Exploring snow distribution dynamics in steep forested slopes with UAV-borne LiDAR

Mapping snow in forests is important for understanding the snow cover dynamics in these environments in view of hydrological applications and water resources management. Today, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are widely used for snow studies due to their rather cheap and flexible operation. UAV-borne Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems are a promising technology for sub-canopy snow mapping at high temporal resolutions, concurrently providing information on both the canopy and the below-canopy snow surface. In this pilot study, we used a UAV-LiDAR system to investigate the snow cover dynamics within two steep forested slopes of opposing aspects in the Swiss Alps at both high spatial resolution and unprecedented temporal resolution. Using a Distance to Canopy Edge (DCE) algorithm to characterize local forest structure, snow depth was analyzed in terms of relative position within variable forest cover. The north-exposed site had higher mean snow depths throughout the season compared to the south-exposed site, especially in canopy gaps. Whereas snow depletion rate was consistent throughout the north-exposed site, snow depletion was much faster in the gaps at the southexposed slope. Correlation coefficients between snow depths and local canopy closure were weaker at the southexposed (between -0.5 and - 0.7) than at the north-exposed site (between -0.7 and - 0.9), and rapidly deteriorated right after the peak of winter at the south-exposed slope. This indicates shortwave radiation dominates snowmelt processes at this site, which was thought to be spatially uncorrelated to local canopy cover, unlike accumulation and melt processes on the north-exposed slope that generated snow patterns with a high spatial correlation to local canopy cover throughout the entire season. Calculations of incoming sub-canopy shortwave radiation (SWR) for both sites confirmed this assumption. While our findings encourage the use of UAV-borne LiDAR for further investigations of snow cover dynamics in steep forested slopes, we also outline and discuss technical challenges specific to this application. Our insights allow deriving useful recommendations for future studies using UAV-borne LiDAR over a similar environment.

Automated summary

This study utilized UAV-borne LiDAR system to investigate snow cover dynamics in forests in the Swiss Alps, revealing differences in snow depth and depletion rate between north- and south-exposed slopes, as well as the impact of local forest structure on snow depth.