{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T06:27:02Z","timestamp":1762324022615,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,12,21]],"date-time":"2016-12-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1482278400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000104","name":"National Aeronautics and Space Administration","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NNX14AQ38G","NNX13AN44G"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NNX14AQ38G","NNX13AN44G"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000104","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Snow is a key element of the water and energy cycles and the knowledge of spatio-temporal distribution of snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) is fundamental for hydrological and climatological applications. SWE and snow depth estimates can be obtained from spaceborne microwave brightness temperatures at global scale and high temporal resolution (daily). In this regard, the data recorded by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer\u2014Earth Orbiting System (EOS) (AMSR-E) onboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration\u2019s (NASA) AQUA spacecraft have been used to generate operational estimates of SWE and snow depth, complementing estimates generated with other microwave sensors flying on other platforms. In this study, we report the results concerning the development and assessment of a new operational algorithm applied to historical AMSR-E data. The new algorithm here proposed makes use of climatological data, electromagnetic modeling and artificial neural networks for estimating snow depth as well as a spatio-temporal dynamic density scheme to convert snow depth to SWE. The outputs of the new algorithm are compared with those of the current AMSR-E operational algorithm as well as in-situ measurements and other operational snow products, specifically the Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC) and GlobSnow datasets. Our results show that the AMSR-E algorithm here proposed generally performs better than the operational one and addresses some major issues identified in the spatial distribution of snow depth fields associated with the evolution of effective grain size.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs8121037","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,12,23]],"date-time":"2016-12-23T04:09:09Z","timestamp":1482466149000},"page":"1037","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":56,"title":["A New Operational Snow Retrieval Algorithm Applied to Historical AMSR-E Brightness Temperatures"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Marco","family":"Tedesco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, NY 10964, USA"},{"name":"NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY 10025, USA"}]},{"given":"Jeyavinoth","family":"Jeyaratnam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,12,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"461","DOI":"10.1038\/nature06025","article-title":"Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends","volume":"448","author":"Zhang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"150","DOI":"10.1002\/j.1477-8696.1994.tb05997.x","article-title":"Snow cover and climate","volume":"49","author":"Cohen","year":"1994","journal-title":"Weather"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2008","DOI":"10.1175\/2007JAMC1823.1","article-title":"On the role of snow cover in depressing air temperature","volume":"47","author":"Mote","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1175\/JAM2330.1","article-title":"Snowmelt-related flood risk in Appalachia: First estimates from a historical snow climatology","volume":"45","author":"Graybeal","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1345","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0442(1993)006<1345:TABEIN>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"The association between extremes in North American snow cover extent and United States temperatures","volume":"6","author":"Leathers","year":"1993","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Jones, H.G., Pomeroy, J.W., Walker, D.A., and Hoham, R.W. (2001). Snow Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Snow-Covered Ecosystems, Cambridge University Press. [1st ed.]."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1038\/nature04141","article-title":"Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions","volume":"438","author":"Barnett","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1080\/789610195","article-title":"The role of snow and ice in the global climate system: A review","volume":"26","author":"Barry","year":"2002","journal-title":"Polar Geogr."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Armstrong, R., Knowles, K., Brodzik, M., and Hardman, M.A. (1994). DMSP SSM\/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, NASA National Snow Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. version 2."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Knowles, K.E., Njoku, G., Armstrong, R., and Brodzik, M. (2000). Nimbus-7 SMMR Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, NASA National Snow Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. version 1."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Ulaby, F.T., Moore, R.K., and Fung, A.K. (1981). Microwave Remote Sensing: Active and Passive, Volume 1\u2014Microwave Remote Sensing Fundamentals and Radiometry, Microwave Remote Sensing; Artech House Publishers."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Aschbacher, J. (1989). Land Surface Studies and Atmospheric Effects by Satellite Microwave Radiometry. [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Innsbruck]."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.3189\/S0260305500200736","article-title":"Nimbus-7 SMMR derived monthly global snow cover and snow depth","volume":"9","author":"Chang","year":"1987","journal-title":"Ann. Glaciol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(97)00085-0","article-title":"Comparison of snow mass estimates from a prototype passive microwave snow algorithm, a revised algorithm and a snow depth climatology","volume":"62","author":"Foster","year":"1997","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1109\/36.124222","article-title":"Comparison of algorithms for retrieval of snow water equivalent from Nimbus-7 SMMR data in Finland","volume":"30","author":"Hallikainen","year":"1992","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Tait, A. (1996, January 27\u201331). Estimation of snow water equivalent using passive microwave radiation data. Proceedings of the 1996 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium\u2014Remote Sensing for a Sustainable Future, Lincoln, NE, USA."