Articles | Volume 5, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-403-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-403-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Sep 2016
Research article |
| 07 Sep 2016
Nordic Snow Radar Experiment
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Anna Kontu
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Jouni Pulliainen
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Juho Vehviläinen
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Kimmo Rautiainen
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Andreas Wiesmann
Gamma Remote Sensing AG, Gümlingen, Switzerland
Christian Mätzler
Gamma Remote Sensing AG, Gümlingen, Switzerland
Charles Werner
Gamma Remote Sensing AG, Gümlingen, Switzerland
Helmut Rott
ENVEO IT GmbH, Austria
Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Thomas Nagler
ENVEO IT GmbH, Austria
Martin Schneebeli
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Martin Proksch
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Dirk Schüttemeyer
European Space Research and Technology Center, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Michael Kern
European Space Research and Technology Center, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Malcolm W. J. Davidson
European Space Research and Technology Center, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Related authors
Kimmo Rautiainen, Manu Holmberg, Juval Cohen, Arnaud Mialon, Mike Schwank, Juha Lemmetyinen, Antonio de la Fuente, and Yann Kerr
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-68, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-68, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
The SMOS Soil Freeze Thaw State product uses satellite data to monitor seasonal soil freezing and thawing globally, with a focus on high latitude regions. This is important for understanding greenhouse gas emissions, as frozen soil is associated with methane release. The product provides accurate data on key events such as the first day of soil freezing in autumn, helping scientists to study climate change, ecosystem dynamics and its impact on our planet.
Wolfgang Knorr, Matthew Williams, Tea Thum, Thomas Kaminski, Michael Voßbeck, Marko Scholze, Tristan Quaife, T. Luke Smallman, Susan C. Steele-Dunne, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Tim Green, Sönke Zaehle, Mika Aurela, Alexandre Bouvet, Emanuel Bueechi, Wouter Dorigo, Tarek S. El-Madany, Mirco Migliavacca, Marika Honkanen, Yann H. Kerr, Anna Kontu, Juha Lemmetyinen, Hannakaisa Lindqvist, Arnaud Mialon, Tuuli Miinalainen, Gaétan Pique, Amanda Ojasalo, Shaun Quegan, Peter J. Rayner, Pablo Reyes-Muñoz, Nemesio Rodríguez-Fernández, Mike Schwank, Jochem Verrelst, Songyan Zhu, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and Matthias Drusch
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 2137–2159, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2137-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2137-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
When it comes to climate change, the land surface is where the vast majority of impacts happen. The task of monitoring those impacts across the globe is formidable and must necessarily rely on satellites – at a significant cost: the measurements are only indirect and require comprehensive physical understanding. We have created a comprehensive modelling system that we offer to the research community to explore how satellite data can be better exploited to help us capture the changes that happen on our lands.
David Brodylo, Lauren V. Bosche, Ryan R. Busby, Elias J. Deeb, Thomas A. Douglas, and Juha Lemmetyinen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3936, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3936, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
We combined field-based snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements, remote sensing data, and machine learning to estimate snow depth and SWE over a 10 km2 local scale area in Sodankylä, Finland. Associations were found for snow depth and SWE with carbon- and mineral-based forest surface soils, alongside dry and wet peatbogs. This approach to upscale field-based snow depth and SWE measurements to a local scale can be used in regions that regularly experience snowfall.
Jinmei Pan, Michael Durand, Juha Lemmetyinen, Desheng Liu, and Jiancheng Shi
The Cryosphere, 18, 1561–1578, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1561-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1561-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed an algorithm to estimate snow mass using X- and dual Ku-band radar, and tested it in a ground-based experiment. The algorithm, the Bayesian-based Algorithm for SWE Estimation (BASE) using active microwaves, achieved an RMSE of 30 mm for snow water equivalent. These results demonstrate the potential of radar, a highly promising sensor, to map snow mass at high spatial resolution.
Justin Murfitt, Claude Duguay, Ghislain Picard, and Juha Lemmetyinen
The Cryosphere, 18, 869–888, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-869-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-869-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This research focuses on the interaction between microwave signals and lake ice under wet conditions. Field data collected for Lake Oulujärvi in Finland were used to model backscatter under different conditions. The results of the modelling likely indicate that a combination of increased water content and roughness of different interfaces caused backscatter to increase. These results could help to identify areas where lake ice is unsafe for winter transportation.
Alex Mavrovic, Oliver Sonnentag, Juha Lemmetyinen, Carolina Voigt, Nick Rutter, Paul Mann, Jean-Daniel Sylvain, and Alexandre Roy
Biogeosciences, 20, 5087–5108, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5087-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5087-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analysis of soil CO2 emissions in boreal and tundra regions during the non-growing season. We show that when the soil is completely frozen, soil temperature is the main control on CO2 emissions. When the soil is around the freezing point, with a mix of liquid water and ice, the liquid water content is the main control on CO2 emissions. This study highlights that the vegetation–snow–soil interactions must be considered to understand soil CO2 emissions during the non-growing season.
Alex Mavrovic, Oliver Sonnentag, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Christophe Kinnard, and Alexandre Roy
Biogeosciences, 20, 2941–2970, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2941-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2941-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This review supports the integration of microwave spaceborne information into carbon cycle science for Arctic–boreal regions. The microwave data record spans multiple decades with frequent global observations of soil moisture and temperature, surface freeze–thaw cycles, vegetation water storage, snowpack properties, and land cover. This record holds substantial unexploited potential to better understand carbon cycle processes.
Pinja Venäläinen, Kari Luojus, Colleen Mortimer, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jouni Pulliainen, Matias Takala, Mikko Moisander, and Lina Zschenderlein
The Cryosphere, 17, 719–736, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-719-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-719-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow water equivalent (SWE) is a valuable characteristic of snow cover. In this research, we improve the radiometer-based GlobSnow SWE retrieval methodology by implementing spatially and temporally varying snow densities into the retrieval procedure. In addition to improving the accuracy of SWE retrieval, varying snow densities were found to improve the magnitude and seasonal evolution of the Northern Hemisphere snow mass estimate compared to the baseline product.
Leung Tsang, Michael Durand, Chris Derksen, Ana P. Barros, Do-Hyuk Kang, Hans Lievens, Hans-Peter Marshall, Jiyue Zhu, Joel Johnson, Joshua King, Juha Lemmetyinen, Melody Sandells, Nick Rutter, Paul Siqueira, Anne Nolin, Batu Osmanoglu, Carrie Vuyovich, Edward Kim, Drew Taylor, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Ludovic Brucker, Mahdi Navari, Marie Dumont, Richard Kelly, Rhae Sung Kim, Tien-Hao Liao, Firoz Borah, and Xiaolan Xu
The Cryosphere, 16, 3531–3573, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Snow water equivalent (SWE) is of fundamental importance to water, energy, and geochemical cycles but is poorly observed globally. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements at X- and Ku-band can address this gap. This review serves to inform the broad snow research, monitoring, and application communities about the progress made in recent decades to move towards a new satellite mission capable of addressing the needs of the geoscience researchers and users.
Juha Lemmetyinen, Juval Cohen, Anna Kontu, Juho Vehviläinen, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Stefan Scheiblauer, Helmut Rott, Thomas Nagler, Elisabeth Ripper, Kelly Elder, Hans-Peter Marshall, Reinhard Fromm, Marc Adams, Chris Derksen, Joshua King, Adriano Meta, Alex Coccia, Nick Rutter, Melody Sandells, Giovanni Macelloni, Emanuele Santi, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Richard Essery, Cecile Menard, and Michael Kern
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3915–3945, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3915-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3915-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The manuscript describes airborne, dual-polarised X and Ku band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data collected over several campaigns over snow-covered terrain in Finland, Austria and Canada. Colocated snow and meteorological observations are also presented. The data are meant for science users interested in investigating X/Ku band radar signatures from natural environments in winter conditions.
Bin Cheng, Yubing Cheng, Timo Vihma, Anna Kontu, Fei Zheng, Juha Lemmetyinen, Yubao Qiu, and Jouni Pulliainen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3967–3978, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3967-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3967-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change strongly impacts the Arctic, with clear signs of higher air temperature and more precipitation. A sustainable observation programme has been carried out in Lake Orajärvi in Sodankylä, Finland. The high-quality air–snow–ice–water temperature profiles have been measured every winter since 2009. The data can be used to investigate the lake ice surface heat balance and the role of snow in lake ice mass balance and parameterization of snow-to-ice transformation in snow/ice models.
Pinja Venäläinen, Kari Luojus, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jouni Pulliainen, Mikko Moisander, and Matias Takala
The Cryosphere, 15, 2969–2981, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2969-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2969-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Information about snow water equivalent (SWE) is needed in many applications, including climate model evaluation and forecasting fresh water availability. Space-borne radiometer observations combined with ground snow depth measurements can be used to make global estimates of SWE. In this study, we investigate the possibility of using sparse snow density measurement in satellite-based SWE retrieval and show that using the snow density information in post-processing improves SWE estimations.
Jianwei Yang, Lingmei Jiang, Kari Luojus, Jinmei Pan, Juha Lemmetyinen, Matias Takala, and Shengli Wu
The Cryosphere, 14, 1763–1778, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1763-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1763-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
There are many challenges for accurate snow depth estimation using passive microwave data. Machine learning (ML) techniques are deemed to be powerful tools for establishing nonlinear relations between independent variables and a given target variable. In this study, we investigate the potential capability of the random forest (RF) model on snow depth estimation at temporal and spatial scales. The result indicates that the fitted RF algorithms perform better on temporal than spatial scales.
Melody Sandells, Richard Essery, Nick Rutter, Leanne Wake, Leena Leppänen, and Juha Lemmetyinen
The Cryosphere, 11, 229–246, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-229-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-229-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study looks at a wide range of options for simulating sensor signals for satellite monitoring of water stored as snow, though an ensemble of 1323 coupled snow evolution and microwave scattering models. The greatest improvements will be made with better computer simulations of how the snow microstructure changes, followed by how the microstructure scatters radiation at microwave frequencies. Snow compaction should also be considered in systems to monitor snow mass from space.
Silvan Leinss, Henning Löwe, Martin Proksch, Juha Lemmetyinen, Andreas Wiesmann, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 10, 1771–1797, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1771-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1771-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Four years of anisotropy measurements of seasonal snow are presented in the paper. The anisotropy was measured every 4 h with a ground-based polarimetric radar. An electromagnetic model has been developed to measured the anisotropy with radar instruments from ground and from space. The anisotropic permittivity was derived with Maxwell–Garnett-type mixing formulas which are shown to be equivalent to series expansions of the permittivity tensor based on spatial correlation function of snow.
Henna-Reetta Hannula, Juha Lemmetyinen, Anna Kontu, Chris Derksen, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 347–363, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-347-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-347-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper described an extensive in situ data set of bulk snow depth, snow water equivalent, and snow density collected as a support of SnowSAR-2 airborne campaign in northern Finland. The spatial and temporal variability of these snow properties was analyzed in different land cover types. The success of the chosen measurement protocol to provide an accurate reference for the simultaneous SAR data products was analyzed in the context of spatial scale, sample size, and uncertainty.
Richard Essery, Anna Kontu, Juha Lemmetyinen, Marie Dumont, and Cécile B. Ménard
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 219–227, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-219-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-219-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Physically based models that predict the properties of snow on the ground are used in many applications, but meteorological input data required by these models are hard to obtain in cold regions. Monitoring at the Sodankyla research station allows construction of model input and evaluation datasets covering several years for the first time in the Arctic. The data are used to show that a sophisticated snow model developed for warmer and wetter sites can perform well in very different conditions.
Jaakko Ikonen, Juho Vehviläinen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Tuomo Smolander, Juha Lemmetyinen, Simone Bircher, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 95–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-95-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-95-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
A comprehensive, distributed network of in situ measurement stations gathering information on soil moisture has been set up in recent years at the Finnish Meteorological Institute's (FMI) Sodankylä Arctic research station. The network is used as a tool to evaluate the validity of satellite retrievals of soil properties. We present the soil moisture observation network and the results of comparisons of top layer soil moisture between 2012 and 2014 against ESA CCI product soil moisture retrievals.
William Maslanka, Leena Leppänen, Anna Kontu, Mel Sandells, Juha Lemmetyinen, Martin Schneebeli, Martin Proksch, Margret Matzl, Henna-Reetta Hannula, and Robert Gurney
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 85–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-85-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-85-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents the initial findings of the Arctic Snow Microstructure Experiment in Sodankylä, Finland. The experiment observed the microwave emission of extracted snow slabs on absorbing and reflecting bases. Snow parameters were recorded to simulate the emission upon those bases using two different emission models. The smallest simulation errors were associated with the absorbing base at vertical polarization. The observations will be used for the development of snow emission modelling.
M. Proksch, C. Mätzler, A. Wiesmann, J. Lemmetyinen, M. Schwank, H. Löwe, and M. Schneebeli
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2611–2626, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2611-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2611-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The measurement of snow properties on global scale relies on microwave remote sensing data. The interpretation of the data is however challenging. Here we introduce MEMLS3&a, an extension of the snow emission model MEMLS, to include a backscatter model for active microwave remote sensing. In MEMLS3&a, snow input parameters can be derived by objective measurement methods, which avoids fitting the scattering efficiency of snow. The model is validated with combined active and passive measurements.
Kimmo Rautiainen, Manu Holmberg, Juval Cohen, Arnaud Mialon, Mike Schwank, Juha Lemmetyinen, Antonio de la Fuente, and Yann Kerr
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-68, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-68, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
The SMOS Soil Freeze Thaw State product uses satellite data to monitor seasonal soil freezing and thawing globally, with a focus on high latitude regions. This is important for understanding greenhouse gas emissions, as frozen soil is associated with methane release. The product provides accurate data on key events such as the first day of soil freezing in autumn, helping scientists to study climate change, ecosystem dynamics and its impact on our planet.
Wolfgang Knorr, Matthew Williams, Tea Thum, Thomas Kaminski, Michael Voßbeck, Marko Scholze, Tristan Quaife, T. Luke Smallman, Susan C. Steele-Dunne, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Tim Green, Sönke Zaehle, Mika Aurela, Alexandre Bouvet, Emanuel Bueechi, Wouter Dorigo, Tarek S. El-Madany, Mirco Migliavacca, Marika Honkanen, Yann H. Kerr, Anna Kontu, Juha Lemmetyinen, Hannakaisa Lindqvist, Arnaud Mialon, Tuuli Miinalainen, Gaétan Pique, Amanda Ojasalo, Shaun Quegan, Peter J. Rayner, Pablo Reyes-Muñoz, Nemesio Rodríguez-Fernández, Mike Schwank, Jochem Verrelst, Songyan Zhu, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and Matthias Drusch
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 2137–2159, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2137-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2137-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
When it comes to climate change, the land surface is where the vast majority of impacts happen. The task of monitoring those impacts across the globe is formidable and must necessarily rely on satellites – at a significant cost: the measurements are only indirect and require comprehensive physical understanding. We have created a comprehensive modelling system that we offer to the research community to explore how satellite data can be better exploited to help us capture the changes that happen on our lands.
Yubing Cheng, Bin Cheng, Roberta Pirazzini, Amy R. Macfarlane, Timo Vihma, Wolfgang Dorn, Ruzica Dadic, Martin Schneebeli, Stefanie Arndt, and Annette Rinke
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1164, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1164, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
We study snow density from the MOSAiC expedition. Several snow density schemes were tested and compared with observation. A thermodynamic ice model was employed to assess the impact of snow density and precipitation on the thermal regime of sea ice. The parameterized mean snow densities are consistent with observations. Increased snow density reduces snow and ice temperatures, promoting ice growth, while increased precipitation leads to warmer snow and ice temperatures and reduced ice thickness.
Pinja Venäläinen, Colleen Mortimer, Kari Luojus, Lawrence Mudryk, Matias Takala, and Jouni Pulliainen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3643, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3643, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite data-based estimation of large SWE values can be improved with bias correction. This study updates the bias correction method by using updated snow course data, extending correction to two new months. Additionally, bias correction is expanded from a monthly to a daily time scale. The daily bias correction offers more accurate hemispheric snow mass estimation, aligning well with reanalysis data.
Ella Kivimäki, Tuula Aalto, Michael Buchwitz, Kari Luojus, Jouni Pulliainen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Oliver Schneising, Anu-Maija Sundström, Johanna Tamminen, Aki Tsuruta, and Hannakaisa Lindqvist
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-249, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-249, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate how environmental variables influencing natural methane fluxes explain the large-scale seasonal variability of satellite-observed methane at Northern high latitudes. Our findings show that soil moisture, snow cover, and soil temperature have the strongest influence, with snowmelt playing a surprisingly significant role, likely through soil isolation and wetting. This study highlights the value of multi-satellite observations for understanding large-scale wetland emissions.
Annett Bartsch, Xaver Muri, Markus Hetzenecker, Kimmo Rautiainen, Helena Bergstedt, Jan Wuite, Thomas Nagler, and Dmitry Nicolsky
The Cryosphere, 19, 459–483, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-459-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-459-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a robust freeze–thaw detection approach, applying a constant threshold to Copernicus Sentinel-1 data that is suitable for tundra regions. All global, coarser-resolution products, tested with the resulting benchmarking dataset, are of value for freeze–thaw retrieval, although differences were found depending on the seasons, particularly during the spring and autumn transition.
David Brodylo, Lauren V. Bosche, Ryan R. Busby, Elias J. Deeb, Thomas A. Douglas, and Juha Lemmetyinen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3936, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3936, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
We combined field-based snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements, remote sensing data, and machine learning to estimate snow depth and SWE over a 10 km2 local scale area in Sodankylä, Finland. Associations were found for snow depth and SWE with carbon- and mineral-based forest surface soils, alongside dry and wet peatbogs. This approach to upscale field-based snow depth and SWE measurements to a local scale can be used in regions that regularly experience snowfall.
Lara Noppen, Lieven Clarisse, Frederik Tack, Thomas Ruhtz, Martin Van Damme, Michel Van Roozendael, Dirk Schuettemeyer, and Pierre Coheur
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3455, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3455, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
Current infrared satellite sounders offer high spectral but low spatial resolution, limiting their ability to quantify atmospheric ammonia (NH3) at small scales. Through simulations and analysis of real data, we show that NH3 can be measured effectively from spectra with reduced resolution, either in a contiguous spectral range or in select well-chosen bands. This approach opens possibilities for the development of smaller dedicated instruments for observing NH3 at high spatial resolution.
Juliette Ortet, Arnaud Mialon, Alain Royer, Mike Schwank, Manu Holmberg, Kimmo Rautiainen, Simone Bircher-Adrot, Andreas Colliander, Yann Kerr, and Alexandre Roy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3963, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3963, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a new method to determine the ground surface temperature under the snowpack in the Arctic area from satellite observations. The obtained ground temperatures time series were evaluated over 21 reference sites in Northern Alaska and compared with ground temperatures obtained with global models. The method is excessively promising for monitoring ground temperature below the snowpack and studying the spatiotemporal variability thanks to 15 years of observations over the whole Arctic area.
Cecile B. Menard, Sirpa Rasmus, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Gianpaolo Balsamo, Annett Bartsch, Chris Derksen, Florent Domine, Marie Dumont, Dorothee Ehrich, Richard Essery, Bruce C. Forbes, Gerhard Krinner, David Lawrence, Glen Liston, Heidrun Matthes, Nick Rutter, Melody Sandells, Martin Schneebeli, and Sari Stark
The Cryosphere, 18, 4671–4686, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4671-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4671-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Computer models, like those used in climate change studies, are written by modellers who have to decide how best to construct the models in order to satisfy the purpose they serve. Using snow modelling as an example, we examine the process behind the decisions to understand what motivates or limits modellers in their decision-making. We find that the context in which research is undertaken is often more crucial than scientific limitations. We argue for more transparency in our research practice.
Jinmei Pan, Michael Durand, Juha Lemmetyinen, Desheng Liu, and Jiancheng Shi
The Cryosphere, 18, 1561–1578, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1561-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1561-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed an algorithm to estimate snow mass using X- and dual Ku-band radar, and tested it in a ground-based experiment. The algorithm, the Bayesian-based Algorithm for SWE Estimation (BASE) using active microwaves, achieved an RMSE of 30 mm for snow water equivalent. These results demonstrate the potential of radar, a highly promising sensor, to map snow mass at high spatial resolution.
Moein Mellat, Amy R. Macfarlane, Camilla F. Brunello, Martin Werner, Martin Schneebeli, Ruzica Dadic, Stefanie Arndt, Kaisa-Riikka Mustonen, Jeffrey M. Welker, and Hanno Meyer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-719, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Our research, utilizing data from the Arctic MOSAiC expedition, reveals how snow on Arctic sea ice changes due to weather conditions. By analyzing snow samples collected over a year, we found differences in snow layers that tell us about their origins and how they've been affected by the environment. We discovered variations in snow and vapour that reflect the influence of weather patterns and surface processes like wind and sublimation.
Justin Murfitt, Claude Duguay, Ghislain Picard, and Juha Lemmetyinen
The Cryosphere, 18, 869–888, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-869-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-869-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This research focuses on the interaction between microwave signals and lake ice under wet conditions. Field data collected for Lake Oulujärvi in Finland were used to model backscatter under different conditions. The results of the modelling likely indicate that a combination of increased water content and roughness of different interfaces caused backscatter to increase. These results could help to identify areas where lake ice is unsafe for winter transportation.
Alex Mavrovic, Oliver Sonnentag, Juha Lemmetyinen, Carolina Voigt, Nick Rutter, Paul Mann, Jean-Daniel Sylvain, and Alexandre Roy
Biogeosciences, 20, 5087–5108, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5087-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5087-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analysis of soil CO2 emissions in boreal and tundra regions during the non-growing season. We show that when the soil is completely frozen, soil temperature is the main control on CO2 emissions. When the soil is around the freezing point, with a mix of liquid water and ice, the liquid water content is the main control on CO2 emissions. This study highlights that the vegetation–snow–soil interactions must be considered to understand soil CO2 emissions during the non-growing season.
Amy R. Macfarlane, Henning Löwe, Lucille Gimenes, David N. Wagner, Ruzica Dadic, Rafael Ottersberg, Stefan Hämmerle, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 17, 5417–5434, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5417-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5417-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow acts as an insulating blanket on Arctic sea ice, keeping the underlying ice "warm", relative to the atmosphere. Knowing the snow's thermal conductivity is essential for understanding winter ice growth. During the MOSAiC expedition, we measured the thermal conductivity of snow. We found spatial and vertical variability to overpower any temporal variability or dependency on underlying ice type and the thermal resistance to be directly influenced by snow height.
Baptiste Vandecrux, Jason E. Box, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, Signe B. Andersen, Nicolas Bayou, William T. Colgan, Nicolas J. Cullen, Robert S. Fausto, Dominik Haas-Artho, Achim Heilig, Derek A. Houtz, Penelope How, Ionut Iosifescu Enescu, Nanna B. Karlsson, Rebecca Kurup Buchholz, Kenneth D. Mankoff, Daniel McGrath, Noah P. Molotch, Bianca Perren, Maiken K. Revheim, Anja Rutishauser, Kevin Sampson, Martin Schneebeli, Sandy Starkweather, Simon Steffen, Jeff Weber, Patrick J. Wright, Henry Jay Zwally, and Konrad Steffen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5467–5489, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5467-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5467-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) comprises stations that have been monitoring the weather on the Greenland Ice Sheet for over 30 years. These stations are being replaced by newer ones maintained by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). The historical data were reprocessed to improve their quality, and key information about the weather stations has been compiled. This augmented dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.22008/FK2/VVXGUT (Steffen et al., 2022).
