Estimation of snow depth using active microwave images

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
D. M. Rahimzadegan 1
M. Mohebbi 2
1 Associate Professor of Water Resources Engineering and Management Department. Civil Engineering Faculty K.N. Toosi University of Technology. Iran
2 Master's student in water resources management and civil engineering, Khwaja Nasiruddin Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Snow depth plays a critical role as a key input parameter in various agricultural, hydrological, and climatological models. Nevertheless, the process of estimating snow depth through optical remote sensing tools is subject to uncertainties stemming from constraints within the imaging technique. Consequently, the primary objective of this study is to employ active microwave remote sensing technology for the purpose of snow depth estimation in regions characterized by mountainous terrain. The radar interferometric technique employing active microwave imagery was utilized for the specific objective of examining the microwave signal's interaction with snow accumulation. Utilizing Sentinel 1 satellite images of the Zagros mountains in Iran during the months of February 2017, March 2019, and 2020, relevant data was acquired. Furthermore, field measurements of snow depth were conducted to validate the proposed algorithm. In order to enhance the accuracy of snow depth estimations, the data from both VV and VH channels was integrated by applying a weighting factor determined based on the local radiation angle. The comparison between the outcomes of the suggested approach and the field data revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.86. Furthermore, the calculated values for RMSE and P-Value were 14.37 cm and 0.009, correspondingly. Based on the statistical metrics derived from the validation process of the proposed technique, it demonstrated a satisfactory performance in the estimation of snow depth.

