Snow evolution in Sierra Nevada (Spain) from an energy balance model validated with Landsat TM data

Javier Herrero; María J. Polo; Miguel A. Losada

doi:10.1117/12.898270

6 October 2011 Snow evolution in Sierra Nevada (Spain) from an energy balance model validated with Landsat TM data

Javier Herrero, María J. Polo, Miguel A. Losada

Proceedings Volume 8174, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XIII; 817403 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.898270
Event: SPIE Remote Sensing, 2011, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

Sierra Nevada Mountains are the highest continental altitude in Spain. Located in the South, facing the Mediterranean Sea in a distance of less than 40 km, the high level of solar energy income throughout the year, together with the extremely variable character of climate in such latitudes, make it necessary to use energy balance approaches to characterize the snow cover evolution. Wind and relative humidity become decisive factors in the evolution of the snow cover due to the high evaporation rates that can arise under favourable meteorological conditions. This work presents the enhanced capability of the combination of Landsat TM data with the simulation of an energy balance model to produce sequences of hourly high resolution maps of snow cover and depth distribution under variable meteorological conditions such as those found in Mediterranean mountainous watersheds. Despite the good agreement found between observed and predicted snow pixels, different examples of disagreement arose in the boundaries, most of them related to the temperature and wind speed spatial pattern simulation together with the discrimination between rain and snowfall occurrence.

Citation Download Citation

Javier Herrero, María J. Polo, and Miguel A. Losada "Snow evolution in Sierra Nevada (Spain) from an energy balance model validated with Landsat TM data", Proc. SPIE 8174, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XIII, 817403 (6 October 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.898270

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