Julia Kaltenborn, Amy R. Macfarlane, Viviane Clay, and Martin Schneebeli
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4521–4550, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4521-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4521-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow layer segmentation and snow grain classification are essential diagnostic tasks for cryospheric applications. A SnowMicroPen (SMP) can be used to that end; however, the manual classification of its profiles becomes infeasible for large datasets. Here, we evaluate how well machine learning models automate this task. Of the 14 models trained on the MOSAiC SMP dataset, the long short-term memory model performed the best. The findings presented here facilitate and accelerate SMP data analysis.
Alex Mavrovic, Oliver Sonnentag, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Christophe Kinnard, and Alexandre Roy
Biogeosciences, 20, 2941–2970, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2941-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2941-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This review supports the integration of microwave spaceborne information into carbon cycle science for Arctic–boreal regions. The microwave data record spans multiple decades with frequent global observations of soil moisture and temperature, surface freeze–thaw cycles, vegetation water storage, snowpack properties, and land cover. This record holds substantial unexploited potential to better understand carbon cycle processes.
Marie Dumont, Simon Gascoin, Marion Réveillet, Didier Voisin, François Tuzet, Laurent Arnaud, Mylène Bonnefoy, Montse Bacardit Peñarroya, Carlo Carmagnola, Alexandre Deguine, Aurélie Diacre, Lukas Dürr, Olivier Evrard, Firmin Fontaine, Amaury Frankl, Mathieu Fructus, Laure Gandois, Isabelle Gouttevin, Abdelfateh Gherab, Pascal Hagenmuller, Sophia Hansson, Hervé Herbin, Béatrice Josse, Bruno Jourdain, Irene Lefevre, Gaël Le Roux, Quentin Libois, Lucie Liger, Samuel Morin, Denis Petitprez, Alvaro Robledano, Martin Schneebeli, Pascal Salze, Delphine Six, Emmanuel Thibert, Jürg Trachsel, Matthieu Vernay, Léo Viallon-Galinier, and Céline Voiron
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3075–3094, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3075-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Saharan dust outbreaks have profound effects on ecosystems, climate, health, and the cryosphere, but the spatial deposition pattern of Saharan dust is poorly known. Following the extreme dust deposition event of February 2021 across Europe, a citizen science campaign was launched to sample dust on snow over the Pyrenees and the European Alps. This campaign triggered wide interest and over 100 samples. The samples revealed the high variability of the dust properties within a single event.
Lena Katharina Jänicke, Rene Preusker, Marco Celesti, Marin Tudoroiu, Jürgen Fischer, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and Matthias Drusch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3101–3121, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3101-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3101-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
To compare two top-of-atmosphere radiances measured by instruments with different spectral characteristics, a transfer function has been developed. It is applied to a tandem data set of Sentinel-3A and B, for which OLCI-B mimicked the ESA’s eighth Earth Explorer FLEX. We found that OLCI-A measured radiances about 2 % brighter than OLCI-FLEX. Only at larger wavelengths were OLCI-A measurements about 5 % darker. The method is thus successful, being sensitive to calibration and processing issues.
Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Robbie Mallett, Julienne Stroeve, Torsten Geldsetzer, Randall Scharien, Rasmus Tonboe, John Yackel, Jack Landy, David Clemens-Sewall, Arttu Jutila, David N. Wagner, Daniela Krampe, Marcus Huntemann, Mallik Mahmud, David Jensen, Thomas Newman, Stefan Hendricks, Gunnar Spreen, Amy Macfarlane, Martin Schneebeli, James Mead, Robert Ricker, Michael Gallagher, Claude Duguay, Ian Raphael, Chris Polashenski, Michel Tsamados, Ilkka Matero, and Mario Hoppmann
The Cryosphere, 17, 2211–2229, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We show that wind redistributes snow on Arctic sea ice, and Ka- and Ku-band radar measurements detect both newly deposited snow and buried snow layers that can affect the accuracy of snow depth estimates on sea ice. Radar, laser, meteorological, and snow data were collected during the MOSAiC expedition. With frequent occurrence of storms in the Arctic, our results show that
wind-redistributed snow needs to be accounted for to improve snow depth estimates on sea ice from satellite radars.
Julia Martin and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 17, 1723–1734, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1723-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1723-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The grain size of snow determines how light is reflected and other physical properties. The IceCube measures snow grain size at the specific near-infrared wavelength of 1320 nm. In our study, the preparation of snow samples for the IceCube creates a thin layer of small particles. Comparisons of the grain size with computed tomography, particle counting and numerical simulation confirm the aforementioned observation. We conclude that measurements at this wavelength underestimate the grain size.
Kezia Lange, Andreas Richter, Anja Schönhardt, Andreas C. Meier, Tim Bösch, André Seyler, Kai Krause, Lisa K. Behrens, Folkard Wittrock, Alexis Merlaud, Frederik Tack, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Michel Van Roozendael, Vinod Kumar, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Bianca Lauster, Maria Razi, Christian Borger, Katharina Uhlmannsiek, Thomas Wagner, Thomas Ruhtz, Henk Eskes, Birger Bohn, Daniel Santana Diaz, Nader Abuhassan, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1357–1389, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1357-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present airborne imaging DOAS and ground-based stationary and car DOAS measurements conducted during the S5P-VAL-DE-Ruhr campaign in the Rhine-Ruhr region. The measurements are used to validate spaceborne NO2 data products from the Sentinel-5 Precursor TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Auxiliary data of the TROPOMI NO2 retrieval, such as spatially higher resolved a priori NO2 vertical profiles, surface reflectivity, and cloud treatment are investigated to evaluate their impact.
Annett Bartsch, Helena Bergstedt, Georg Pointner, Xaver Muri, Kimmo Rautiainen, Leena Leppänen, Kyle Joly, Aleksandr Sokolov, Pavel Orekhov, Dorothee Ehrich, and Eeva Mariatta Soininen
The Cryosphere, 17, 889–915, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-889-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-889-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Rain-on-snow (ROS) events occur across many regions of the terrestrial Arctic in mid-winter. In extreme cases ice layers form which affect wildlife, vegetation and soils beyond the duration of the event. The fusion of multiple types of microwave satellite observations is suggested for the creation of a climate data record. Retrieval is most robust in the tundra biome, where records can be used to identify extremes and the results can be applied to impact studies at regional scale.
Pinja Venäläinen, Kari Luojus, Colleen Mortimer, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jouni Pulliainen, Matias Takala, Mikko Moisander, and Lina Zschenderlein
The Cryosphere, 17, 719–736, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-719-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-719-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow water equivalent (SWE) is a valuable characteristic of snow cover. In this research, we improve the radiometer-based GlobSnow SWE retrieval methodology by implementing spatially and temporally varying snow densities into the retrieval procedure. In addition to improving the accuracy of SWE retrieval, varying snow densities were found to improve the magnitude and seasonal evolution of the Northern Hemisphere snow mass estimate compared to the baseline product.
Julienne Stroeve, Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Ruzica Dadic, Philip Rostosky, Michael Gallagher, Robbie Mallett, Andrew Barrett, Stefan Hendricks, Rasmus Tonboe, Michelle McCrystall, Mark Serreze, Linda Thielke, Gunnar Spreen, Thomas Newman, John Yackel, Robert Ricker, Michel Tsamados, Amy Macfarlane, Henna-Reetta Hannula, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 16, 4223–4250, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Impacts of rain on snow (ROS) on satellite-retrieved sea ice variables remain to be fully understood. This study evaluates the impacts of ROS over sea ice on active and passive microwave data collected during the 2019–20 MOSAiC expedition. Rainfall and subsequent refreezing of the snowpack significantly altered emitted and backscattered radar energy, laying important groundwork for understanding their impacts on operational satellite retrievals of various sea ice geophysical variables.
Chao Yan, Yicheng Shen, Dominik Stolzenburg, Lubna Dada, Ximeng Qi, Simo Hakala, Anu-Maija Sundström, Yishuo Guo, Antti Lipponen, Tom V. Kokkonen, Jenni Kontkanen, Runlong Cai, Jing Cai, Tommy Chan, Liangduo Chen, Biwu Chu, Chenjuan Deng, Wei Du, Xiaolong Fan, Xu-Cheng He, Juha Kangasluoma, Joni Kujansuu, Mona Kurppa, Chang Li, Yiran Li, Zhuohui Lin, Yiliang Liu, Yuliang Liu, Yiqun Lu, Wei Nie, Jouni Pulliainen, Xiaohui Qiao, Yonghong Wang, Yifan Wen, Ye Wu, Gan Yang, Lei Yao, Rujing Yin, Gen Zhang, Shaojun Zhang, Feixue Zheng, Ying Zhou, Antti Arola, Johanna Tamminen, Pauli Paasonen, Yele Sun, Lin Wang, Neil M. Donahue, Yongchun Liu, Federico Bianchi, Kaspar R. Daellenbach, Douglas R. Worsnop, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Tuukka Petäjä, Aijun Ding, Jingkun Jiang, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12207–12220, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12207-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12207-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is a dominant source of atmospheric ultrafine particles. In urban environments, traffic emissions are a major source of primary pollutants, but their contribution to NPF remains under debate. During the COVID-19 lockdown, traffic emissions were significantly reduced, providing a unique chance to examine their relevance to NPF. Based on our comprehensive measurements, we demonstrate that traffic emissions alone are not able to explain the NPF in Beijing.
Leung Tsang, Michael Durand, Chris Derksen, Ana P. Barros, Do-Hyuk Kang, Hans Lievens, Hans-Peter Marshall, Jiyue Zhu, Joel Johnson, Joshua King, Juha Lemmetyinen, Melody Sandells, Nick Rutter, Paul Siqueira, Anne Nolin, Batu Osmanoglu, Carrie Vuyovich, Edward Kim, Drew Taylor, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Ludovic Brucker, Mahdi Navari, Marie Dumont, Richard Kelly, Rhae Sung Kim, Tien-Hao Liao, Firoz Borah, and Xiaolan Xu
The Cryosphere, 16, 3531–3573, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Snow water equivalent (SWE) is of fundamental importance to water, energy, and geochemical cycles but is poorly observed globally. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements at X- and Ku-band can address this gap. This review serves to inform the broad snow research, monitoring, and application communities about the progress made in recent decades to move towards a new satellite mission capable of addressing the needs of the geoscience researchers and users.
Juha Lemmetyinen, Juval Cohen, Anna Kontu, Juho Vehviläinen, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Stefan Scheiblauer, Helmut Rott, Thomas Nagler, Elisabeth Ripper, Kelly Elder, Hans-Peter Marshall, Reinhard Fromm, Marc Adams, Chris Derksen, Joshua King, Adriano Meta, Alex Coccia, Nick Rutter, Melody Sandells, Giovanni Macelloni, Emanuele Santi, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Richard Essery, Cecile Menard, and Michael Kern
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3915–3945, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3915-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3915-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The manuscript describes airborne, dual-polarised X and Ku band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data collected over several campaigns over snow-covered terrain in Finland, Austria and Canada. Colocated snow and meteorological observations are also presented. The data are meant for science users interested in investigating X/Ku band radar signatures from natural environments in winter conditions.