Keywords

Subjects

Attema, E. and F. T. Ulaby (1978). "Vegetation modeled as a water cloud." Radio science 13(2): 357-364.
Awasthi, S., P. K. Thakur, S. Kumar, A. Kumar, K. Jain and S. Mani (2020). "Snow Density retrieval using Hybrid polarimetric RISAT-1 datasets." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 13: 3058-3065.
Chen, J., F. Günther, G. Grosse, L. Liu and H. Lin (2018). "Sentinel-1 InSAR Measurements of Elevation Changes over Yedoma Uplands on Sobo-Sise Island, Lena Delta." Remote Sensing 10(7): 1152.
Conde, V., G. Nico, P. Mateus, J. Catalão, A. Kontu and M. Gritsevich (2019). "On the estimation of temporal changes of snow water equivalent by spaceborne SAR interferometry: A new application for the Sentinel-1 mission." Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics.
Diro, G. T., L. Sushama and O. Huziy (2018). "Snow-atmosphere coupling and its impact on temperature variability and extremes over North America." Climate Dynamics 50(7): 2993-3007.
Evans, J., F. Kruse, D. Bickel and R. Dunkel (2014). Determining snow depth using Ku-band interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). Radar Sensor Technology XVIII, SPIE.
Formetta, G., S. K. Kampf, O. David and R. Rigon (2014). "Snow water equivalent modeling components in NewAge-JGrass." Geosci. Model Dev. 7(3): 725-736.
Goyal, S. K., M. S. Seyfried and P. E. O’Neill (1999). "Correction of surface roughness and topographic effects on airborne SAR in mountainous rangeland areas." Remote sensing of environment 67(2): 124-136.
Guneriussen, T., K. A. Hogda, H. Johnsen and I. Lauknes (2001). "InSAR for estimation of changes in snow water equivalent of dry snow." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 39(10): 2101-2108.
Leinss, S., G. Parrella and I. Hajnsek (2014). "Snow Height Determination by Polarimetric Phase Differences in X-Band SAR Data." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 7(9): 3794-3810.
Li, H., Z. Wang, G. He and W. Man (2017). "Estimating Snow Depth and Snow Water Equivalence Using Repeat-Pass Interferometric SAR in the Northern Piedmont Region of the Tianshan Mountains." Journal of Sensors 2017: 8739598.
Li, Y., X. Zhao and Q. Zhao (2022). "Snow Depth Inversion in Forest Areas from Sentinel-1 Data Based on Phase Deviation Correction." Remote Sensing 14(23): 5930.
Mahmoodzada, A. B., D. Varade and S. Shimada (2020). "Estimation of snow depth in the Hindu Kush Himalayas of Afghanistan during peak winter and early melt season." Remote Sensing 12(17): 2788.
Matzler, C. (1996). "Microwave permittivity of dry snow." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 34(2): 573-581.
Nagler, T., H. Rott, E. Ripper, G. Bippus and M. Hetzenecker (2016). "Advancements for snowmelt monitoring by means of Sentinel-1 SAR." Remote Sensing 8(4): 348.
Patil, A., S. Mohanty and G. Singh (2020). "Snow depth and snow water equivalent retrieval using X-band PolInSAR data." Remote Sensing Letters 11(9): 817-826.
Pepe, A. and F. Calò (2017). "A review of interferometric synthetic aperture RADAR (InSAR) multi-track approaches for the retrieval of Earth’s surface displacements." Applied Sciences 7(12): 1264.
Robinson, D. A. and A. Frei (2000). "Seasonal Variability of Northern Hemisphere Snow Extent Using Visible Satellite Data." The Professional Geographer 52(2): 307-315.
Rott, H., T. Nagler and R. Scheiber (2003). Snow mass retrieval by means of SAR interferometry. 3rd FRINGE Workshop, European Space Agency, Earth Observation.
Sánchez-Gámez, P. and F. J. Navarro (2017). "Glacier Surface Velocity Retrieval Using D-InSAR and Offset Tracking Techniques Applied to Ascending and Descending Passes of Sentinel-1 Data for Southern Ellesmere Ice Caps, Canadian Arctic." Remote Sensing 9(5): 442.
Strozzi, T., S. Antonova, F. Günther, E. Mätzler, G. Vieira, U. Wegmüller, S. Westermann and A. Bartsch (2018). "Sentinel-1 SAR Interferometry for Surface Deformation Monitoring in Low-Land Permafrost Areas." Remote Sensing 10(9): 1360.
Surendar, M., A. Bhattacharya, G. Singh and G. Venkataraman (2015). "Estimation of snow density using full-polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data." Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 83-84: 156-165.
Teillet, P. M., B. Guindon, J. F. Meunier and D. G. Goodenough (1985). "Slope-Aspect Effects in Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery." Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 11(1): 39-49.
Ulaby, F., D. Long, W. Blackwell, C. Elachi, A. Fung, C. Ruf, K. Sarabandi, H. Zebker and J. Van Zyl (2014). "Microwave Radar and Radiometric Remote Sensing, University of Michigan Press." Ann Arbor.
Varade, D. and O. Dikshit (2018). "ESTIMATION OF SURFACE SNOW WETNESS USING SENTINEL-2 MULTISPECTRAL DATA." ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. IV-5: 223-228.
Varade, D., S. Manickam, O. Dikshit and G. Singh (2020). "Modelling of early winter snow density using fully polarimetric C-band SAR data in the Indian Himalayas." Remote Sensing of Environment 240: 111699.
Varade, D., A. K. Maurya, O. Dikshit, G. Singh and S. Manickam (2020). "Snow depth in Dhundi: An estimate based on weighted bias corrected differential phase observations of dual polarimetric bi-temporal Sentinel-1 data." International Journal of Remote Sensing 41(8): 3031-3053.
Varade, D. M. and O. Dikshit (2017). A novel linear physical model for remote sensing of snow wetness and snow density using the visible and infrared bands. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Viste, E. and A. Sorteberg (2015). "Snowfall in the Himalayas: an uncertain future from a little-known past." The Cryosphere 9(3): 1147-1167.
You, Q., F. Wu, H. Wang, Z. Jiang, N. Pepin and S. Kang (2020). "Projected Changes in Snow Water Equivalent over the Tibetan Plateau under Global Warming of 1.5° and 2°C." Journal of Climate 33(12): 5141-5154.
The Journal of Spatial Planning and Geomatics
Volume 27, Issue 4
December 2023
Pages 131-148