Effect of Snow Cover on Detecting Spring Phenology from Satellite-Derived Vegetation Indices in Alpine Grasslands

The accurate estimation of phenological metrics from satellite data, especially the start of season (SOS), is of great significance to enhance our understanding of trends in vegetation phenology under climate change at regional or global scales. However, for regions with winter snow cover, such as the alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau, the presence of snow inevitably contaminates satellite signals and introduces bias into the detection of the SOS. Despite recent progress in eliminating the effect of snow cover on SOS detection, the mechanism of how snow cover affects the satellite-derived vegetation index (VI) and the detected SOS remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of snow cover on both VI and SOS detection by combining simulation experiments and real satellite data. Five different VIs were used and compared in this study, including four structure-based (i.e., NDVI, EVI2, NDPI, NDGI) VIs and one physiological-based (i.e., NIRv) VI. Both simulation experiments and satellite data analysis revealed that the presence of snow can significantly reduce the VI values and increase the local gradient of the growth curve, allowing the SOS to be detected. The bias in the detected SOS caused by snow cover depends on the end of the snow season (ESS), snow duration parameters, and the snow-free SOS. An earlier ESS results in an earlier estimate of the SOS, a later ESS results in a later estimate of the SOS, and an ESS close to the snow-free SOS results in small bias in the detected SOS. The sensitivity of the five VIs to snow cover in SOS detection is NDPI/NDGI < NIRv < EVI2 < NDVI, which has been verified in both simulation experiments and satellite data analysis. These findings will significantly advance our research on the feedback mechanisms between vegetation, snow, and climate change for alpine ecosystems.

Automated summary

Accurately estimating the start of season (SOS) is crucial for understanding vegetation phenology trends under climate change. However, in regions with winter snow cover, the presence of snow introduces bias into SOS detection. This study combined simulation experiments and real satellite data to investigate the effect of snow cover on vegetation index (VI) and SOS detection. The presence of snow significantly reduces VI values and increases the local gradient of the growth curve, allowing for the detection of SOS. The bias in SOS detection caused by snow cover depends on snow season end, duration, and snow-free SOS. The five VIs differed in sensitivity to snow cover in SOS detection, with NDPI/NDGI < NIRv < EVI2 < NDVI.