Snow cover characterization using radiometric measurements and remote sensing data in visible and infra red region of EM spectrum

Abstract

Natural porous material Snow is critical entity for hydrology and climatology applications. For mapping/ retrieval of snow parameters using remote sensors, a spectral database of snow classes was generated through field investigations over different years in Indian Himalayan conditions. It was analyzed to understand the response of four radiative transfer models for snow physical parameters retrieval and to select suitable model for Himalayan conditions. An alternate approach to infer metamorphic state of snow was proposed using mapping of peak characteristics on pixel basis, which does not require a-priori reference spectral database. Impact of contaminants mixed with snow, on spectral reflectance, snow indices, peak characteristics and derived band ratios was analyzed to understand their discrimination capabilities. Based on field investigations, a new method was also proposed and validated for snow surface wetness estimation using airborne/ground hyperspectral sensors.