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1380","DOI":"10.1175\/2010JHM1202.1","article-title":"Estimating snow water equivalent using snow depth data and climate classes","volume":"11","author":"Sturm","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Hydrometeorol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1699","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2010.02.019","article-title":"Development of a tundra-specific snow water equivalent retrieval algorithm for satellite passive microwave data","volume":"114","author":"Derksen","year":"2010","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3707","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2010.483482","article-title":"Global estimates of snow water equivalent from passive microwave instruments: History, challenges and future developments","volume":"31","author":"Clifford","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2003.12.002","article-title":"Artificial neural network-based techniques for the retrieval of SWE and snow depth from SSM\/I data","volume":"90","author":"Tedesco","year":"2004","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2654","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2006.873182","article-title":"Intercomparison of electromagnetic models for passive microwave remote sensing of snow","volume":"44","author":"Tedesco","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2006.01.002","article-title":"Mapping of snow water equivalent and snow depth in boreal and sub-arctic zones by assimilating space-borne microwave radiometer data and ground-based observations","volume":"101","author":"Pulliainen","year":"2006","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3517","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2011.08.014","article-title":"Estimating northern hemisphere snow water equivalent for climate research through assimilation of space-borne radiometer data and ground-based measurements","volume":"115","author":"Takala","year":"2011","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grippa, M., Kergoat, L., Le Toan, T., Mognard, N.M., Delbart, N., L\u2019Hermitte, J., and Vicente-Serrano, S.M. (2005). The impact of snow depth and snowmelt on the vegetation variability over central Siberia. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32.","DOI":"10.1029\/2005GL024286"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"230","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2003.809118","article-title":"A prototype AMSR-E global snow area and snow depth algorithm","volume":"41","author":"Kelly","year":"2003","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1955","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2009.2036910","article-title":"Dynamic approaches for snow depth retrieval from spaceborne microwave brightness temperature","volume":"48","author":"Tedesco","year":"2010","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"219","DOI":"10.1080\/07038992.2015.1070093","article-title":"Plot scale passive microwave measurements and modeling of layered snow using the multi-layered HUT model","volume":"41","author":"Fuller","year":"2015","journal-title":"Can. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2014.09.016","article-title":"Simulating seasonally and spatially varying snow cover brightness temperature using HUT snow emission model and retrieval of a microwave effective grain size","volume":"156","author":"Lemmetyinen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2013.12.009","article-title":"Assimilating passive microwave remote sensing data into a land surface model to improve the estimation of snow depth","volume":"143","author":"Che","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"De Lannoy, G.J.M., Reichle, R.H., Arsenault, K.R., Houser, P.R., Kumar, S., Verhoest, N.E.C., and Pauwels, V.R.N. (2012). Multiscale assimilation of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer\u2013EOS snow water equivalent and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer snow cover fraction observations in northern Colorado. Water Resour. Res., 48.","DOI":"10.1029\/2011WR010588"},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Tedesco, M., Kelly, R., Foster, J.L., and Chang, A.T.C. (2004). AMSR-E\/Aqua Daily L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids, NASA National Snow Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. version 2."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"AMSR-E Instrument Description. Available online: https:\/\/nsidc.org\/data\/docs\/daac\/amsre_instrument.gd.html."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Goodchild, M. (2002). Discrete Global Grids, National Center for Geographic Information & Analysis."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Tedesco, M., Jeyaratnam, J., and Kelly, R. (2015). NRT AMSR2 Daily L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids, NASA LANCE AMSR2 at the Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Ulaby, F.T., Moore, R.K., and Fung, A.K. (1986). Microwave Remote Sensing: Active and Passive, Artech House Publishers."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.2166\/nh.1987.0001","article-title":"Microwave remote sensing of snowpack properties: Potential and limitations","volume":"18","author":"Bernier","year":"1987","journal-title":"Hydrol. Res."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M\u00e4tzler, C. (1987). Applications of the interaction of microwaves with the natural snow cover. Remote Sens., 2.","DOI":"10.1080\/02757258709532086"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1163\/156939392X01156","article-title":"Scattering of electromagnetic waves from a dense medium consisting of correlated mie scatterers with size distributions and applications to dry snow","volume":"6","author":"Tsang","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Electromagn. Waves Appl."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"731","DOI":"10.1029\/1999RS002270","article-title":"Dense media radiative transfer theory based on quasicrystalline approximation with applications to passive microwave remote sensing of snow","volume":"35","author":"Tsang","year":"2000","journal-title":"Radio Sci."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tsang, L., and Kong, J.A. (1980). Multiple scattering of electromagnetic waves by random distributions of discrete scatterers with coherent potential and quantum mechanical formalism. J. Appl. Phys., 51.","DOI":"10.1063\/1.328200"},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Zurk, L.M., Ding, K.H., Tsang, L., and Winebrenner, D.P. (1994, January 8\u201312). Monte Carlo simulations of the extinction rate of densely packed spheres with clustered and non-clustered geometries. Proceedings of the 1994 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium\u2014Surface and Atmospheric Remote Sensing: Technologies, Data Analysis and Interpretation, Pasadena, CA, USA."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1557","DOI":"10.1002\/hyp.1020","article-title":"A passive microwave snow depth algorithm with a proxy for snow metamorphism","volume":"16","author":"Josberger","year":"2002","journal-title":"Hydrol. Process."