Océane Hames, Mahdi Jafari, David Nicholas Wagner, Ian Raphael, David Clemens-Sewall, Chris Polashenski, Matthew D. Shupe, Martin Schneebeli, and Michael Lehning
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 6429–6449, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6429-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6429-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents an Eulerian–Lagrangian snow transport model implemented in the fluid dynamics software OpenFOAM, which we call snowBedFoam 1.0. We apply this model to reproduce snow deposition on a piece of ridged Arctic sea ice, which was produced during the MOSAiC expedition through scan measurements. The model appears to successfully reproduce the enhanced snow accumulation and deposition patterns, although some quantitative uncertainties were shown.
David N. Wagner, Matthew D. Shupe, Christopher Cox, Ola G. Persson, Taneil Uttal, Markus M. Frey, Amélie Kirchgaessner, Martin Schneebeli, Matthias Jaggi, Amy R. Macfarlane, Polona Itkin, Stefanie Arndt, Stefan Hendricks, Daniela Krampe, Marcel Nicolaus, Robert Ricker, Julia Regnery, Nikolai Kolabutin, Egor Shimanshuck, Marc Oggier, Ian Raphael, Julienne Stroeve, and Michael Lehning
The Cryosphere, 16, 2373–2402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Based on measurements of the snow cover over sea ice and atmospheric measurements, we estimate snowfall and snow accumulation for the MOSAiC ice floe, between November 2019 and May 2020. For this period, we estimate 98–114 mm of precipitation. We suggest that about 34 mm of snow water equivalent accumulated until the end of April 2020 and that at least about 50 % of the precipitated snow was eroded or sublimated. Further, we suggest explanations for potential snowfall overestimation.
Hanna K. Lappalainen, Tuukka Petäjä, Timo Vihma, Jouni Räisänen, Alexander Baklanov, Sergey Chalov, Igor Esau, Ekaterina Ezhova, Matti Leppäranta, Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Jukka Pumpanen, Meinrat O. Andreae, Mikhail Arshinov, Eija Asmi, Jianhui Bai, Igor Bashmachnikov, Boris Belan, Federico Bianchi, Boris Biskaborn, Michael Boy, Jaana Bäck, Bin Cheng, Natalia Chubarova, Jonathan Duplissy, Egor Dyukarev, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Martin Forsius, Martin Heimann, Sirkku Juhola, Vladimir Konovalov, Igor Konovalov, Pavel Konstantinov, Kajar Köster, Elena Lapshina, Anna Lintunen, Alexander Mahura, Risto Makkonen, Svetlana Malkhazova, Ivan Mammarella, Stefano Mammola, Stephany Buenrostro Mazon, Outi Meinander, Eugene Mikhailov, Victoria Miles, Stanislav Myslenkov, Dmitry Orlov, Jean-Daniel Paris, Roberta Pirazzini, Olga Popovicheva, Jouni Pulliainen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Torsten Sachs, Vladimir Shevchenko, Andrey Skorokhod, Andreas Stohl, Elli Suhonen, Erik S. Thomson, Marina Tsidilina, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Petteri Uotila, Aki Virkkula, Nadezhda Voropay, Tobias Wolf, Sayaka Yasunaka, Jiahua Zhang, Yubao Qiu, Aijun Ding, Huadong Guo, Valery Bondur, Nikolay Kasimov, Sergej Zilitinkevich, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4413–4469, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We summarize results during the last 5 years in the northern Eurasian region, especially from Russia, and introduce recent observations of the air quality in the urban environments in China. Although the scientific knowledge in these regions has increased, there are still gaps in our understanding of large-scale climate–Earth surface interactions and feedbacks. This arises from limitations in research infrastructures and integrative data analyses, hindering a comprehensive system analysis.
Tazio Strozzi, Andreas Wiesmann, Andreas Kääb, Thomas Schellenberger, and Frank Paul
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-44, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-44, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge on surface velocity of glaciers and ice caps contributes to a better understanding of a wide range of processes related to glacier dynamics, mass change and response to climate. Based on the release of historical satellite radar data from various space agencies we compiled nearly complete mosaics of winter ice surface velocities for the 1990's over the Eastern Arctic. Compared to the present state, we observe a general increase of ice velocities along with a retreat of glacier fronts.
Cuong M. Nguyen, Mengistu Wolde, Alessandro Battaglia, Leonid Nichman, Natalia Bliankinshtein, Samuel Haimov, Kenny Bala, and Dirk Schuettemeyer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 775–795, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-775-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-775-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
An analysis of airborne triple-frequency radar and almost perfectly co-located coincident in situ data from an Arctic storm confirms the main findings of modeling work with radar dual-frequency ratios (DFRs) at different zones of the DFR plane associated with different ice habits. High-resolution CPI images provide accurate identification of rimed particles within the DFR plane. The relationships between the triple-frequency signals and cloud microphysical properties are also presented.
Helmut Rott, Stefan Scheiblauer, Jan Wuite, Lukas Krieger, Dana Floricioiu, Paola Rizzoli, Ludivine Libert, and Thomas Nagler
The Cryosphere, 15, 4399–4419, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4399-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4399-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We studied relations between interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) signals and snow–firn properties and tested procedures for correcting the penetration bias of InSAR digital elevation models at Union Glacier, Antarctica. The work is based on SAR data of the TanDEM-X mission, topographic data from optical sensors and field measurements. We provide new insights on radar signal interactions with polar snow and show the performance of penetration bias retrievals using InSAR coherence.
Luca Palchetti, Marco Barucci, Claudio Belotti, Giovanni Bianchini, Bertrand Cluzet, Francesco D'Amato, Samuele Del Bianco, Gianluca Di Natale, Marco Gai, Dina Khordakova, Alessio Montori, Hilke Oetjen, Markus Rettinger, Christian Rolf, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Ralf Sussmann, Silvia Viciani, Hannes Vogelmann, and Frank Gunther Wienhold
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4303–4312, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4303-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4303-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The FIRMOS far-infrared (IR) prototype, developed for the preparation of the ESA FORUM mission, was deployed for the first time at Mt. Zugspitze at 3000 m altitude to measure the far-IR spectrum of atmospheric emissions. The measurements, including co-located radiometers, lidars, radio soundings, weather, and surface properties, provide a unique dataset to study radiative properties of water vapour, cirrus clouds, and snow emissivity over the IR emissions, including the under-explored far-IR.
Sönke Maus, Martin Schneebeli, and Andreas Wiegmann
The Cryosphere, 15, 4047–4072, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4047-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4047-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
As the hydraulic permeability of sea ice is difficult to measure, observations are sparse. The present work presents numerical simulations of the permeability of young sea ice based on a large set of 3D X-ray tomographic images. It extends the relationship between permeability and porosity available so far down to brine porosities near the percolation threshold of a few per cent. Evaluation of pore scales and 3D connectivity provides novel insight into the percolation behaviour of sea ice.
Bin Cheng, Yubing Cheng, Timo Vihma, Anna Kontu, Fei Zheng, Juha Lemmetyinen, Yubao Qiu, and Jouni Pulliainen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3967–3978, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3967-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3967-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change strongly impacts the Arctic, with clear signs of higher air temperature and more precipitation. A sustainable observation programme has been carried out in Lake Orajärvi in Sodankylä, Finland. The high-quality air–snow–ice–water temperature profiles have been measured every winter since 2009. The data can be used to investigate the lake ice surface heat balance and the role of snow in lake ice mass balance and parameterization of snow-to-ice transformation in snow/ice models.
Pinja Venäläinen, Kari Luojus, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jouni Pulliainen, Mikko Moisander, and Matias Takala
The Cryosphere, 15, 2969–2981, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2969-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2969-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Information about snow water equivalent (SWE) is needed in many applications, including climate model evaluation and forecasting fresh water availability. Space-borne radiometer observations combined with ground snow depth measurements can be used to make global estimates of SWE. In this study, we investigate the possibility of using sparse snow density measurement in satellite-based SWE retrieval and show that using the snow density information in post-processing improves SWE estimations.
Terhikki Manninen, Kati Anttila, Emmihenna Jääskeläinen, Aku Riihelä, Jouni Peltoniemi, Petri Räisänen, Panu Lahtinen, Niilo Siljamo, Laura Thölix, Outi Meinander, Anna Kontu, Hanne Suokanerva, Roberta Pirazzini, Juha Suomalainen, Teemu Hakala, Sanna Kaasalainen, Harri Kaartinen, Antero Kukko, Olivier Hautecoeur, and Jean-Louis Roujean
The Cryosphere, 15, 793–820, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-793-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-793-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The primary goal of this paper is to present a model of snow surface albedo (brightness) accounting for small-scale surface roughness effects. It can be combined with any volume scattering model. The results indicate that surface roughness may decrease the albedo by about 1–3 % in midwinter and even more than 10 % during the late melting season. The effect is largest for low solar zenith angle values and lower bulk snow albedo values.
Richard Essery, Hyungjun Kim, Libo Wang, Paul Bartlett, Aaron Boone, Claire Brutel-Vuilmet, Eleanor Burke, Matthias Cuntz, Bertrand Decharme, Emanuel Dutra, Xing Fang, Yeugeniy Gusev, Stefan Hagemann, Vanessa Haverd, Anna Kontu, Gerhard Krinner, Matthieu Lafaysse, Yves Lejeune, Thomas Marke, Danny Marks, Christoph Marty, Cecile B. Menard, Olga Nasonova, Tomoko Nitta, John Pomeroy, Gerd Schädler, Vladimir Semenov, Tatiana Smirnova, Sean Swenson, Dmitry Turkov, Nander Wever, and Hua Yuan
The Cryosphere, 14, 4687–4698, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4687-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4687-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Climate models are uncertain in predicting how warming changes snow cover. This paper compares 22 snow models with the same meteorological inputs. Predicted trends agree with observations at four snow research sites: winter snow cover does not start later, but snow now melts earlier in spring than in the 1980s at two of the sites. Cold regions where snow can last until late summer are predicted to be particularly sensitive to warming because the snow then melts faster at warmer times of year.
Julienne Stroeve, Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Rasmus Tonboe, Stefan Hendricks, Robert Ricker, James Mead, Robbie Mallett, Marcus Huntemann, Polona Itkin, Martin Schneebeli, Daniela Krampe, Gunnar Spreen, Jeremy Wilkinson, Ilkka Matero, Mario Hoppmann, and Michel Tsamados
The Cryosphere, 14, 4405–4426, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a first look at the data collected by a new dual-frequency Ka- and Ku-band in situ radar over winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The instrument shows potential for using both bands to retrieve snow depth over sea ice, as well as sensitivity of the measurements to changing snow and atmospheric conditions.
Jacinta Edebeli, Jürg C. Trachsel, Sven E. Avak, Markus Ammann, Martin Schneebeli, Anja Eichler, and Thorsten Bartels-Rausch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13443–13454, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13443-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13443-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Earth’s snow cover is very dynamic and can change its physical properties within hours, as is well known by skiers. Snow is also a well-known host of chemical reactions – the products of which impact air composition and quality. Here, we present laboratory experiments that show how the dynamics of snow make snow essentially inert with respect to gas-phase ozone with time despite its content of reactive chemicals. Impacts on polar atmospheric chemistry are discussed.
Alexis Merlaud, Livio Belegante, Daniel-Eduard Constantin, Mirjam Den Hoed, Andreas Carlos Meier, Marc Allaart, Magdalena Ardelean, Maxim Arseni, Tim Bösch, Hugues Brenot, Andreea Calcan, Emmanuel Dekemper, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Mariana Carmelia Balanica Dragomir, Lucian Georgescu, Anca Nemuc, Doina Nicolae, Gaia Pinardi, Andreas Richter, Adrian Rosu, Thomas Ruhtz, Anja Schönhardt, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Reza Shaiganfar, Kerstin Stebel, Frederik Tack, Sorin Nicolae Vâjâiac, Jeni Vasilescu, Jurgen Vanhamel, Thomas Wagner, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5513–5535, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5513-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5513-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The AROMAT campaigns took place in Romania in 2014 and 2015. They aimed to test airborne observation systems dedicated to air quality studies and to verify the concept of such campaigns in support of the validation of space-borne atmospheric missions. We show that airborne measurements of NO2 can be valuable for the validation of air quality satellites. For H2CO and SO2, the validation should involve ground-based measurement systems at key locations that the AROMAT measurements help identify.
