Validation of Remotely Sensed Snow Water Equivalent in Northeast Asia
Abstract
Accurate estimates of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) are important to improve analysis and management of water resources in specific regions. Currently, several processes have been used to develop SWE values based on remotely-sensed brightness temperatures by microwave sensor systems. Despite great efforts to ensure the accuracy of such estimates, there have been a number of uncertainties associated with remotely sensed SWE values. Given this fact, further research for validating and improving remotely sensed SWE values should be conducted in unexplored regions, including Northeast Asia. In this study, we dealt with SWE values produced by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer E (AMSR-E) and distributed through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). We extracted AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 Global SWE for nine winter seasons from December 2002 to February 2011 and compared the data with in situ SWE values converted from snow-depth observation data from four regions in South Korea. The results showed similarities which indicated that the AMSR-E SWE values were somewhat overestimated or underestimated when compared with in situ SWE values. However, their Mean Absolute Errors (MAE) by month was relatively negligible.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.H31F1192C
- Keywords:
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- 1863 HYDROLOGY / Snow and ice