Snow Cover Maps from MODIS Images at 250 m Resolution, Part 2: Validation

Remote Sensing

Claudia Notarnicola²  Martial Duguay²  Nico Moelg³  Thomas Schellenberger¹  Anke Tetzlaff²  Roberto Monsorno²  Armin Costa²  Christian Steurer² 

[1] Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1047, Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway; E-Mail:;Institute for Applied Remote Sensing, European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC), Viale Druso 1, I-39100 Bolzano, Italy; E-Mails:;Department of Geography, Glaciology, Geomorphodynamics and Geochronology, University of Zürich-Irchel, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland; E-Mail:

关键词: MODIS;    snow;    snow covered area;    Landsat;    in situ snow depth;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs5041568

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The performance of a new algorithm for binary snow cover monitoring based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images at 250 m resolution is validated using snow cover maps (SCA) based on Landsat 7 ETM+ images and in situ snow depth measurements from ground stations in selected test sites in Central Europe. The advantages of the proposed algorithm are the improved ground resolution of 250 m and the near real-time availability with respect to the 500 m standard National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) MODIS snow products (MOD10 and MYD10). It allows a more accurate snow cover monitoring at a local scale, especially in mountainous areas characterized by large landscape heterogeneity. The near real-time delivery makes the product valuable as input for hydrological models, e.g., for flood forecast. A comparison to sixteen snow cover maps derived from Landsat ETM/ETM+ showed an overall accuracy of 88.1%, which increases to 93.6% in areas outside of forests. A comparison of the SCA derived from the proposed algorithm with standard MODIS products, MYD10 and MOD10, indicates an agreement of around 85.4% with major discrepancies in forested areas. The validation of MODIS snow cover maps with 148 in situ snow depth measurements shows an accuracy ranging from 94% to around 82%, where the lowest accuracies is found in very rugged terrain restricted to in situ stations along north facing slopes, which lie in shadow in winter during the early morning acquisition.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland