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Using Commercial Satellite Imagery to Reconstruct 3 m and Daily Spring Snow Water Equivalent
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  • Justin M Pflug,
  • Kehan yang,
  • Nicoleta Cristea,
  • Emma Troy Boudreau,
  • Carrie Vuyovich,
  • Sujay Kumar
Justin M Pflug
University of Maryland

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Kehan yang
University of Colorado Boulder
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Nicoleta Cristea
University of Washington, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Emma Troy Boudreau
University of Washington
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Carrie Vuyovich
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Sujay Kumar
NASA GSFC
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Abstract

Snow water equivalent (SWE) distribution at fine spatial scales (≤ 10 m) is difficult to estimate due to modeling and observational constraints. However, the distribution of SWE throughout the spring snowmelt season is often correlated to the timing of snow disappearance. Here, we show that snow cover maps generated from PlanetScope’s constellation of Dove Satellites can resolve the 3 m date of snow disappearance across seven alpine domains in California and Colorado. Across a 5-year period (2019 – 2023), the average uncertainty in the date of snow disappearance, or the period of time between the last date of observed snow cover and the first date of observed snow absence, was 3 days. Using a simple shortwave-based snowmelt model calibrated at nearby snow pillows, the PlanetScope date of snow disappearance could be used to reconstruct spring snow water equivalent (SWE). Relative to lidar SWE estimates, the SWE reconstruction had a spatial coefficient of correlation of 0.75, and SWE spatial variability that was biased by 9%, on average. SWE reconstruction biases were then improved to within 0.04 m, on average, by calibrating snowmelt rates to track the spring temporal evolution of fractional snow cover observed by PlanetScope, including fractional snow cover over the full modeling domain, and across domain subsections where snowmelt rates may differ. This study demonstrates the utility of fine-scale and high-frequency optical observations of snow cover, and the simple and annually repeatable connections between snow cover and spring snow water resources in regions with seasonal snowpack.
23 May 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
30 May 2024Published in ESS Open Archive