Snow depth variability in the Northern Hemisphere mountains observed from space

Hans Lievens; Matthias Demuzere; Hans Peter Marshall; Rolf H. Reichle; Ludovic Brucker; Isis Brangers; Patricia de Rosnay; Marie Dumont; Manuela Girotto; Walter W. Immerzeel; Tobias Jonas; Edward J. Kim; Inka Koch; Christoph Marty; Tuomo Saloranta; Johannes Schöber; Gabrielle J.M. De Lannoy

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12566-y

Snow depth variability in the Northern Hemisphere mountains observed from space

Hans Lievens^*, Matthias Demuzere, Hans Peter Marshall, Rolf H. Reichle, Ludovic Brucker, Isis Brangers, Patricia de Rosnay, Marie Dumont, Manuela Girotto, Walter W. Immerzeel, Tobias Jonas, Edward J. Kim, Inka Koch, Christoph Marty, Tuomo Saloranta, Johannes Schöber, Gabrielle J.M. De Lannoy

^*Corresponding author for this work

Landscape functioning, Geocomputation and Hydrology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Accurate snow depth observations are critical to assess water resources. More than a billion people rely on water from snow, most of which originates in the Northern Hemisphere mountain ranges. Yet, remote sensing observations of mountain snow depth are still lacking at the large scale. Here, we show the ability of Sentinel-1 to map snow depth in the Northern Hemisphere mountains at 1 km² resolution using an empirical change detection approach. An evaluation with measurements from ~4000 sites and reanalysis data demonstrates that the Sentinel-1 retrievals capture the spatial variability between and within mountain ranges, as well as their inter-annual differences. This is showcased with the contrasting snow depths between 2017 and 2018 in the US Sierra Nevada and European Alps. With Sentinel-1 continuity ensured until 2030 and likely beyond, these findings lay a foundation for quantifying the long-term vulnerability of mountain snow-water resources to climate change.

Original language	English
Article number	4629
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	10
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12566-y
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
R.R. and M.G. were supported by the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology program. Sentinel-1A/B data are from the ESA and Copernicus Sentinel Satellites project and were processed using Google Earth Engine.

Funding Information:
This work was funded through the BELSPO SNOPOST and C-SNOW projects. Part of the study was performed by H.L. at NASA/GSFC, with computational resources provided by the NASA High-End Computing Program through the Center for Climate Simulation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).

Funding

R.R. and M.G. were supported by the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology program. Sentinel-1A/B data are from the ESA and Copernicus Sentinel Satellites project and were processed using Google Earth Engine. This work was funded through the BELSPO SNOPOST and C-SNOW projects. Part of the study was performed by H.L. at NASA/GSFC, with computational resources provided by the NASA High-End Computing Program through the Center for Climate Simulation.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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s41467-019-12566-yFinal published version, 5.42 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Lievens, H., Demuzere, M., Marshall, H. P., Reichle, R. H., Brucker, L., Brangers, I., de Rosnay, P., Dumont, M., Girotto, M., Immerzeel, W. W., Jonas, T., Kim, E. J., Koch, I., Marty, C., Saloranta, T., Schöber, J., & De Lannoy, G. J. M. (2019). Snow depth variability in the Northern Hemisphere mountains observed from space. Nature Communications, 10(1), Article 4629. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12566-y

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title = "Snow depth variability in the Northern Hemisphere mountains observed from space",

abstract = "Accurate snow depth observations are critical to assess water resources. More than a billion people rely on water from snow, most of which originates in the Northern Hemisphere mountain ranges. Yet, remote sensing observations of mountain snow depth are still lacking at the large scale. Here, we show the ability of Sentinel-1 to map snow depth in the Northern Hemisphere mountains at 1 km² resolution using an empirical change detection approach. An evaluation with measurements from \textasciitilde{}4000 sites and reanalysis data demonstrates that the Sentinel-1 retrievals capture the spatial variability between and within mountain ranges, as well as their inter-annual differences. This is showcased with the contrasting snow depths between 2017 and 2018 in the US Sierra Nevada and European Alps. With Sentinel-1 continuity ensured until 2030 and likely beyond, these findings lay a foundation for quantifying the long-term vulnerability of mountain snow-water resources to climate change.",

