Study of contaminated snow cover using remote sensing in the Eastern Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, India

IF 2.9 4区 环境科学与生态学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Manmit Kumar Singh, Ritu Anilkumar, Rishikesh Bharti
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Abstract

Snow is considered contaminated when any foreign materials are deposited/mixed with it, which can accelerate melting and significantly impact the snow cover's radiative balance. Such an enhanced melting rate results in a reduction in freshwater sources at the catchment level. In optical remote sensing, snow contamination is widely studied using a normalizing difference index called the snow contamination index. This is based on the finding that the impact of snow contamination diminishes with wavelength and is most noticeable in the visible spectrum (0.3—0.7 μm). However, the study of snow contamination using optical remote sensing is hindered in the Himalayan terrain due to enduring cloud cover in the region. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data such as Sentinel-1 can be used to ensure all-weather monitoring of such areas. This study focuses on the SAR backscattering behavior at the C-band of clear and contaminated snow for March 2022 in a part of the Eastern Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, India. An attempt has been made to utilize Landsat-9 and Sentinel-1 to study the snow contamination. The SAR backscattering for snow conditions (clear/contaminated) is studied using thresholds obtained from the Landsat-9 snow cover map. The SCI and SAR backscattering statistical analysis shows a negative correlation (R2 > 0.6) at a 95% confidence level. It is observed that in the microwave region of the C-band, contaminated snow has a comparatively higher backscattering value than clear snow. However, in the visible wavelength, the contaminated snow has a lower reflectance value than clean snow. Such behavior of the snowpack in the microwave region of the C-band is explained using the physical properties of the snowpack and the dominant scattering mechanism over the surface. The key findings of this study suggest that SAR backscattering is affected by snow contamination due to changes in the local incidence angle, snow wetness, and surface roughness. This research provides critical insight into snow contamination using microwave remote sensing, which can be the first step toward developing an index for radar observations.

当任何外来物质沉积/混合在雪中时,雪被认为是污染的,这会加速融化并严重影响积雪的辐射平衡。这种加速的融化速度导致集水区淡水资源的减少。在光学遥感中,雪污染被广泛研究,使用一种称为雪污染指数的归一化差分指数。这是因为雪污染的影响随着波长的变化而减小,在可见光谱(0.3 ~ 0.7 μm)范围内最为明显。然而,由于喜马拉雅地区持续的云层覆盖,利用光学遥感对雪污染的研究受到阻碍。Sentinel-1等合成孔径雷达(SAR)数据可用于确保对这些地区进行全天候监测。利用Landsat-9和Sentinel-1对积雪污染进行了研究。利用从Landsat-9积雪图获得的阈值,研究了积雪条件下(无雪/污染)的SAR后向散射。SCI和SAR后向散射统计分析显示在95%置信水平上呈负相关(R2 > 0.6)。在c波段的微波区,污染雪的后向散射值相对较高。但在可见光波段,污染雪的反射率值低于干净雪。利用积雪的物理性质和地表的主要散射机制来解释积雪在c波段微波区的这种行为。研究结果表明,积雪污染对SAR后向散射的影响主要是由于局部入射角、积雪湿度和表面粗糙度的变化。这项研究提供了利用微波遥感对积雪污染的关键见解,这可能是开发雷达观测指数的第一步。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 环境科学-环境科学
CiteScore
4.70
自引率
6.70%
发文量
1000
审稿时长
7.3 months
期刊介绍: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment emphasizes technical developments and data arising from environmental monitoring and assessment, the use of scientific principles in the design of monitoring systems at the local, regional and global scales, and the use of monitoring data in assessing the consequences of natural resource management actions and pollution risks to man and the environment.
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