On the Use of Modis Snow Cover Product for Assessing Snow Extension and Duration Over the Po River Basin

20 Pages Posted: 4 Sep 2014

See all articles by Pierfrancesco Da Ronco

Pierfrancesco Da Ronco

CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici

Carlo De Michele

Polytechnic University of Milan

Date Written: October 2013

Abstract

Changes in climatic forcings on the Mediterranean area are foreseen by many global and regional models. Long-term temperature variations are expected to affect snow dynamics, thus impacting on the timing of the hydrologic response in Alpine catchments. Several authors agree in predicting a shift of the hydrologic regime in the major European rivers, due to a changed behavior of mountain valleys. In this context, digital snow maps are a powerful tool for reproducing large-scale snow distribution and extension. The use of such information for hydrological purposes is now considered an outlet of great practical interest. Here, we consider the Snow Covered Area (SCA) Product and develop a procedure for snow detection from MODIS data (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometeron on board Terra and Aqua satellites). MODIS snow maps have proven to be very reliable, despite the presence of cloudiness can mask the ground, thus preventing any snow detection. An application to Po river basin, in northern Italy, is here proposed. Daily maps of few years (2003-2007) have been analyzed and compared with the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the study area. By some clear-sky days we got complete maps of snow areas throughout the seasons, reproducing large-scale snow cover duration and its dependence on altitude. Focusing on the issue of cloudiness, we highlighted its increase at higher elevation. From our point of view, after this first attempt, MODIS Snow Products seem to have great applicative potentiality. However, many applications are conditioned to the possibility of providing a reliable estimation of ground conditions beneath the clouds.

Keywords: MODIS, Snow Maps, Po River, Climate change, Cloud Removal, Hydrologic Regime

Suggested Citation

Da Ronco, Pierfrancesco and De Michele, Carlo, On the Use of Modis Snow Cover Product for Assessing Snow Extension and Duration Over the Po River Basin (October 2013). CMCC Research Paper No. 182, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2490937 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2490937

Pierfrancesco Da Ronco (Contact Author)

CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici ( email )

via Augusto Imperatore, 16
Lecce, I-73100
Italy

Carlo De Michele

Polytechnic University of Milan ( email )

Piazza Leonardo da Vinci
Milan, Milano 20100
Italy

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
54
Abstract Views
494
Rank
675,887
PlumX Metrics