Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency GCOM-W1 satellite snow depth product: outcome of the first winter

Abstract

Abstract. Snow observations from space play an important role in hydrological and climatological studies. They are especially important in remote areas with low (or none) population and sparse conventional observations at the ground. At the mid latitudes, they are needed especially for assimilation of spatially distributed data concerning snow water equivalent or snow depth derived from microwave satellite data to snowmelt models. This paper presents discussion on several problems with satellite derived snow observations focusing on the JAXA GCOM-W1 snow depth product. This product was analyzed for the period of October 1, 2012, to April 30, 2013, for an area of Poland and verified against ground observations. Benefits and disadvantages of these products were discussed in comparison to other satellite microwave products concerning snow properties. Problems with proper validation against "ground truth" were also highlighted. The possible alternative use of AMSR2 microwave data was also presented. © The Authors.Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Snow depth retrieval from microwave remote sensing by combining wavelet transform and machine learning models in Northern Xinjiang, China

“…16 On the other hand, the AMSR2 snow depth product, developed by JAXA, is based on AMSR2 brightness temperature and follows the AMSR-E algorithm since October 2012, 46 with a much higher spatial resolution of 0.1 deg. This product has been proven efficient in monitoring snow cover extent and snow depth variation 47 and has also been evaluated in previous studies in mountainous regions. 48 We used the descending mode of snow depth in our evaluation to maintain consistency with the TB data.…”