Leonie Bernet, Elmar Brockmann, Thomas von Clarmann, Niklaus Kämpfer, Emmanuel Mahieu, Christian Mätzler, Gunter Stober, and Klemens Hocke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11223–11244, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11223-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11223-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
With global warming, water vapour increases in the atmosphere. Water vapour is an important gas because it is a natural greenhouse gas and affects the formation of clouds, rain and snow. How much water vapour increases can vary in different regions of the world. To verify if it increases as expected on a regional scale, we analysed water vapour measurements in Switzerland. We found that water vapour generally increases as expected from temperature changes, except in winter.
Michael Kern, Robert Cullen, Bruno Berruti, Jerome Bouffard, Tania Casal, Mark R. Drinkwater, Antonio Gabriele, Arnaud Lecuyot, Michael Ludwig, Rolv Midthassel, Ignacio Navas Traver, Tommaso Parrinello, Gerhard Ressler, Erik Andersson, Cristina Martin-Puig, Ole Andersen, Annett Bartsch, Sinead Farrell, Sara Fleury, Simon Gascoin, Amandine Guillot, Angelika Humbert, Eero Rinne, Andrew Shepherd, Michiel R. van den Broeke, and John Yackel
The Cryosphere, 14, 2235–2251, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2235-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2235-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter will provide high-resolution sea ice thickness and land ice elevation measurements and the capability to determine the properties of snow cover on ice to serve operational products and services of direct relevance to the polar regions. This paper describes the mission objectives, identifies the key contributions the CRISTAL mission will make, and presents a concept – as far as it is already defined – for the mission payload.
Neige Calonne, Bettina Richter, Henning Löwe, Cecilia Cetti, Judith ter Schure, Alec Van Herwijnen, Charles Fierz, Matthias Jaggi, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 14, 1829–1848, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1829-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1829-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
During winter 2015–2016, the standard program to monitor the structure and stability of the snowpack at Weissflujoch, Swiss Alps, was complemented by additional measurements to compare between various traditional and newly developed techniques. Snow micro-penetrometer measurements allowed monitoring of the evolution of the snowpack's internal structure at a daily resolution throughout the winter. We show the potential of such high-resolution data for detailed evaluations of snowpack models.
Jianwei Yang, Lingmei Jiang, Kari Luojus, Jinmei Pan, Juha Lemmetyinen, Matias Takala, and Shengli Wu
The Cryosphere, 14, 1763–1778, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1763-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1763-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
There are many challenges for accurate snow depth estimation using passive microwave data. Machine learning (ML) techniques are deemed to be powerful tools for establishing nonlinear relations between independent variables and a given target variable. In this study, we investigate the potential capability of the random forest (RF) model on snow depth estimation at temporal and spatial scales. The result indicates that the fitted RF algorithms perform better on temporal than spatial scales.
Pirmin Philipp Ebner, Aaron Coulin, Joël Borner, Fabian Wolfsperger, Michael Hohl, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-56, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-56, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
These laboratory measurements allow to analyse wet snow and to find the narrow range of the starting point of water percolation in coarse-grained snow. Based on the electrical monitoring a promising perspective for retrieving water content and water distribution in the snowpack is given. The water distribution is analysed using micro-computer tomography to find preferential spots of the accumulated water. These findings are pertinent to the interpretation of the snow melt run-off of spring snow.
Henna-Reetta Hannula, Kirsikka Heinilä, Kristin Böttcher, Olli-Pekka Mattila, Miia Salminen, and Jouni Pulliainen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 719–740, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-719-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-719-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We publish and describe a surface spectral reflectance data record of seasonal snow (dry, wet, shadowed), forest ground (lichen, moss) and forest canopy (spruce and pine, branches) constituting the main elements of the boreal landscape and collected at four scales. The data record describes the characteristics and variability of the satellite scene reflectance contributors in boreal landscape, thus enabling the development of improved optical satellite snow mapping methods for forested areas.
Achim Heilig, Olaf Eisen, Martin Schneebeli, Michael MacFerrin, C. Max Stevens, Baptiste Vandecrux, and Konrad Steffen
The Cryosphere, 14, 385–402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-385-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-385-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the spatial representativeness of point observations of snow accumulation in SW Greenland. Such analyses have rarely been conducted but are necessary to link regional-scale observations from, e.g., remote-sensing data to firn cores and snow pits. The presented data reveal a low regional variability in density but snow depth can vary significantly. It is necessary to combine pits with spatial snow depth data to increase the regional representativeness of accumulation observations.
Silvan Leinss, Henning Löwe, Martin Proksch, and Anna Kontu
The Cryosphere, 14, 51–75, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-51-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-51-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The anisotropy of the snow microstructure, given by horizontally aligned ice crystals and vertically interlinked crystal chains, is a key quantity to understand mechanical, dielectric, and thermodynamical properties of snow. We present a model which describes the temporal evolution of the anisotropy. The model is driven by snow temperature, temperature gradient, and the strain rate. The model is calibrated by polarimetric radar data (CPD) and validated by computer tomographic 3-D snow images.
Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Xavier Faïn, Christoph F. Schaller, Rebecca J. Tuckwell, Henning Löwe, Laurent Arnaud, Olivier Magand, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Johannes Freitag, Robert Mulvaney, Martin Schneebeli, and Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov
The Cryosphere, 13, 3383–3403, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding gas trapping in polar ice is essential to study the relationship between greenhouse gases and past climates. New data of bubble closure, used in a simple gas-trapping model, show inconsistency with the final air content in ice. This suggests gas trapping is not fully understood. We also use a combination of high-resolution measurements to investigate the effect of polar snow stratification on gas trapping and find that all strata have similar pores, but that some close in advance.
Klemens Hocke, Leonie Bernet, Jonas Hagen, Axel Murk, Matthias Renker, and Christian Mätzler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12083–12090, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12083-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12083-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Tropospheric Water Radiometer (TROWARA) observed an enhanced intensity of short-term integrated water vapour (IWV) fluctuations during daytime in summer. These IWV fluctuations are possibly related to latent heat flux and thermal convective activity in the lower troposphere. The observed climatology and spectra of IWV fluctuations might be useful for modelling studies of water vapour convection in the atmospheric boundary layer at mid latitudes.
Wael Abdel Jaber, Helmut Rott, Dana Floricioiu, Jan Wuite, and Nuno Miranda
The Cryosphere, 13, 2511–2535, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2511-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2511-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We use topographic maps from two radar remote-sensing missions to map surface elevation changes of the northern and southern Patagonian ice fields (NPI and SPI) for two epochs (2000–2012 and 2012–2016). We find a heterogeneous pattern of thinning within the ice fields and a varying temporal trend, which may be explained by complex interdependence between surface mass balance and effects of flow dynamics. The contribution to sea level rise amounts to 0.05 mm a−1 for both ice fields for 2000–2016.
Ralf Bennartz, Frank Fell, Claire Pettersen, Matthew D. Shupe, and Dirk Schuettemeyer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8101–8121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8101-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8101-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is rapidly melting. Snowfall is the only source of ice mass over the GrIS. We use satellite observations to assess how much snow on average falls over the GrIS and what the annual cycle and spatial distribution of snowfall is. We find the annual mean snowfall over the GrIS inferred from CloudSat to be 34 ± 7.5 cm yr−1 liquid equivalent.
Cécile B. Ménard, Richard Essery, Alan Barr, Paul Bartlett, Jeff Derry, Marie Dumont, Charles Fierz, Hyungjun Kim, Anna Kontu, Yves Lejeune, Danny Marks, Masashi Niwano, Mark Raleigh, Libo Wang, and Nander Wever
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 865–880, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-865-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-865-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes long-term meteorological and evaluation datasets from 10 reference sites for use in snow modelling. We demonstrate how data sharing is crucial to the identification of errors and how the publication of these datasets contributes to good practice, consistency, and reproducibility in geosciences. The ease of use, availability, and quality of the datasets will help model developers quantify and reduce model uncertainties and errors.
Frederik Tack, Alexis Merlaud, Andreas C. Meier, Tim Vlemmix, Thomas Ruhtz, Marian-Daniel Iordache, Xinrui Ge, Len van der Wal, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Magdalena Ardelean, Andreea Calcan, Daniel Constantin, Anja Schönhardt, Koen Meuleman, Andreas Richter, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 211–236, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-211-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-211-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We present an intercomparison study of four airborne imaging DOAS instruments, dedicated to the retrieval and high-resolution mapping of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) vertical column densities (VCDs). The AROMAPEX campaign took place in Berlin, Germany, in April 2016 with the primary objectives (1) to test and intercompare the performance of experimental airborne imagers and (2) to prepare the validation and calibration campaigns for the Sentinel-5 Precursor/TROPOMI mission.
Gerhard Krinner, Chris Derksen, Richard Essery, Mark Flanner, Stefan Hagemann, Martyn Clark, Alex Hall, Helmut Rott, Claire Brutel-Vuilmet, Hyungjun Kim, Cécile B. Ménard, Lawrence Mudryk, Chad Thackeray, Libo Wang, Gabriele Arduini, Gianpaolo Balsamo, Paul Bartlett, Julia Boike, Aaron Boone, Frédérique Chéruy, Jeanne Colin, Matthias Cuntz, Yongjiu Dai, Bertrand Decharme, Jeff Derry, Agnès Ducharne, Emanuel Dutra, Xing Fang, Charles Fierz, Josephine Ghattas, Yeugeniy Gusev, Vanessa Haverd, Anna Kontu, Matthieu Lafaysse, Rachel Law, Dave Lawrence, Weiping Li, Thomas Marke, Danny Marks, Martin Ménégoz, Olga Nasonova, Tomoko Nitta, Masashi Niwano, John Pomeroy, Mark S. Raleigh, Gerd Schaedler, Vladimir Semenov, Tanya G. Smirnova, Tobias Stacke, Ulrich Strasser, Sean Svenson, Dmitry Turkov, Tao Wang, Nander Wever, Hua Yuan, Wenyan Zhou, and Dan Zhu
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 5027–5049, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-5027-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-5027-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper provides an overview of a coordinated international experiment to determine the strengths and weaknesses in how climate models treat snow. The models will be assessed at point locations using high-quality reference measurements and globally using satellite-derived datasets. How well climate models simulate snow-related processes is important because changing snow cover is an important part of the global climate system and provides an important freshwater resource for human use.
Isabelle Gouttevin, Moritz Langer, Henning Löwe, Julia Boike, Martin Proksch, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 12, 3693–3717, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3693-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3693-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Snow insulates the ground from the cold air in the Arctic winter, majorly affecting permafrost. This insulation depends on snow characteristics and is poorly quantified. Here, we characterize it at a carbon-rich permafrost site, using a recent technique that retrieves the 3-D structure of snow and its thermal properties. We adapt a snowpack model enabling the simulation of this insulation over a whole winter. We estimate that local snow variations induce up to a 6 °C spread in soil temperatures.
