Estimation of snow depth from AMSR-E in the GAME/CEOP Siberia experiment region

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) launched in 2002 aboard NASA´s Aqua satellite, has improved spatial resolution capabilities compared with previous passive microwave instruments. Snow depth retrievals from AMSR-E are tested with GEWEX (Global Energy and Water Experiment) Asian Monsoon Experiment (GAME) and Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP) data. Level 1B AMSR-E brightness temperatures are used in the study. Seven acoustic snow gauge sites recorded daily snow depth within a 100 km times 100 km domain located near Yakutsk in Siberia. These point snow depth measurements span a period between October 2002 and February 2003 and are used to test AMSR-E ascending and descending retrievals. The paper describes the accuracy of the snow depth estimates compared with the GAME/CEOP Siberia sites. It also assesses how World Meteorological Organization/Global Telecommunication System meteorological snow data from a station at Yakutsk compare with the GAME/CEOP site snow depth data and AMSR-E estimates