From Anatolian Plateau to American Plains: A transcontinental assessment of the EUMETSAT H SAF’s new generation snow water equivalent product over Türkiye and the conterminous U.S.

Abstract

The main frame of this paper is to present the first validation results of the new generation hemi-spherical daily snow water equivalent (SWE) product of the EMUTSAT H SAF, namely, H65. It utilizes data from passive microwave radiometry sensors to estimate SWE. Operating at a suitable spatial scale, it offers insights into snow accumulation and melting dynamics, advancing satellite-based snow monitoring across diverse regions. The validation period covers the 2021 snow year, from January to March 2023, during which the dry snow conditions prevail. The validation is conducted in two distinct geographic regions, Turkey, and the conterminous U.S. For Turkey, the in-situ snow depth measurements provided by the Turkish State Meteorological Service are employed. On the other hand, the 1-km gridded SWE dataset of NOAA National Ice and Snow Data Center is used in the validation over the U.S. The validation results over Turkey yields an overall RMSE of 39.27 mm, whereas it reads 15.19 mm for the U.S. These results indicate that the H65 SWE product complies with the product requirement thresholds for both flat (40 mm) and mountainous (45 mm) areas.