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DATA USED<br />

SSM/I &<br />

QuikSCAT<br />

Coverage<br />

LANDCOVER<br />

Figure 1. Study area <strong>an</strong>d SSM/I <strong>an</strong>d RADARSAT coverage<br />

155<br />

63 rd EASTERN SNOW CONFERENCE<br />

Newark, Delaware USA 2006<br />

RADARSAT<br />

Images<br />

SSM/I<br />

SSM/I p<strong>as</strong>sive microwave radiometer with seven ch<strong>an</strong>nels is operating at five frequencies (19,<br />

35, 22, 37, <strong>an</strong>d 85.5 GHz) <strong>an</strong>d dual- polarization (except at 22 GHz which is V-polarization<br />

only). The sensor’s spatial resolution varies for different ch<strong>an</strong>nel frequencies. In this study we<br />

used Scalable Equal Area Earth Grid EASE-Grid SSM/I products distributed by National <strong>Snow</strong><br />

<strong>an</strong>d Ice Data Center (NSIDC). EASE-Grid spatial resolution is slightly more th<strong>an</strong> 25km (25.06)<br />

for all <strong>the</strong> ch<strong>an</strong>nels (NSIDC) although <strong>the</strong> recorded resolution of <strong>the</strong> sensor for longer wavelengths<br />

is more th<strong>an</strong> 50km. The three EASE-Grid projections comprise two azimuthal equal-area<br />

projections for <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn or Sou<strong>the</strong>rn hemispheres, respectively <strong>an</strong>d a global cylindrical equal<br />

area projection. In our study we used a Nor<strong>the</strong>rn hemisphere azimuthal equal-area. The study area<br />

is covered by 980 (28 by 35) SSM/I EASE-Grid pixels.<br />

Ku-B<strong>an</strong>d<br />

The QuikSCAT/SeaWinds scatterometer provides normalized radar cross section me<strong>as</strong>urements<br />

of <strong>the</strong> Earth’s surface at unprecedented coverage <strong>an</strong>d resolution. The QuikSCAT sensor on <strong>the</strong><br />

SeaWinds satellite operates at 13.4 GHz vertical <strong>an</strong>d horizontal ch<strong>an</strong>nels. The sigma (0) browse<br />

product of QuikSCAT h<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong> grid size of 5 pixels per degree or about 22.5km at <strong>the</strong> equator. In<br />

order to match SSM/I grid size <strong>the</strong> QuikSCAT images were averaged to 25km resolution for <strong>the</strong><br />

study area.<br />

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)<br />

NDVI is used to represent <strong>the</strong> variety of l<strong>an</strong>d cover in <strong>the</strong> study area. The NDVI data obtained<br />

from <strong>the</strong> NOAA/NASA Pathfinder AVHRR is distributed at Goddard Space Flight Center<br />

(GSFC). The spatial resolution is 8km by 8km obtained within a 10 day period that h<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong> fewest<br />

cloud. To match <strong>the</strong> with RADARSAT images, NDVI image w<strong>as</strong> resampled <strong>an</strong>d projected to<br />

UTM.

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