Authors
Hans Lievens, Matthias Demuzere, Hans-Peter Marshall, Rolf H Reichle, Ludovic Brucker, Isis Brangers, Patricia de Rosnay, Marie Dumont, Manuela Girotto, Walter W Immerzeel, Tobias Jonas, Edward J Kim, Inka Koch, Christoph Marty, Tuomo Saloranta, Johannes Schöber, Gabrielle JM De Lannoy
Publication date
2019/10/11
Journal
Nature communications
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
4629
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK
Description
Accurate snow depth observations are critical to assess water resources. More than a billion people rely on water from snow, most of which originates in the Northern Hemisphere mountain ranges. Yet, remote sensing observations of mountain snow depth are still lacking at the large scale. Here, we show the ability of Sentinel-1 to map snow depth in the Northern Hemisphere mountains at 1 km² resolution using an empirical change detection approach. An evaluation with measurements from ~4000 sites and reanalysis data demonstrates that the Sentinel-1 retrievals capture the spatial variability between and within mountain ranges, as well as their inter-annual differences. This is showcased with the contrasting snow depths between 2017 and 2018 in the US Sierra Nevada and European Alps. With Sentinel-1 continuity ensured until 2030 and likely beyond, these findings lay a foundation for quantifying the long …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
H Lievens, M Demuzere, HP Marshall, RH Reichle… - Nature communications, 2019