolution, active microwaves (synthetic aperture radar – SAR) can address the issue and outperform methods based on passive microwaves. Thus, high-spatial-resolution monitoring of snow depth (SD) would allow for better parameterization of local processes that drive the spatial variability of snow. The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of the TerraSAR-X (TSX) SAR sensor and the wave co-polar phase difference (CPD) method for characterizing snow cover at high spatial resolution. Consequently, we first (1) investigate SD and depth hoar fraction (DHF) variability between different vegetation classes in the Ice Creek catchment (Qikiqtaruk/Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada) using in situ measurements collected over the course of a field campaign in 2019; (2) evaluate linkages between snow characteristics and CPD distribution over the 2019 dataset; and (3) determine CPD seasonality considering meteorological data over the 2015–2019 period. SD could be extracted using the CPD when certain conditions are met. A high incidence angle (>30∘) with a high topographic wetness index (TWI) (>7.0) showed correlation between SD and CPD (R2 up to 0.72). Further, future work should address a threshold of sensitivity to TWI and incidence angle to map snow depth in such environments and assess the potential of using interpolation tools to fill in gaps in SD information on drier vegetation types. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. Voglimacci-Stephanopoli A. Wendleder H. Lantuit A. Langlois S. Stettner A. Schmitt J.-P. Dedieu A. Roth A. Royer |
author_facet |
J. Voglimacci-Stephanopoli A. Wendleder H. Lantuit A. Langlois S. Stettner A. Schmitt J.-P. Dedieu A. Roth A. Royer |
author_sort |
J. Voglimacci-Stephanopoli |
title |
Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
title_short |
Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
title_full |
Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
title_fullStr |
Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Potential of X-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
title_sort |
potential of x-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar co-polar phase difference for arctic snow depth estimation |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2163/2022/tc-16-2163-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/article/5c1b940ce50f4391b4f640b1fa9795c6 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-139.089,-139.089,69.583,69.583) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Herschel Island Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Herschel Island Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Herschel Herschel Island The Cryosphere Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Herschel Herschel Island The Cryosphere Yukon |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 2163-2181 (2022) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2163/2022/tc-16-2163-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/article/5c1b940ce50f4391b4f640b1fa9795c6 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2163-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2163 |
op_container_end_page |
2181 |
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1766343547783479296 |