Helmut Rott, Wael Abdel Jaber, Jan Wuite, Stefan Scheiblauer, Dana Floricioiu, Jan Melchior van Wessem, Thomas Nagler, Nuno Miranda, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 12, 1273–1291, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1273-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1273-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We analysed volume change, mass balance and ice flow of glaciers draining into the Larsen A and Larsen B embayments on the Antarctic Peninsula for 2011 to 2013 and 2013 to 2016. The mass balance is based on elevation change measured by the radar satellite mission TanDEM-X and on the mass budget method. The glaciers show continuing losses in ice mass, which is a response to ice shelf break-up. After 2013 the downwasting of glaciers slowed down, coinciding with years of persistent sea ice cover.
Jonas Svensson, Johan Ström, Niku Kivekäs, Nathaniel B. Dkhar, Shresth Tayal, Ved P. Sharma, Arttu Jutila, John Backman, Aki Virkkula, Meri Ruppel, Antti Hyvärinen, Anna Kontu, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Matti Leppäranta, Rakesh K. Hooda, Atte Korhola, Eija Asmi, and Heikki Lihavainen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1403–1416, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1403-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1403-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Receding glaciers in the Himalayas are of concern. Here we present measurements of light-absorbing impurities, known to contribute to the ongoing glacier decrease, in snow from Indian Himalayas and compare them to snow samples from the Finnish Arctic. The soot particles in the snow are shown to have lower light absorbing efficiency, possibly affecting their radiative forcing potential in the snow. Further, dust influences the snow in the Himalayas to a much greater extent than in Finland.
Thomas Krings, Bruno Neininger, Konstantin Gerilowski, Sven Krautwurst, Michael Buchwitz, John P. Burrows, Carsten Lindemann, Thomas Ruhtz, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and Heinrich Bovensmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 721–739, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-721-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-721-2018, 2018
Alexis Merlaud, Frederik Tack, Daniel Constantin, Lucian Georgescu, Jeroen Maes, Caroline Fayt, Florin Mingireanu, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Andreas Carlos Meier, Anja Schönardt, Thomas Ruhtz, Livio Bellegante, Doina Nicolae, Mirjam Den Hoed, Marc Allaart, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 551–567, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-551-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-551-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We present SWING-UAV, an atmospheric observation system based on a compact scanning spectrometer (SWING) mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). SWING-UAV was operated in the exhaust plume of a power plant in Romania in September 2014, during the AROMAT campaign. SWING quantified the NO2 emitted by the plant and the water vapour content in the boundary layer, in agreement with ancillary data. The system appears in particular promising to study emissions in rural areas.
Alexandra Tsekeri, Anton Lopatin, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Julia Igloffstein, Nikolaos Siomos, Stavros Solomos, Panagiotis Kokkalis, Ronny Engelmann, Holger Baars, Myrto Gratsea, Panagiotis I. Raptis, Ioannis Binietoglou, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos Kalivitis, Giorgos Kouvarakis, Nikolaos Bartsotas, George Kallos, Sara Basart, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Ulla Wandinger, Albert Ansmann, Anatoli P. Chaikovsky, and Oleg Dubovik
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4995–5016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4995-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4995-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The Generalized Aerosol Retrieval from Radiometer and Lidar Combined data algorithm (GARRLiC) and the LIdar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) provide the opportunity to study the aerosol vertical distribution by combining ground-based lidar and sun-photometric measurements. Here, we utilize the capabilities of both algorithms for the characterization of Saharan dust and marine particles, along with their mixtures, in the south-eastern Mediterranean.
Klemens Hocke, Francisco Navas-Guzmán, Lorena Moreira, Leonie Bernet, and Christian Mätzler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12121–12131, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12121-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12121-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We derive the annual and semi-annual oscillations in cloud fraction (CF), integrated liquid water (ILW) and integrated water vapour (IWV) from the long-term measurements of the TROWARA radiometer in Bern, Switzerland. Further, we find a weekly cycle of CF and ILW from June to September with increased values on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Tim Vlemmix, Xinrui (Jerry) Ge, Bryan T. G. de Goeij, Len F. van der Wal, Gerard C. J. Otter, Piet Stammes, Ping Wang, Alexis Merlaud, Dirk Schüttemeyer, Andreas C. Meier, J. Pepijn Veefkind, and Pieternel F. Levelt
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-257, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-257, 2017
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
Short summary
Short summary
We present a first analysis of UV/VIS spectral measurements obtained with the Spectrolite Breadboard Instrument (developed by TNO, The Netherlands) during the AROMAPEX campaign held in Berlin in April 2016 (campaign supported by ESA and EUFAR). This new sensor was used to measure air pollution in the form of tropospheric NO2 columns. The study focuses specifically on the retrieval of surface reflectances, an important intermediate step towards the final product.
Pirmin Philipp Ebner, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Barbara Stenni, Martin Schneebeli, and Aldo Steinfeld
The Cryosphere, 11, 1733–1743, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1733-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1733-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Stable water isotopes (δ18O) obtained from snow and ice samples from polar regions are used to reconstruct past climate variability. We present an experimental study on the effect on the snow isotopic composition by airflow through a snowpack in controlled laboratory conditions. The disequilibrium between snow and vapor isotopes changed the isotopic content of the snow. These measurements suggest that metamorphism and its history affect the snow isotopic composition.
Sascha Bellaire, Martin Proksch, Martin Schneebeli, Masashi Niwano, and Konrad Steffen
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2017-55, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2017-55, 2017
Preprint withdrawn
Melody Sandells, Richard Essery, Nick Rutter, Leanne Wake, Leena Leppänen, and Juha Lemmetyinen
The Cryosphere, 11, 229–246, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-229-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-229-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study looks at a wide range of options for simulating sensor signals for satellite monitoring of water stored as snow, though an ensemble of 1323 coupled snow evolution and microwave scattering models. The greatest improvements will be made with better computer simulations of how the snow microstructure changes, followed by how the microstructure scatters radiation at microwave frequencies. Snow compaction should also be considered in systems to monitor snow mass from space.
Rachid Abida, Jean-Luc Attié, Laaziz El Amraoui, Philippe Ricaud, William Lahoz, Henk Eskes, Arjo Segers, Lyana Curier, Johan de Haan, Jukka Kujanpää, Albert Oude Nijhuis, Johanna Tamminen, Renske Timmermans, and Pepijn Veefkind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1081–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1081-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1081-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
A detailed Observing System Simulation Experiment is performed to quantify the impact of future satellite instrument S-5P carbon monoxide (CO) on tropospheric analyses and forecasts. We focus on Europe for the period of northern summer 2003, when there was a severe heat wave episode. S-5P is able to capture the CO from forest fires that occurred in Portugal. Furthermore, our results provide evidence of S-5P CO benefits for monitoring processes contributing to atmospheric pollution.
Craig D. Smith, Anna Kontu, Richard Laffin, and John W. Pomeroy
The Cryosphere, 11, 101–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-101-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-101-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
One of the objectives of the WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) was to assess the performance of automated instruments that measure snow water equivalent and make recommendations on the best measurement practices and data interpretation. This study assesses the Campbell Scientific CS725 and the Sommer SSG100 for measuring SWE. Different measurement principals of the instruments as well as site characteristics influence the way that the SWE data should be interpreted.
Silvan Leinss, Henning Löwe, Martin Proksch, Juha Lemmetyinen, Andreas Wiesmann, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 10, 1771–1797, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1771-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1771-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Four years of anisotropy measurements of seasonal snow are presented in the paper. The anisotropy was measured every 4 h with a ground-based polarimetric radar. An electromagnetic model has been developed to measured the anisotropy with radar instruments from ground and from space. The anisotropic permittivity was derived with Maxwell–Garnett-type mixing formulas which are shown to be equivalent to series expansions of the permittivity tensor based on spatial correlation function of snow.
Henna-Reetta Hannula, Juha Lemmetyinen, Anna Kontu, Chris Derksen, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 347–363, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-347-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-347-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper described an extensive in situ data set of bulk snow depth, snow water equivalent, and snow density collected as a support of SnowSAR-2 airborne campaign in northern Finland. The spatial and temporal variability of these snow properties was analyzed in different land cover types. The success of the chosen measurement protocol to provide an accurate reference for the simultaneous SAR data products was analyzed in the context of spatial scale, sample size, and uncertainty.
Kaisa Lakkala, Hanne Suokanerva, Juha Matti Karhu, Antti Aarva, Antti Poikonen, Tomi Karppinen, Markku Ahponen, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Anna Kontu, and Esko Kyrö
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 315–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-315-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-315-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the laboratory facilities at the Finnish Meteorological Institute – Arctic Research Centre (FMI-ARC). They comprise an optical laboratory, a facility for biological studies, and an office. The facilities are ideal for responding to the needs of international multidisciplinary research, giving the possibility to calibrate and characterize the research instruments as well as handle and store samples.
Richard Essery, Anna Kontu, Juha Lemmetyinen, Marie Dumont, and Cécile B. Ménard
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 219–227, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-219-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-219-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Physically based models that predict the properties of snow on the ground are used in many applications, but meteorological input data required by these models are hard to obtain in cold regions. Monitoring at the Sodankyla research station allows construction of model input and evaluation datasets covering several years for the first time in the Arctic. The data are used to show that a sophisticated snow model developed for warmer and wetter sites can perform well in very different conditions.
Leena Leppänen, Anna Kontu, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Heidi Sjöblom, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 163–179, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-163-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-163-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The manual snow survey program of Finnish Meteorological Institute consists of numerous observations of natural seasonal snowpack in Sodankylä, in northern Finland. Systematic snow measurements began in 1911 with snow depth and snow water equivalent. In 2006 the manual snow survey program expanded to cover snow macro- and microstructure from snow pits. Extensive time series of manual snow measurements are important for the monitoring of temporal and spatial changes in seasonal snowpack.
Pascal Hagenmuller, Margret Matzl, Guillaume Chambon, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 10, 1039–1054, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1039-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1039-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper focuses on the characterization of snow microstructure with X-ray microtomography, a technique that is progressively becoming the standard for snow characterization. In particular, it rigorously investigates how the image processing algorithms affect the subsequent microstructure characterization in terms of density and specific surface area. From this analysis, practical recommendations concerning the processing X-ray tomographic images of snow are provided.
Jaakko Ikonen, Juho Vehviläinen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Tuomo Smolander, Juha Lemmetyinen, Simone Bircher, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 95–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-95-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-95-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
A comprehensive, distributed network of in situ measurement stations gathering information on soil moisture has been set up in recent years at the Finnish Meteorological Institute's (FMI) Sodankylä Arctic research station. The network is used as a tool to evaluate the validity of satellite retrievals of soil properties. We present the soil moisture observation network and the results of comparisons of top layer soil moisture between 2012 and 2014 against ESA CCI product soil moisture retrievals.
Simone Bircher, Mie Andreasen, Johanna Vuollet, Juho Vehviläinen, Kimmo Rautiainen, François Jonard, Lutz Weihermüller, Elena Zakharova, Jean-Pierre Wigneron, and Yann H. Kerr
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 109–125, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-109-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-109-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
At the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Sodankylä and the Danish Center for Hydrology, calibration functions for organic surface layers were derived for two in situ soil moisture sensors to be used in the validation of coarse-resolution soil moisture from satellites and land surface models. There was no clear difference in the data from a variety of humus types, strengthening confidence that these calibrations are applicable over a wide range of conditions as encountered in the large areas.
William Maslanka, Leena Leppänen, Anna Kontu, Mel Sandells, Juha Lemmetyinen, Martin Schneebeli, Martin Proksch, Margret Matzl, Henna-Reetta Hannula, and Robert Gurney
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 85–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-85-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-85-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents the initial findings of the Arctic Snow Microstructure Experiment in Sodankylä, Finland. The experiment observed the microwave emission of extracted snow slabs on absorbing and reflecting bases. Snow parameters were recorded to simulate the emission upon those bases using two different emission models. The smallest simulation errors were associated with the absorbing base at vertical polarization. The observations will be used for the development of snow emission modelling.
