Effect of small-scale snow surface roughness on snow albedo and
reflectance

Manninen, Terhikki; Anttila, Kati; Jääskeläinen, Emmihenna; Riihelä, Aku; Peltoniemi, Jouni; Räisänen, Petri; Lahtinen, Panu; Siljamo, Niilo; Thölix, Laura; Meinander, Outi; Kontu, Anna; Suokanerva, Hanne; Pirazzini, Roberta; Suomalainen, Juha; Hakala, Teemu; Kaasalainen, Sanna; Kaartinen, Harri; Kukko, Antero; Hautecœur, Olivier; Roujean, Jean‐Louis

doi:10.5194/tc-2020-154

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…SNICAR also accounts for the incident radiation at the surface and its spectral distribution, solar zenith angle, snow depth and density, snow layer number, and the type and concentration of LAPs in the snowpack. The model's ability to provide realistic simulations of snow albedo has been verified by several previous studies (Hadley and Kirchstetter, 2012;Meinander et al, 2013;Zhong et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Radiative-transfer Modelsupporting

confidence: 55%

Satellite-based radiative forcing by light-absorbing particles in snow across the Northern Hemisphere

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Snow is the most reflective natural surface on Earth and consequently plays an important role in Earth's climate. Light-absorbing particles (LAPs) deposited on the snow surface can effectively decrease snow albedo, resulting in positive radiative forcing. In this study, we used remote-sensing data from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Snow, Ice, and Aerosol Radiative (SNICAR) model to quantify the reduction in snow albedo due to LAPs before validating and correcting the data against in situ observations. We then incorporated these corrected albedo-reduction data in the Santa Barbara DISORT (Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer) Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model to estimate Northern Hemisphere radiative forcing except for midlatitude mountains in December–May for the period 2003–2018. Our analysis reveals an average corrected reduction in snow albedo (ΔαMODIS,correctedLAPs) of ∼ 0.021 under all-sky conditions, with daily radiative forcing (RFMODIS,dailyLAPs) values of ∼ 2.9 W m−2, over land areas with complete or near-complete snow cover and with little or no vegetation above the snow in the Northern Hemisphere. We also observed significant spatial variations in ΔαMODIS,correctedLAPs and RFMODIS,dailyLAPs, with the lowest respective values (∼ 0.016 and ∼ 2.6 W m−2) occurring in the Arctic and the highest (∼ 0.11 and ∼ 12 W m−2) in northeastern China. From MODIS retrievals, we determined that the LAP content of snow accounts for 84 % and 70 % of the spatial variability in albedo reduction and radiative forcing, respectively. We also compared retrieved radiative forcing values with those of earlier studies, including local-scale observations, remote-sensing retrievals, and model-based estimates. Ultimately, estimates of radiative forcing based on satellite-retrieved data are shown to represent true conditions on both regional and global scales.

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Section: Radiative-transfer Modelsupporting

confidence: 55%

Satellite-based radiative forcing by light-absorbing particles in snow across the Northern Hemisphere

et al. 2021

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“…In this study, we performed one anisotropy correction in each MODIS pixel, while >200 anisotropy corrections were performed in each MODIS pixel extent for the L5/TM and L8/OLI albedo retrieval, and this effect can be more pronounced on complex and heterogeneous surfaces and lead to albedo difference [26]. Second, since surface topography and roughness can alter solar-surface-satellite geometry and irradiance very locally, Landsat instruments can capture these changes better than MODIS, which inevitably leads to albedo differences [53,[55][56][57]. However, unlike the validation of MCD43A3 in Greenland and large ice caps in Iceland, both our study and that of Pope et al [26] and Wang et al [24] showed that MODIS underestimated albedo on mountain glaciers.…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Albedo Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anisotropy Parameterization Development and Evaluation for Glacier Surface Albedo Retrieval from Satellite Observations

Ren

Miles

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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Glacier albedo determines the net shortwave radiation absorbed at the glacier surface and plays a crucial role in glacier energy and mass balance. Remote sensing techniques are efficient means to retrieve glacier surface albedo over large and inaccessible areas and to study its variability. However, corrections of anisotropic reflectance of glacier surface have been established for specific shortwave bands only, such as Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (L5/TM) band 2 and band 4, which is a major limitation of current retrievals of glacier broadband albedo. In this study, we calibrated and evaluated four anisotropy correction models for glacier snow and ice, applicable to visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared wavelengths using airborne datasets of Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF). We then tested the ability of the best-performing anisotropy correction model, referred to from here on as the ‘updated model’, to retrieve albedo from L5/TM, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (L8/OLI) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery, and evaluated these results with field measurements collected on eight glaciers around the world. Our results show that the updated model: (1) can accurately estimate anisotropic factors of reflectance for snow and ice surfaces; (2) generally performs better than prior approaches for L8/OLI albedo retrieval but is not appropriate for L5/TM; (3) generally retrieves MODIS albedo better than the MODIS standard albedo product (MCD43A3) in both absolute values and glacier albedo temporal evolution, i.e., exhibiting both fewer gaps and better agreement with field observations. As the updated model enables anisotropy correction of a maximum of 10 multispectral bands and is implemented in Google Earth Engine (GEE), it is promising for observing and analyzing glacier albedo at large spatial scales.

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The effect of snow at forest floor on boreal forest albedo diurnal and seasonal variation during the melting season

Jääskeläinen

Manninen

2021

Cold Regions Science and Technology

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Effect of small-scale snow surface roughness on snow albedo and reflectance

Cited by 3 publications

References 48 publications

Satellite-based radiative forcing by light-absorbing particles in snow across the Northern Hemisphere

Satellite-based radiative forcing by light-absorbing particles in snow across the Northern Hemisphere

Anisotropy Parameterization Development and Evaluation for Glacier Surface Albedo Retrieval from Satellite Observations

The effect of snow at forest floor on boreal forest albedo diurnal and seasonal variation during the melting season

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