2012 AGU Chapman Conference on Remote Sensing of the ...

Land surface temperature and snow cover products from theModerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)are used to investigate the sub-grid heterogeneity within theenhanced resolution QuikSCAT/AMSR-E 8.9km grid cells.We expect detailed information about the spring thawprocess, such as the differentiation of soil thaw fromsnowmelt onset, will allow us to show improvedcorrespondence between spring thaw timing and theseasonal switch of the landscape being source/sink foratmospheric carbon.Walker, Anne E.Canadian Advancements in Characterizing HighLatitude Snow Cover Properties Using SatelliteDataWalker, Anne E. 1 ; Derksen, Chris 1 ; Wang, Libo 11. Climate Research Division, Environment Canada,Toronto, ON, CanadaThe Climate Research Division (CRD) of EnvironmentCanada has a long-standing research program focussed onthe development of satellite-based capabilities forcharacterizing the spatial and temporal variability in snowcover across Canada to support analyses of climatevariability and change and contribute to enhancedmodelling (climate, numerical weather prediction,hydrology) capabilities. Scientific understanding of snowcover variability and change in northern regions isparticularly lacking due to a sparse conventional observingnetwork that has a strong coastal bias. This presentation willprovide an overview of recent Canadian advancements thathave been made in characterizing high latitude snow coverproperties using data from current satellites and efforts todetermine the potential for future missions such asCoReH2O (Cold Regions Hydrology High-resolutionObservatory). These include new capabilities generated fromresearch activities carried out during International PolarYear (2007-2009) for snow water equivalent (SWE) retrievalin Arctic tundra landscapes, and the development of a pan-Arctic data set documenting melt onset dates for terrestrialsnow cover, lake ice, land ice, and sea ice surfaces from Kubandscatterometer and passive microwave radiometermeasurements. The application of new satellite snow coverdata sets for documenting changes in Arctic snow cover andimproving the initialization of surface conditions innumerical weather prediction models will be highlighted.This includes application of the suite of land cover specificalgorithms developed at Environment Canada (suitable forregional modeling applications) and a new NorthernHemisphere SWE dataset (suitable for global modelingapplications) recently produced by the European SpaceAgency GlobSnow initiative. GlobSnow SWE retrievals areproduced through an assimilation of satellite passivemicrowave data, forward snow emission model simulations,and snow depth measurements from synoptic weatherstations. Evaluation with independent reference datasetsindicate this approach produces retrievals with notablyimproved accuracy compared to contemporary ‘stand-alone’passive microwave datasets.Walker, Jeffrey P.The Soil Moisture Active Passive Experiment:Towards Active Passive Retrieval and DownsclaingWalker, Jeffrey P. 1 ; Monerris, Alessandra 1 ; Gao, Ying 1 ; Wu,Xiaoling 1 ; Panciera, Rocco 2 ; Tanase, Mihai 2 ; Ryu,Dongryeol 2 ; Gray, Doug 3 ; Yardley, Heath 3 ; Goh, Alvin 3 ;Jackson, Tom 41. Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University,Clayton, VIC, Australia2. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University ofMelbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia3. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia4. United Stated Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD,USANASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission isscheduled for launch in 2014. This soil moisture dedicatedmission will carry a combined L-band radar and radiometersystem with the objective of mapping near surface soilmoisture globally at an unprecedented spatial resolution.The scientific rationale for SMAP is an improved accuracyand spatial resolution of soil moisture estimates through thecombination of high resolution (3 km) but noisy radarderived soil moisture information and the more accurate yetlower resolution (36 km) radiometer derived soil moistureinformation, yielding a 9 km active-passive soil moistureproduct. In order to achieve these objectives, algorithmsneed to be developed and tested using airborne data thatsimulate the radar and radiometer observations that SMAPwill provide. The Soil Moisture Active Passive Experiment(SMAPEx) is a series of three airborne field campaignscontributing to the development and validation of suchalgorithms, providing prototype SMAP observationscollected with a unique active and passive airborne facilityover a heavily monitored study area in south-easternAustralia. This paper outlines the airborne and groundsampling rationale, the progress towards producingsimulated active-passive SMAP data sets for a range of soilmoisture and vegetation conditions, including a single 3-week long dry-down period during the spring growingseason, and the development of 1 km resolution passive onlysoil moisture maps for validation of active-passive retrievaland downscaling studies. Note that the order of authorsdoes not necessarily reflect the order of contributions.Wang, GuangyuSustainability and Landuse Pattern ChangeDetection in the Min River Watershed, ChinaWang, Guangyu 11. Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia,Vancouver, BC, CanadaDetecting patterns and change in landuse over time isvery important in determining regional ecosystem well-being148