author = "Hans Lievens and Matthias Demuzere and Marshall, \{Hans Peter\} and Reichle, \{Rolf H.\} and Ludovic Brucker and Isis Brangers and \{de Rosnay\}, Patricia and Marie Dumont and Manuela Girotto and Immerzeel, \{Walter W.\} and Tobias Jonas and Kim, \{Edward J.\} and Inka Koch and Christoph Marty and Tuomo Saloranta and Johannes Sch{\"o}ber and \{De Lannoy\}, \{Gabrielle J.M.\}",

note = "Funding Information: R.R. and M.G. were supported by the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology program. Sentinel-1A/B data are from the ESA and Copernicus Sentinel Satellites project and were processed using Google Earth Engine. Funding Information: This work was funded through the BELSPO SNOPOST and C-SNOW projects. Part of the study was performed by H.L. at NASA/GSFC, with computational resources provided by the NASA High-End Computing Program through the Center for Climate Simulation. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, The Author(s).",

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-019-12566-y",

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Lievens, H, Demuzere, M, Marshall, HP, Reichle, RH, Brucker, L, Brangers, I, de Rosnay, P, Dumont, M, Girotto, M, Immerzeel, WW, Jonas, T, Kim, EJ, Koch, I, Marty, C, Saloranta, T, Schöber, J & De Lannoy, GJM 2019, 'Snow depth variability in the Northern Hemisphere mountains observed from space', Nature Communications, vol. 10, no. 1, 4629. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12566-y

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AU - Lievens, Hans

AU - Demuzere, Matthias

AU - Marshall, Hans Peter

AU - Reichle, Rolf H.

AU - Brucker, Ludovic

AU - Brangers, Isis

AU - de Rosnay, Patricia

AU - Dumont, Marie

AU - Girotto, Manuela

AU - Immerzeel, Walter W.

AU - Jonas, Tobias

AU - Kim, Edward J.

AU - Koch, Inka

AU - Marty, Christoph

AU - Saloranta, Tuomo

AU - Schöber, Johannes

AU - De Lannoy, Gabrielle J.M.

N1 - Funding Information: R.R. and M.G. were supported by the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology program. Sentinel-1A/B data are from the ESA and Copernicus Sentinel Satellites project and were processed using Google Earth Engine. Funding Information: This work was funded through the BELSPO SNOPOST and C-SNOW projects. Part of the study was performed by H.L. at NASA/GSFC, with computational resources provided by the NASA High-End Computing Program through the Center for Climate Simulation. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, The Author(s).

PY - 2019/12/1

Y1 - 2019/12/1

N2 - Accurate snow depth observations are critical to assess water resources. More than a billion people rely on water from snow, most of which originates in the Northern Hemisphere mountain ranges. Yet, remote sensing observations of mountain snow depth are still lacking at the large scale. Here, we show the ability of Sentinel-1 to map snow depth in the Northern Hemisphere mountains at 1 km² resolution using an empirical change detection approach. An evaluation with measurements from ~4000 sites and reanalysis data demonstrates that the Sentinel-1 retrievals capture the spatial variability between and within mountain ranges, as well as their inter-annual differences. This is showcased with the contrasting snow depths between 2017 and 2018 in the US Sierra Nevada and European Alps. With Sentinel-1 continuity ensured until 2030 and likely beyond, these findings lay a foundation for quantifying the long-term vulnerability of mountain snow-water resources to climate change.

AB - Accurate snow depth observations are critical to assess water resources. More than a billion people rely on water from snow, most of which originates in the Northern Hemisphere mountain ranges. Yet, remote sensing observations of mountain snow depth are still lacking at the large scale. Here, we show the ability of Sentinel-1 to map snow depth in the Northern Hemisphere mountains at 1 km² resolution using an empirical change detection approach. An evaluation with measurements from ~4000 sites and reanalysis data demonstrates that the Sentinel-1 retrievals capture the spatial variability between and within mountain ranges, as well as their inter-annual differences. This is showcased with the contrasting snow depths between 2017 and 2018 in the US Sierra Nevada and European Alps. With Sentinel-1 continuity ensured until 2030 and likely beyond, these findings lay a foundation for quantifying the long-term vulnerability of mountain snow-water resources to climate change.

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JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

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M1 - 4629

ER -

Snow depth variability in the Northern Hemisphere mountains observed from space

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

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