Pirmin Philipp Ebner, Martin Schneebeli, and Aldo Steinfeld
The Cryosphere, 10, 791–797, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-791-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-791-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Changes of the porous ice structure were observed in a snow sample. Sublimation occurred due to the slight undersaturation of the incoming air into the warmer ice matrix. Diffusion of water vapor opposite to the direction of the temperature gradient counteracted the mass transport of advection. Therefore, the total net ice change was negligible, leading to a constant porosity profile. However, the strong recrystallization of water molecules in snow may impact its isotopic or chemical content.
Martin Proksch, Nick Rutter, Charles Fierz, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 10, 371–384, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-371-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-371-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Density is a fundamental property of porous media such as snow. During the MicroSnow Davos 2014 workshop, different approaches (box-, wedge- and cylinder-type density cutters, micro-computed tomography) to measure snow density were applied in a controlled laboratory environment and in the field. In general, results suggest that snow densities measured by different methods agree within 9 %. However, the density profiles resolved by the measurement methods differed considerably.
O. Meinander, A. Aarva, A. Poikonen, A. Kontu, H. Suokanerva, E. Asmi, K. Neitola, E. Rodriguez, R. Sanchez, M. Mei, G. de Leeuw, and E. Kyrö
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2015-31, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2015-31, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
M. Proksch, C. Mätzler, A. Wiesmann, J. Lemmetyinen, M. Schwank, H. Löwe, and M. Schneebeli
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2611–2626, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2611-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2611-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The measurement of snow properties on global scale relies on microwave remote sensing data. The interpretation of the data is however challenging. Here we introduce MEMLS3&a, an extension of the snow emission model MEMLS, to include a backscatter model for active microwave remote sensing. In MEMLS3&a, snow input parameters can be derived by objective measurement methods, which avoids fitting the scattering efficiency of snow. The model is validated with combined active and passive measurements.
P. P. Ebner, M. Schneebeli, and A. Steinfeld
The Cryosphere, 9, 1363–1371, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1363-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1363-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Time-lapse X-ray microtomography was used to investigate the structural dynamics of isothermal snow metamorphism exposed to an advective airflow and possible effects on natural snowpacks were discussed. The results showed that isothermal advection with saturated air have no influence on the coarsening rate that is typical for isothermal snow metamorphism. It is driven by sublimation-deposition caused by Kelvin effect and is the limiting factor independently of the transport regime in the pores.
D. Hofmann, G. Preuss, and C. Mätzler
Biogeosciences, 12, 4261–4273, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4261-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4261-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated an unusual ice type, called hair ice. It grows on the surface of dead wood of broad-leaf trees at temperatures slightly below 0°C. We describe this phenomenon and present our biological, physical, and chemical investigations to gain insight in the properties and processes related to hair ice: we found, that a winter-acive fungus in the wood is required. Ice segregation is the common mechanism. Chemical analyses show a complex mixture of several thousand lignin/tannin compounds.
W. Woiwode, O. Sumińska-Ebersoldt, H. Oelhaf, M. Höpfner, G. V. Belyaev, A. Ebersoldt, F. Friedl-Vallon, J.-U. Grooß, T. Gulde, M. Kaufmann, A. Kleinert, M. Krämer, E. Kretschmer, T. Kulessa, G. Maucher, T. Neubert, C. Piesch, P. Preusse, M. Riese, H. Rongen, C. Sartorius, G. Schardt, A. Schönfeld, D. Schuettemeyer, M. K. Sha, F. Stroh, J. Ungermann, C. M. Volk, and J. Orphal
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2509–2520, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2509-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2509-2015, 2015
E. Malnes, A. Buanes, T. Nagler, G. Bippus, D. Gustafsson, C. Schiller, S. Metsämäki, J. Pulliainen, K. Luojus, H. E. Larsen, R. Solberg, A. Diamandi, and A. Wiesmann
The Cryosphere, 9, 1191–1202, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1191-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1191-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The paper provides detailed information on the outcome of a user survey carried out in the EU FP7 project CryoLand. The project focuses on monitoring of seasonal snow, glaciers and lake/river ice. The user survey showed that a European operational snow and land ice service is required and that there exists products that can meet the specific needs. The majority of the users were mainly interested in the snow services, but also the lake/river ice products and the glacier products were desired.
J. Wuite, H. Rott, M. Hetzenecker, D. Floricioiu, J. De Rydt, G. H. Gudmundsson, T. Nagler, and M. Kern
The Cryosphere, 9, 957–969, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-957-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-957-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present new analysis of satellite data showing the variability of glacier velocities in the Larsen B area, Antarctic Peninsula, back to 1995. Velocity data and estimates of ice thickness are used to derive ice discharge at different epochs. Velocities of the glaciers remain to date well above the velocities of the pre-collapse period. The response of individual glaciers differs, and velocities show significant temporal fluctuations, implying major variations in ice discharge and mass balance.
J. Svensson, A. Virkkula, O. Meinander, N. Kivekäs, H.-R. Hannula, O. Järvinen, J. I. Peltoniemi, M. Gritsevich, A. Heikkilä, A. Kontu, A.-P. Hyvärinen, K. Neitola, D. Brus, P. Dagsson-Waldhauserova, K. Anttila, T. Hakala, H. Kaartinen, M. Vehkamäki, G. de Leeuw, and H. Lihavainen
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-1227-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-1227-2015, 2015
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Soot's (including black carbon and organics) negative effect on a natural snow pack is experimentally addressed in this paper through a series of experiments. Soot concentrations in the snow in the range of 200-200 000 ppb verify the negative effects on the albedo, the physical snow characteristics, as well as increasing the melt rate of the snow pack. Our experimental data generally agrees when compared with the Snow, Ice and Aerosol Radiation model.
J. Schwaab, M. Bavay, E. Davin, F. Hagedorn, F. Hüsler, M. Lehning, M. Schneebeli, E. Thürig, and P. Bebi
Biogeosciences, 12, 467–487, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-467-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-467-2015, 2015
M. Kaufmann, J. Blank, T. Guggenmoser, J. Ungermann, A. Engel, M. Ern, F. Friedl-Vallon, D. Gerber, J. U. Grooß, G. Guenther, M. Höpfner, A. Kleinert, E. Kretschmer, Th. Latzko, G. Maucher, T. Neubert, H. Nordmeyer, H. Oelhaf, F. Olschewski, J. Orphal, P. Preusse, H. Schlager, H. Schneider, D. Schuettemeyer, F. Stroh, O. Suminska-Ebersoldt, B. Vogel, C. M. Volk, W. Woiwode, and M. Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 81–95, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-81-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-81-2015, 2015
P. Räisänen, A. Luomaranta, H. Järvinen, M. Takala, K. Jylhä, O. N. Bulygina, K. Luojus, A. Riihelä, A. Laaksonen, J. Koskinen, and J. Pulliainen
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 3037–3057, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-3037-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-3037-2014, 2014
Short summary
Short summary
Snowmelt influences greatly the climatic conditions in spring. This study evaluates the timing of springtime end of snowmelt in the ECHAM5 model. A key finding is that, in much of northern Eurasia, snow disappears too early in ECHAM5, in spite of a slight cold bias in spring. This points to the need for a more comprehensive treatment of the surface energy budget. In particular, the surface temperature for the snow-covered and snow-free parts of a climate model grid cell should be separated.
S. Schleef, H. Löwe, and M. Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 8, 1825–1838, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1825-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1825-2014, 2014
P. P. Ebner, S. A. Grimm, M. Schneebeli, and A. Steinfeld
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 3, 179–185, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-3-179-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-3-179-2014, 2014
O. Meinander, A. Kontu, A. Virkkula, A. Arola, L. Backman, P. Dagsson-Waldhauserová, O. Järvinen, T. Manninen, J. Svensson, G. de Leeuw, and M. Leppäranta
The Cryosphere, 8, 991–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-991-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-991-2014, 2014
O. Stähli, A. Murk, N. Kämpfer, C. Mätzler, and P. Eriksson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2477–2494, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2477-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2477-2013, 2013
H. Löwe, F. Riche, and M. Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 7, 1473–1480, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1473-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1473-2013, 2013
T. Bartels-Rausch, S. N. Wren, S. Schreiber, F. Riche, M. Schneebeli, and M. Ammann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6727–6739, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6727-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6727-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Field campaign
Review of methodological considerations and recommendations for mapping remote glaciers from aerial photography surveys in suboptimal conditions
New proglacial meteorology and river stage observations from Inglefield Land and Pituffik, NW Greenland
Passive seismic experiment “AniMaLS” in the Polish Sudetes (NE Variscides)
Easy to build low-power GPS drifters with local storage and a cellular modem made from off-the-shelf components
Monitoring aseismic creep trends in the İsmetpaşa and Destek segments throughout the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) with a large-scale GPS network
A soil moisture monitoring network to characterize karstic recharge and evapotranspiration at five representative sites across the globe
Spatial and temporal variation of bulk snow properties in northern boreal and tundra environments based on extensive field measurements
Sodankylä manual snow survey program
Arctic Snow Microstructure Experiment for the development of snow emission modelling
Thermal-plume fibre optic tracking (T-POT) test for flow velocity measurement in groundwater boreholes
Inner structure of the Puy de Dôme volcano: cross-comparison of geophysical models (ERT, gravimetry, muon imaging)
Observing desert dust devils with a pressure logger
Dorota Medrzycka, Luke Copland, Laura Thomson, William Kochtitzky, and Braden Smeda
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2024-10, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2024-10, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GI
Short summary
Short summary
This work explores the use of aerial photography surveys for mapping glaciers, specifically in challenging environments. Using examples from two glaciers in Arctic Canada, we discuss the main factors which can affect data collection, and review methods for capturing and processing images to create accurate topographic maps. Key recommendations include choosing the right camera and positioning equipment, and adapting survey design to maximise data quality even under less-than-ideal conditions.
Sarah E. Esenther, Laurence C. Smith, Adam LeWinter, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Brandon T. Overstreet, Aaron Kehl, Cuyler Onclin, Seth Goldstein, and Jonathan C. Ryan
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 12, 215–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-215-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-215-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Meltwater runoff estimates from the Greenland ice sheet contain uncertainty. To better understand ice sheet hydrology, we installed a weather station and river stage sensors along three proglacial rivers in a cold-bedded area of NW Greenland without firn, crevasse, or moulin influence. The first 3 years (2019–2021) of observations have given us a first look at the seasonal and annual weather and hydrological patterns of this understudied region.
Monika Bociarska, Julia Rewers, Dariusz Wójcik, Weronika Materkowska, Piotr Środa, and the AniMaLS Working Group
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 10, 183–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-10-183-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-10-183-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes a seismic dataset acquired by network of broadband sensors in Poland and technical issues related to data acquisition. We describe a new azimuth-transfer device for precise sensor orientation and apply methods for data-based orientation checking. We analyse the seismic noise level and discuss effect of geology at sites on character of seismic data and noise. We show data examples and describe methods of seismic data interpretation for studies of lithospheric structure.
Rolf Hut, Thanda Thatoe Nwe Win, and Thom Bogaard
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 435–442, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-435-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-435-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
GPS drifters that float down rivers are important tools in studying rivers, but they can be expensive. Recently, both GPS receivers and cellular modems have become available at lower prices to tinkering scientists due to the rise of open hardware and the Arduino. We provide detailed instructions on how to build a low-power GPS drifter with local storage and a cellular model that we tested in a fieldwork in Myanmar. These instructions allow fellow geoscientists to recreate the device.
