Objectives
The main objective is the development, implementation and validation of
methods and tools for generating maps of snowmelt area based on SAR data of
the Sentinel-1 mission and the combination with snow products derived from
optical sensors of Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 missions. The developed
algorithm will be used to generate multi-sensor pan-European snow products.
A key activity of the project is the development of a retrieval algorithm
for mapping extent of wet snow areas which exploits the full technical and
operational potential of the Sentinel-1 mission. Round robin experiments
between available algorithms will be carried out to select the optimum
algorithm. The focus will be on the use of Interferometric Wide swath mode
data which is the standard operation mode of Sentinel-1 over land surfaces.
Particular attention will be paid to the capability of dual polarization
data, and the exploitation of the high spatial resolution and geometric
accuracy of the Sentinel-1 data. Because C-band SAR is not sensitive to dry
snow, the combination with snow maps derived from optical sensor is required
in order to obtain complete pan-European snow maps. We plan to use data of
the Sentinel-3 sensors SLSTR and OLCI for the pan-European snow maps, and
coincident Sentinel-2 based snow maps (with high spatial resolution)
primarily for evaluation and assessment of uncertainty for the combined
Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3 snow product.
Project Period
December 2016 - November 2018
Principle Investigator
Thomas Nagler, ENVEO IT GmbH, Technikerstrasse 21a, 6020, Innsbruck, AUSTRIA, email: thomas.nagler(at)enveo.at