Brief communication: Not as dirty as they look, flawed airborne and satellite snow spectra
Abstract. Key to the success of spaceborne missions is understanding snowmelt in our warming climate, as this has implications for nearly 2 billion people. An obstacle is that surface reflectance products over snow show an erroneous hook with decreases in the visible wavelengths, causing per-band and broadband reflectance errors of up to 33 % and 11 %, respectively. This hook is sometimes mistaken for soot or dust but can result from three artifacts: (1) background reflectance that is too dark, (2) an assumption of level terrain, or (3) differences in optical constants of ice. Sensor calibration and directional effects may also contribute. Solutions are being implemented.
Authors
- Philip G. Brodrick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9497-7661)
- Niklas Bohn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4078-886X)
- David Ray Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1100-7550)
- Christopher J. Crawford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7145-0709)
- Edward H. Bair (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6554-387X)
- Brenton A. Wilder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3340-7862)
- Jeff Dozier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8542-431X)
- Carrie Vuyovich
- Nimrod Carmon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9211-2290)
- Dar A. Roberts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3555-4842)
Institutions
- Leidos (United States) (US)
- Boise State University (US)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US)
- Earth Resources Observation and Science Center
Publication Details
- Journal
- The cryosphere
- Published
- 2025-06-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2315-2025
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Cryospheric studies and observations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.30
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- California Institute of Technology
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Engineer Research and Development Center
- Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory