Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images
Snow cover is of high relevance for the Earth’s climate system, and its variability plays a key role in alpine hydrology, ecology, and socioeconomic systems. Measurements obtained by optical satellite remote sensing are an essential source for quantifying snow cover variability from a local to globa...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/19/4730 |
| _version_ | 1797477186392817664 |
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| author | Céline Portenier Martina Hasler Stefan Wunderle |
| author_facet | Céline Portenier Martina Hasler Stefan Wunderle |
| author_sort | Céline Portenier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Snow cover is of high relevance for the Earth’s climate system, and its variability plays a key role in alpine hydrology, ecology, and socioeconomic systems. Measurements obtained by optical satellite remote sensing are an essential source for quantifying snow cover variability from a local to global scale. However, the temporal resolution of such measurements is often affected by persistent cloud coverage, limiting the application of high resolution snow cover mapping. In this study, we derive the regional snow line elevation in an alpine catchment area using public webcams. We compare our results to the snow line information derived from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Sentinel-2 snow cover products and find our results to be in good agreement therewith. Between October 2017 and the end of June 2018, snow lines derived from webcams lie on average 55.8 m below and 33.7 m above MODIS snow lines using a normalized-difference snow index (NDSI) of 0.4 and 0.1, respectively, and are on average 53.1 m below snow lines derived from Sentinel-2. We further analyze the superior temporal resolution of webcam-based snow cover information and demonstrate its effectiveness in filling temporal gaps in satellite-based measurements caused by cloud cover. Our findings show the ability of webcam-based snow line elevation retrieval to complement and improve satellite-based measurements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:15:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-797305ff946a4c2eaaee228a329cc1bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:15:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-797305ff946a4c2eaaee228a329cc1bd2023-11-23T21:37:41ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922022-09-011419473010.3390/rs14194730Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam ImagesCéline Portenier0Martina Hasler1Stefan Wunderle2Institute of Geography, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandInstitute of Geography, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandInstitute of Geography, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandSnow cover is of high relevance for the Earth’s climate system, and its variability plays a key role in alpine hydrology, ecology, and socioeconomic systems. Measurements obtained by optical satellite remote sensing are an essential source for quantifying snow cover variability from a local to global scale. However, the temporal resolution of such measurements is often affected by persistent cloud coverage, limiting the application of high resolution snow cover mapping. In this study, we derive the regional snow line elevation in an alpine catchment area using public webcams. We compare our results to the snow line information derived from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Sentinel-2 snow cover products and find our results to be in good agreement therewith. Between October 2017 and the end of June 2018, snow lines derived from webcams lie on average 55.8 m below and 33.7 m above MODIS snow lines using a normalized-difference snow index (NDSI) of 0.4 and 0.1, respectively, and are on average 53.1 m below snow lines derived from Sentinel-2. We further analyze the superior temporal resolution of webcam-based snow cover information and demonstrate its effectiveness in filling temporal gaps in satellite-based measurements caused by cloud cover. Our findings show the ability of webcam-based snow line elevation retrieval to complement and improve satellite-based measurements.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/19/4730regional snow line elevationpublic outdoor webcamsMODISSentinel-2 |
| spellingShingle | Céline Portenier Martina Hasler Stefan Wunderle Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images Remote Sensing regional snow line elevation public outdoor webcams MODIS Sentinel-2 |
| title | Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images |
| title_full | Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images |
| title_fullStr | Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images |
| title_short | Estimating Regional Snow Line Elevation Using Public Webcam Images |
| title_sort | estimating regional snow line elevation using public webcam images |
| topic | regional snow line elevation public outdoor webcams MODIS Sentinel-2 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/19/4730 |
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