Converting Snow Depth to SWE: The Fusion of Simulated Data with Remote Sensing Retrievals and the Airborne Snow Observatory

Abstract:

Snow cover monitoring has greatly benefited from remote sensing technology but, despite their critical importance, spatially distributed measurements of snow water equivalent (SWE) in mountain terrain remain elusive. Current methods of monitoring SWE rely on point measurements and are insufficient for distributed snow science and effective management of water resources. Many studies have shown that the spatial variability in SWE is largely controlled by the spatial variability in snow depth. JPL’s Airborne Snow Observatory mission (ASO) combines LiDAR and spectrometer instruments to retrieve accurate and very high-resolution snow depth measurements at the watershed scale, along with other products such as snow albedo. To make best use of these high-resolution snow depths, spatially distributed snow density data are required to leverage SWE from the measured snow depths. Snow density is a spatially and temporally variable property that cannot yet be reliably extracted from remote sensing techniques, and is difficult to extrapolate to basin scales. However, some physically based snow models have shown skill in simulating bulk snow densities and therefore provide a pathway for snow depth to SWE conversion. Leveraging model ability where remote sensing options are non-existent, ASO employs a physically based snow model (iSnobal) to resolve distributed snow density dynamics across the basin. After an adjustment scheme guided by in-situ data, these density estimates are used to derive the elusive spatial distribution of SWE from the observed snow depth distributions from ASO. In this study, we describe how the process of fusing model data with remote sensing retrievals is undertaken in the context of ASO along with estimates of uncertainty in the final SWE volume products. This work will likely be of interest to those working in snow hydrology, water resource management and the broader remote sensing community.