Title :
Combined active and passive microwave remote sensing of snow in Finland
Author :
Hallikainen, Martti T. ; Halme, Pekka ; Takala, Matias ; Pulliainen, Jouni
Author_Institution :
Lab. of Space Technol., Helsinki Univ. of Technol., Finland
Abstract :
We examined the use of data from active (QuikScat on SeaWinds) and passive (SSM/I on DMSP) space-borne microwave sensors for monitoring key snow parameters in Finland. The feasibility of these data for the task was determined both separately and using a combined data set. The results are based on satellite and ground truth data for 21 test sites in Finland covering the winters of 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2001-2002. We show that a Ku-band scatterometer with a fixed incidence angle provides reasonable accuracy for retrieval of dry snow water equivalent (SWE). Using the combined active/passive data set retrieval accuracy is better than with SSM/I data. QuikScat data can also be used for determining onset of snow melting and snow-covered area (SCA) in spring.
Keywords :
backscatter; hydrological techniques; microwave measurement; radiometry; remote sensing by radar; snow; spaceborne radar; AD 1999 to 2000; AD 2000 to 2001; AD 2001 to 2002; Finland; Ku-band scatterometer; QuikScat; SSM/I data; SWE; SeaWinds; active microwave remote sensing; active-passive data set; dry snow water equivalent; fixed incidence angle; ground truth data; microwave radiometry; passive microwave remote sensing; retrieval accuracy; satellite data; snow melting; snow monitoring; snow-covered area; spaceborne microwave sensors; Condition monitoring; Information retrieval; Microwave sensors; Passive microwave remote sensing; Radar measurements; Remote monitoring; Satellites; Snow; Spaceborne radar; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2003. IGARSS '03. Proceedings. 2003 IEEE International
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7929-2
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.2003.1293934
