Validation of NOAA-Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) by Comparison with Ground-Based Measurements over Continental United States

Abstract

Abstract:In this study, daily maps of snow cover distribution and sea ice extent produced by NOAA's interactive multisensor snow and ice mapping system (IMS) were validated using in situ snow depth data from observing stations obtained from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for calendar years 2006 to 2010. IMS provides daily maps of snow and sea ice extent within the Northern Hemisphere using data from combination of geostationary and polar orbiting satellites in visible, infrared and microwave spectrums. Statistical correspondence between the IMS and in situ point measurements has been evaluated assuming that ground measurements are discrete and continuously distributed over a 4 km IMS snow cover maps. Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) land and snow classification data are supplemental datasets used in the further analysis of correspondence between the IMS product and in situ measurements. The comparison of IMS maps with in situ snow observations conducted over a period of four years has demonstrated a good correspondence of the data sets. The daily rate of agreement between the products mostly ranges between 80% and 90% during the Northern Hemisphere through the winter seasons when about a quarter to one third of the territory of OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2012, 4 1135 continental US is covered with snow. Further, better agreement was observed for stations recording higher snow depth. The uncertainties in validation of IMS snow product with stationed NCDC data were discussed.

Tracking Snow Variations in the Northern Hemisphere Using Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data (2000–2015)

“…Although the combination of MODIS and AMSR-E/IMS can take advantage of both high spatial resolution of optical data and cloud transparency of passive microwave data, the combination might reduce the spatial resolution of MODIS products because cloud pixels in MODIS are replaced by AMSR-E/IMS images, which have coarse spatial resolution; therefore, the accuracy of the cloud pixel reclassification fully depends on the accuracy of AMSR-E and IMS. In previous studies, AMSR-E and IMS data were widely used for monitoring snow, and both of them have relatively high accuracy [28][29][30][31]. On the other hand, because of the poor performance in the forest area, the Kappa test of integrated snow products shows moderate consistency with Landsat, and snow monitoring in this regions also remains a major problem for virtually all types of global remote sensing snow products, for which overall accuracy were seriously affected due to the forest canopy [37].…”

Illuminating the Capabilities of the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band

“…Given this relevance, and the generally impractical nature of in situ monitoring, considerable research in satellite-based methods for sea ice mapping has been developed (e.g., [26,27]). These efforts are led by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which provides an array of data sets derived from passive microwave, visible and thermal infrared sensors, and field observations (http://nsidc.org/data/seaice/).…”

A Merging Algorithm for Regional Snow Mapping over Eastern Canada from AVHRR and SSM/I Data

“…Then, the result was scanned with a nominal resolution of 190 km. This system has been enhanced to produce daily coverage with a resolution of 23 km [3,4]. In 1999, the spatial resolution of the NESDIS product increased to 5 km, with a further improvement of the IMS system that takes into account the data from the passive microwave sensor, SSM/I [5].…”

“…Their quality varies according to the sensor and platform characteristics, image processing procedures and snow classification techniques [1][2][3]. Until 1997, the only available operational products were the weekly charts from the interactive multisensor snow and ice mapping system (IMS) covering the Northern Hemisphere and produced by the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) [4].…”