气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Effect of snow microstructure variability on Ku-band radar snow water equivalent retrievals

CCPortal

DOI	10.5194/tc-13-3045-2019
	Effect of snow microstructure variability on Ku-band radar snow water equivalent retrievals
	Rutter N.; J. Sandells M.; Derksen C.; King J.; Toose P.; Wake L.; Watts T.; Essery R.; Roy A.; Royer A.; Marsh P.; Larsen C.; Sturm M.
发表日期	2019
ISSN	19940416
EISSN	13
起始页码	3045
结束页码	3059
卷号	13 期号:11
英文摘要	Spatial variability in snowpack properties negatively impacts our capacity to make direct measurements of snow water equivalent (SWE) using satellites. A comprehensive data set of snow microstructure (94 profiles at 36 sites) and snow layer thickness (9000 vertical profiles across nine trenches) collected over two winters at Trail Valley Creek, NWT, Canada, was applied in synthetic radiative transfer experiments. This allowed for robust assessment of the impact of estimation accuracy of unknown snow microstructural characteristics on the viability of SWE retrievals. Depth hoar layer thickness varied over the shortest horizontal distances, controlled by subnivean vegetation and topography, while variability in total snowpack thickness approximated that of wind slab layers. Mean horizontal correlation lengths of layer thickness were less than a metre for all layers. Depth hoar was consistently ~ 30 % of total depth, and with increasing total depth the proportion of wind slab increased at the expense of the decreasing surface snow layer. Distinct differences were evident between distributions of layer properties; a single median value represented density and specific surface area (SSA) of each layer well. Spatial variability in microstructure of depth hoar layers dominated SWE retrieval errors. A depth hoar SSA estimate of around 7 % under the median value was needed to accurately retrieve SWE. In shallow snowpacks < 0:6 m, depth hoar SSA estimates of ±5 %-10 % around the optimal retrieval SSA allowed SWE retrievals within a tolerance of ±30 mm. Where snowpacks were deeper than ~ 30 cm, accurate values of representative SSA for depth hoar became critical as retrieval errors were exceeded if the median depth hoar SSA was applied. © 2019 Copernicus GmbH. All rights reserved.
学科领域	radar; snow cover; snow water equivalent; snowpack; spatial variation; Canada; Valley Creek [Pennsylvania]
语种	英语
scopus关键词	radar; snow cover; snow water equivalent; snowpack; spatial variation; Canada; Valley Creek [Pennsylvania]
来源期刊	The Cryosphere
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/118808
作者单位	Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; CORES Science and Engineering Limited, Burnopfield, United Kingdom; Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, Canada; School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Département des Sciences de l'Environment, Université du Québec À Trois-Rivières, Canada; Département de Géomatique Appliquée, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada; Department of Geography, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada; Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Rutter N.,J. Sandells M.,Derksen C.,et al. Effect of snow microstructure variability on Ku-band radar snow water equivalent retrievals[J],2019,13(11).
APA	Rutter N..,J. Sandells M..,Derksen C..,King J..,Toose P..,...&Sturm M..(2019).Effect of snow microstructure variability on Ku-band radar snow water equivalent retrievals.The Cryosphere,13(11).
MLA	Rutter N.,et al."Effect of snow microstructure variability on Ku-band radar snow water equivalent retrievals".The Cryosphere 13.11(2019).