Snowpack density modeling is the primary source of uncertainty when mapping basin‐wide SWE with lidar

Details

• Journal Title:
  Geophysical Research Letters
• Personal Author:
  Raleigh, Mark S. ; Small, Eric E.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NESDIS (National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information)
• Description:
  Lidar-measured snow depth and model-estimated snow density can be combined to map snow water equivalent (SWE). This approach has the potential to transform research and operations insnow-dominated regions, but sources of uncertainty need quanti fication. We compared relative uncertainty contributions from lidar depth measurement and density modeling to SWE estimation, utilizing lidar data from the Tuolumne Basin (California). We found a density uncertainty of 0.048 g cm /C03by comparing output from four models. For typical lidar depth uncertainty (8 cm), density estimation was the dominant source of SWE uncertainty when snow exceeded 60 cm depth, representing >70% of snow cover and 90% of SWE
• Keywords:
  General Earth And Planetary Sciences Geophysics General Earth And Planetary Sciences General Earth And Planetary Sciences
• Source:
  Geophysical Research Letters, 44(8), 3700-3709
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gl071999
• ISSN:
  0094-8276 ; 1944-8007
• Format:
  PDF
• Publisher:
  American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Other
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:09914efcca0fec84033198011b36da52130ad99bed6c0653736e28a92b94f73e
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/54438/noaa_54438_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 917.68 KB ]