Journal
CRYOSPHERE
Volume 10, Issue 4, Pages 1361-1380Publisher
COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH
DOI: 10.5194/tc-10-1361-2016
Keywords
-
Funding
- CNES through the ISIS Pleiades programme [CRYOPYR-4500107601]
- Region Midi-Pyrenees
- University of Toulouse through the CRYOPYR project
- OHM Vicdessos Human-Environnemental Observatory
- Labex DRIIHM (Dispositif de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieux)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
To date, there is no definitive approach to map snow depth in mountainous areas from spaceborne sensors. Here, we examine the potential of very-high-resolution (VHR) optical stereo satellites to this purpose. Two triplets of 0.70aEuro-m resolution images were acquired by the Pl,iades satellite over an open alpine catchment (14.5aEuro-km(2)) under snow-free and snow-covered conditions. The open-source software Ame's Stereo Pipeline (ASP) was used to match the stereo pairs without ground control points to generate raw photogrammetric clouds and to convert them into high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) at 1, 2, and 4aEuro-m resolutions. The DEM differences (dDEMs) were computed after 3-D coregistration, including a correction of a -0.48aEuro-m vertical bias. The bias-corrected dDEM maps were compared to 451 snow-probe measurements. The results show a decimetric accuracy and precision in the Pl,iades-derived snow depths. The median of the residuals is -0.16aEuro-m, with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.58aEuro-m at a pixel size of 2aEuro-m. We compared the 2aEuro-m Pl,iades dDEM to a 2aEuro-m dDEM that was based on a winged unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) photogrammetric survey that was performed on the same winter date over a portion of the catchment (3.1aEuro-km(2)). The UAV-derived snow depth map exhibits the same patterns as the Pl,iades-derived snow map, with a median of -0.11aEuro-m and a SD of 0.62aEuro-m when compared to the snow-probe measurements. The Pl,iades images benefit from a very broad radiometric range (12 bits), allowing a high correlation success rate over the snow-covered areas. This study demonstrates the value of VHR stereo satellite imagery to map snow depth in remote mountainous areas even when no field data are available.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available