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3563","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2006.881759","article-title":"Brightness temperatures of snow melting\/refreezing cycles: Observations and modeling using a multilayer dense medium theory-based model","volume":"44","author":"Tedesco","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Derksen, C., Strapp, J.W., and Walker, A. (August, January 31). Passive microwave brightness temperature scaling over snow covered boreal forest and tundra. Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Denver, CO, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/IGARSS.2006.964"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2006.10.024","article-title":"Identification of atmospheric influences on the estimation of snow water equivalent from AMSR-E measurements","volume":"111","author":"Wang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1002\/hyp.6129","article-title":"Comparison of local scale measured and modelled brightness temperatures and snow parameters from the CLPX 2003 by means of a dense medium radiative transfer theory model","volume":"20","author":"Tedesco","year":"2006","journal-title":"Hydrol. Process."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"259","DOI":"10.1016\/0165-232X(82)90019-2","article-title":"Snow water equivalent estimation by microwave radiometry","volume":"5","author":"Chang","year":"1982","journal-title":"Cold Reg. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"Chang, A. (2000). Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) for the AMSR-E Snow Water Equivalent Algorithm."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1175\/1087-3562(2003)007<0001:GPTCAA>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Global percent tree cover at a spatial resolution of 500 meters: First results of the MODIS vegetation continuous fields algorithm","volume":"7","author":"Hansen","year":"2003","journal-title":"Earth Interact."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"Dewey, K.F., and Heim, R. (1981). Satellite Observations of Variations in Northern Hemisphere Seasonal Snow Cover."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"Ashcroft, P., and Wentz, F.J. (2013). AMSR-E\/Aqua L2A Global Swath Spatially-Resampled Brightness Temperatures, NASA National Snow Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. version 3."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1261","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0442(1995)008<1261:ASSCCS>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"A seasonal snow cover classification system for local to global applications","volume":"8","author":"Sturm","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTARS.2010.2040462","article-title":"Assessment of the NASA AMSR-E SWE product","volume":"3","author":"Tedesco","year":"2010","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1378","DOI":"10.1109\/36.763302","article-title":"HUT snow emission model and its applicability to snow water equivalent retrieval","volume":"37","author":"Pulliainen","year":"1999","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.3189\/172756402781817446","article-title":"Northern Great Plains 1996\/97 seasonal evolution of snowpack parameters from satellite passive-microwave measurements","volume":"34","author":"Mognard","year":"2002","journal-title":"Ann. Glaciol."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2557","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2007.12.002","article-title":"A satellite snow depth multi-year average derived from SSM\/I for the high latitude regions","volume":"112","author":"Biancamaria","year":"2008","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1080\/07055900.1998.9649605","article-title":"Spatial and temporal variability of Canadian monthly snow depths, 1946\u20131995","volume":"36","author":"Brown","year":"1998","journal-title":"Atmos. Ocean"},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1016\/0168-1923(90)90106-G","article-title":"Mapping freeze\/thaw boundaries with SMMR data","volume":"52","author":"Zuerndorfer","year":"1990","journal-title":"Agric. For. Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_59","unstructured":"Haykin, S. (1999). Neural networks: A Comprehensive Foundation, Prentice Hall."},{"key":"ref_60","unstructured":"Tedesco, M., and Miller, J. (2010). Co-Registered AMSR-E, QuikSCAT, and WMO Data, NASA National Snow Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. Available online: https:\/\/nsidc.org\/data\/nsidc-0450."},{"key":"ref_61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"498","DOI":"10.3189\/S0022143000002021","article-title":"A snow-transport model for complex terrain","volume":"44","author":"Liston","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Glaciol."},{"key":"ref_62","unstructured":"Brown, R.D., and Brasnett, B. (2010). Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) Daily Snow Depth Analysis Data, NASA National Snow Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center."},{"key":"ref_63","unstructured":"Data|WMO (World Meteorological Organization). Available online: https:\/\/www.wmo.int\/datastat\/wmodata_en.html."},{"key":"ref_64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3137\/ao.410101","article-title":"Gridded North American monthly snow depth and snow water equivalent for GCM evaluation","volume":"41","author":"Brown","year":"2003","journal-title":"Atmos. Ocean"},{"key":"ref_65","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"726","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0450(1999)038<0726:AGAOSD>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"A global analysis of snow depth for numerical weather prediction","volume":"38","author":"Brasnett","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Appl. Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_66","unstructured":"Tedescco, M., and Jeffrey, M. Co-Registered AMSR-E, QuikSCAT, and WMO Data. Available online: http:\/\/nsidc.org\/data\/docs\/daac\/nsidc0450_amsre_quikscat_wmo\/pdfs\/nsidc0450_amsre_quikscat_wmo.pdf."},{"key":"ref_67","unstructured":"Pulliainen, J., Luojus, K., and Pinnock, S. GlobSnow. Available online: http:\/\/www.globsnow.info\/."},{"key":"ref_68","first-page":"437","article-title":"The snow cover characteristics of northern Eurasia and their relationship to climatic parameters","volume":"7","author":"Kitaev","year":"2002","journal-title":"Boreal Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_69","unstructured":"Derksen, C. Personal communication."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/8\/12\/1037\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T19:28:58Z","timestamp":1760210938000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/8\/12\/1037"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016,12,21]]},"references-count":69,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,12]]}},"alternative-id":["rs8121037"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs8121037","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2072-4292"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2016,12,21]]}}}