Estimating Atmospheric Dust Pollutants Content Deposited on Snow Surfaces From In Situ Spectral Reflectance Measurements and Satellite Data

Abstract

Dust deposited on the surface of snow and glaciers can significantly reduce the snow and ice albedo and accelerate melting. Manual observations of the dust mass concentration (DMC) on snow and glacier surfaces are routinely performed at many locations worldwide. However, snow and ice surface DMC monitoring methods based on remote sensing data still face challenges. This study presents a new retrieval scheme for estimating dust load on snow-covered surfaces from MODIS and VIIRS in Northeast and Northwest China that utilizes a classical snow radiative transfer model. Our results indicate that the coefficient of variation (CV) of DMC retrieved from in situ measurements of snow spectral reflectance is 4%, which is within a +4% difference compared to DMC observed in snow and ice samples. Estimating atmospheric dust pollutants content deposited on snow surfaces based on satellite remote sensing observations is feasible. In Northwest China, the root mean