Hasan Hakan Yavaşoğlu, Mehmet Nurullah Alkan, Serdar Bilgi, and Öykü Alkan
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 25–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-25-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-25-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study has been carried out within the scope of a project supported by the Istanbul Technical, Afyon Kocatepe and Hitit universities. The data were obtained from annual GPS campaigns. With this study, the actual velocity field of the region was revealed and the deformations of the region were determined. In particular, the creep, which is a rare phenomenon in tectonics, was studied in order to understand its mechanism and whether it is present in the region or not.
Romane Berthelin, Michael Rinderer, Bartolomé Andreo, Andy Baker, Daniela Kilian, Gabriele Leonhardt, Annette Lotz, Kurt Lichtenwoehrer, Matías Mudarra, Ingrid Y. Padilla, Fernando Pantoja Agreda, Rafael Rosolem, Abel Vale, and Andreas Hartmann
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 11–23, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-11-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-11-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present the setup of a soil moisture monitoring network, which is implemented at five karstic sites with different climates across the globe. More than 400 soil moisture probes operating at a high spatio-temporal resolution will improve the understanding of groundwater recharge and evapotranspiration processes in karstic areas.
Henna-Reetta Hannula, Juha Lemmetyinen, Anna Kontu, Chris Derksen, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 347–363, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-347-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-347-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper described an extensive in situ data set of bulk snow depth, snow water equivalent, and snow density collected as a support of SnowSAR-2 airborne campaign in northern Finland. The spatial and temporal variability of these snow properties was analyzed in different land cover types. The success of the chosen measurement protocol to provide an accurate reference for the simultaneous SAR data products was analyzed in the context of spatial scale, sample size, and uncertainty.
Leena Leppänen, Anna Kontu, Henna-Reetta Hannula, Heidi Sjöblom, and Jouni Pulliainen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 163–179, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-163-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-163-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The manual snow survey program of Finnish Meteorological Institute consists of numerous observations of natural seasonal snowpack in Sodankylä, in northern Finland. Systematic snow measurements began in 1911 with snow depth and snow water equivalent. In 2006 the manual snow survey program expanded to cover snow macro- and microstructure from snow pits. Extensive time series of manual snow measurements are important for the monitoring of temporal and spatial changes in seasonal snowpack.
William Maslanka, Leena Leppänen, Anna Kontu, Mel Sandells, Juha Lemmetyinen, Martin Schneebeli, Martin Proksch, Margret Matzl, Henna-Reetta Hannula, and Robert Gurney
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 85–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-85-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-85-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents the initial findings of the Arctic Snow Microstructure Experiment in Sodankylä, Finland. The experiment observed the microwave emission of extracted snow slabs on absorbing and reflecting bases. Snow parameters were recorded to simulate the emission upon those bases using two different emission models. The smallest simulation errors were associated with the absorbing base at vertical polarization. The observations will be used for the development of snow emission modelling.
T. Read, V. F. Bense, R. Hochreutener, O. Bour, T. Le Borgne, N. Lavenant, and J. S. Selker
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 4, 197–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-4-197-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-4-197-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The monitoring and measurement of water flow in groundwater wells allows us to understand how aquifers transmit water. In this paper we develop a simple method, which we call T-POT, that allows flows to be estimated by tracking the movement of a small parcel of warmed water. The parcel is tracked using fibre optic temperature sensing - a technology that allows detailed measurements of temperature, and therefore flow using the T-POT method, to be made in the well.
A. Portal, P. Labazuy, J.-F. Lénat, S. Béné, P. Boivin, E. Busato, C. Cârloganu, C. Combaret, P. Dupieux, F. Fehr, P. Gay, I. Laktineh, D. Miallier, L. Mirabito, V. Niess, and B. Vulpescu
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 2, 47–54, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2-47-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2-47-2013, 2013
R. D. Lorenz
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 1, 209–220, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-1-209-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-1-209-2012, 2012
Cited articles
Barnett, T. P., Adam, J. C., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Potential impact of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions, Nature, 438, 303–309, 2005.
Brasnett, B.: A global analysis of snow depth for numerical weather prediction, J. Appl. Meteorol., 38, 726–740, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1999)038<0726:AGAOSD>2.0.CO;2, 1999.
Chang, W., Tan S., Lemmetyinen J., Tsang, L., Xu, X., and Yueh, S.: Dense Media Radiative Transfer Applied to SnowScat and SnowSAR, IEEE J. Select. T. App. Earth Obs. Remote Sens., 7, 3811–3825, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2014.2343519, 2015.
Derksen, C. and Brown, R.: Spring snow cover extent reductions in the 2008-2012 period exceeding climate model projections, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L19504, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL053387, 2012.
Durand, M., Kim, E. J., and Margulis, S. A.: Quantifying uncertainty in modelling snow microwave radiance for a mountain snowpack at the point-scale, including stratigraphic effects, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 46, 1753–1757, 2008.
ESA: Report for Mission Selection: CoReH2O, ESA SP-1324/2 (3 volume series), European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2012.
Fierz, C., Armstrong, R. L., Durand, Y., Etchevers, P., Greene, E., McClung, D. M., Nishimura, K., Satyawali, P. K., and Sokratov, S. A.: The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground. IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology no. 83, IACS contribution no. 1, UNESCO-IHP, Paris, 2009.
Gallet, J.-C., Domine, F., Zender, C. S., and Picard, G.: Measurement of the specific surface area of snow using infrared reflectance in an integrating sphere at 1310 and 1550 nm, The Cryosphere, 3, 167–182, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-3-167-2009, 2009.
Groisman, P. Y., Karl, T. R., and Knight, R. W.: Observed impact of snow cover on the heat balance and the rise of continental spring temperatures, Science, 263, 198–200, 1994.
Kelly, R., Chang, A., Tsang, L., and Foster, J.: A prototype AMSR-E global snow area and snow depth algorithm, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 41, 230–242, 2003.
Leinss, S., Wiesmann, A., Lemmetyinen, J., and Hajnsek, I.: Snow Water Equivalent of dry snow measured by differential interferometry, IEEE J. Select. T. App. Earth Obs. Remote Sens., 8, 3773–3790, 2015.
Lemmetyinen, J., Derksen, C., Toose, P., Proksch, M., Pulliainen, J., Kontu, A., Rautiainen, K., Seppänen, J., and Hallikainen, M.: Simulating seasonally and spatially varying snow cover brightness temperature using HUT snow emission model and retrieval of a microwave effective grain size, Remote Sens. Environ., 156, 71–95, 2015.
Lemmetyinen, J., Schwank, M., Rautiainen, K., Kontu, A., Parkkinen, T., Mätzler, C., Wiesmann, A., Wegmüller, U., Derksen, C., Toose, P., Roy, A., and Pulliainen, J.: Snow density and ground permittivity retrieved from L-band radiometry: Application to experimental data, Remote Sens. Environ., 180, 377–391, 2016.
Leppänen, L., Kontu, A., Vehviläinen, J., Lemmetyinen, J., and Pulliainen, J.: Comparison of traditional and optical grain size field measurements with SNOWPACK simulations in a taiga environment, J. Glaciol., 61, 151–162, 2015.
Leppänen, L., Kontu, A., Hannula, H.-R., Sjöblom, H., and Pulliainen, J.: Sodankylä manual snow survey program, Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 163–179, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-163-2016, 2016.
Lin, C.-C., Rommen, B., Floury, N., Schüttemeyer, D., Davidson, M., Kern, M., Kontu, A., Lemmetyinen, J., Pulliainen, J., Wiesmann, A., Werner, C., Mätzler, C., Schneebeli, M. Proksch, M., and Nagler, T.: Active microwave scattering signature of snowpack – continuous multi-year SnowScat observation experiments, J. Sel. Top. App. Earth Obs. Remote Sens., 99, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2016.2560168, 2016.
Matzl, M. and Schneebeli, M.: Measuring specific surface area of snow by near-infrared photography, J. Glaciol., 52, 558–564, 2006.
Matzl, M. and Schneebeli, M.: Stereological measurement of the specific surface area of seasonal snow types: Comparison to other methods, and implications for mm-scale vertical profiling, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 64, 1–8, 2010.
Mätzler, C. and Schanda, E.: Snow mapping with active microwave sensors, Int. J. Remote Sens., 5, 409–422, 1984.
Mätzler, C. and Wiesmann, A.: Extension of the microwave emission model for layered snowpacks to coarse-grained snow, Remote Sens. Environ., 70, 318–326, 1999.
Mätzler, C.: Relation between grain-size and correlation length of snow, J. Glaciol., 48, 461–466, 2002.
Pan, J., Durand, M., Sandells, M., Lemmetyinen, J., Kim, E. J., Pulliainen, J., Kontu, A., and Derksen, C.: Differences between HUT snow emission model and MEMLS and their effects on brightness temperature simulation, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 54, 2001–2019, 2016.
Proksch, M., Löwe, H., and Schneebeli, M.: Density, specific surface area, and correlation length of snow measured by high-resolution penetrometry, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 120, 346–362, 2015a.
Proksch, M., Mätzler, C., Wiesmann, A., Lemmetyinen, J., Schwank, M., Löwe, H., and Schneebeli, M.: MEMLS3&a: Microwave emission model of layered snowpacks adapted to include backscattering, Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2611–2626, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2611-2015, 2015b.
Rautiainen, K., Lemmetyinen, J., Schwank, M., Kontu, A., Ménard, C., Mätzler, C., Drusch, M., Wiesmann, A., Ikonen, J., and Pulliainen, J.: Detection of soil freezing from L-band passive microwave observations. Remote Sens. Environ., 147, 206–218, 2014.
Rees, A., Lemmetyinen, J., Derksen, C., Pulliainen, J., and English, M.: Observed and modelled effects of ice lens formation on passive microwave brightness temperatures over snow covered tundra, Remote Sens. Environ., 114, 116–126, 2010.
Rott, H., Yueh, S., Cline, D., Duguay, C., Essery R., Haas, C., Heliere, F., Kern, M., Macelloni, G., Malnes, E., Nagler, T., Pulliainen, J., Rebhan, H., and Thompson, A.: Cold Regions Hydrology High-resolution Observatory for snow and cold land processes, Proc. IEEE, 98, 752–765, 2010.
Schneebeli, M. and Johnson, J.: A constant-speed penetrometer for high-resolution snow stratigraphy, Ann. Glaciol., 26, 107–111, 1998
Schwank, M., Wiesmann A., Werner, C., Mätzler, C., Weber, D., Murk A., Völksch, I., and Wegmüller, U.: ELBARA II, an L-band radiometer system for soil moisture research, Sensors, 10, 584–612, 2010.
Strozzi, T., Wiesmann, A., and Mätzler, C.: Active Microwave signatures of snow covers at 5.3 and 35 GHz, Radio Sci., 32, 479–495, 1997.
Takala, M., Luojus, K., Pulliainen, J., Derksen, C., Lemmetyinen, J., Kärnä, J.-P., Koskinen, J., and Bojkov, B.: Estimating northern hemisphere snow water equivalent for climate research through assimilation of space-borne radiometer data and ground-based measurements, Remote Sens. Environ., 115, 3517–3529, 2011.
Tan, S., Chang, W., Tsang, L., Lemmetyinen, J., and Proksch, M.: Modeling both active and passive microwave remote sensing of snow using dense media radiative transfer (DMRT) theory with multiple scattering and backscattering enhancement, IEEE J. Select. T. App. Earth Obs. Remote Sens., 8, 4418–4430, 2015.
Werner, C., Wiesmann, A., Strozzi, T., Schneebeli, M., and Mätzler, C.: The SnowScat ground-based polarimetric scatterometer: Calibration and initial measurements from Davos Switzerland, in: Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2010 IEEE International, 2363–2366, https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5649015, 2010.
Wiesmann, A. and Mätzler, C.: Microwave emission model of layered snowpacks, Remote Sens. Environ., 70, 307–316, 1999.
