Brucker, Ludovic

Dolant, Caroline

Johnson, Cheryl-Ann

Langlois, Alexandre

Montpetit, Benoit

Richards, Agnes

Roy, Alexandre

Royer, Alain

NASA Technical Reports Server

Rain-on-snow and ice layer formation detection using 
passive microwave radiometry: An arctic perspective 
Alexandre Langlois1,2 
Prof. Université de Sherbrooke   
 
Alain Royer1,2, Benoît Montpetit3, Cheryl-Ann Johnson4, Ludovic Brucker5, 
Caroline Dolant1,2, Agnes Richards6, Alexandre Roy1,2 
 
1Centre d’Applications et de Recherches en Télédétection (CARTEL), Université de 
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. 
2Centre d’étude nordiques, Quebec, Canada 
3 Canadian Ice Service, Ottawa, ON, Canada 
4Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON 
5 NASA Goddard, Greenbelt, USA 
6 Canadian Center for Inland Waters, Env. Can., Toronto, Canada 
  
 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 
 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20160005240 2019-08-31T03:19:31+00:00Z
Rain-on-snow and ice layer formation detection using 
passive microwave radiometry: An arctic perspective 
Outline 
 
PART I: Arctic context 
 1. Motivation and study sites 
 2. Algorithm development 
    
PART II: Some occurrence numbers 1979-2011 
 3. Rain-on-snow 
 4. Ice layers 
 5. Perspective 
 
 
PART I :Arctic context 
1. Motivation and study sites 
  
 - increased occurrence of  rain-on-snow 
 - increased occurrence of  strong wind events 
  è both leading to snow densification 
 
-  Changing rapidly, with significant consequences: 
•  Grazing conditions under ice for ungulates; 
•  Changes in snow cover affects permafrost and sea ice 
regimes. 
-  Need for global information of  snow information 
•  Passive microwave remote sensing; 
•  Snow modeling / climate model coupling. 
 
 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
NASA/GSFC 
ROS events are projected to be more frequent over a wider spatial extent 
(Semmens et al., 2013): need for a satellite-based detection approach 
PART I :Arctic context 
1. Motivation and study sites 
 
-  Peary caribou population affected by snow conditions: 
 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
Ouellet et al., 2015 
Need to develop ROS and ice tracking approaches in the Arctic… 
PART I :Arctic context 
2. Algorithm development: ROS 
 
-  Empirical approach from case study: January 30th – February 2nd 2013:  
 
Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada: ROS in red, phase was measured 
using PWD12 Vaisala dysdrometer, coincident SBR 
 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
Dolant et al., 2015 
PART I: Arctic context 
 
When ROS:  19V, 37V, 37 H ↑  è  wet snow ε ↑ 
  19H ↓   è  soil cont. masked 
  37H > 19H  è  near surface warmer 
  37V < 19V  è  19Vstill sees soil 
 
So that:   37V-19V: negative è negative GR_V (avg. -0.02) 
  37H-19H: positive è positive GR_H (avg. +0.02) 
 
Normal conditions (even wet), both expected negative:    GR_V: -0.05 
              GR_H: -0.04 
 
New parameter: GR_V / GR_H (GRP) è negative when ROS (- / + = - 
GRP), otherwise, (- / - = + GRP) 
 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
2. Algorithm development: ROS 
PART I: Arctic context 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
2. Algorithm development: Ice Detection Index (IDI) 
Polarization ratio (PR): 
 
Horizontal polarization more sensitive to ice layers and vertical dielectric 
contrast, threshold established from the following (PR simulated with ice vs 
PR without ice): 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PART I: Arctic context 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
2. Algorithm development: Ice Detection Index (IDI) 
Δ PR: PRi - PRAVG 
PRAVG: Averaged over all winters for each sensor, for each pixel to avoid 
differences in sensor characteristics (SMMR, SSM/I, AMSR-E, …); 
 
 
 
 
Pixel	  ID Mean	  PR	  SMMR Mean	  PR	  SSM/I Mean	  PR	  AMSR-­‐E 
19	  GHz 37	  GHz 19	  GHz 37GHz 19GHz 37GHz 
BP1 0.0516 0.0614 0.0467 0.0453 0.0575 0.0559 
PW1 0.0539 0.0663 0.0482 0.0468 0.0605 	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  0.0580 
SI1 0.0575 0.0709 0.0485 0.0482 0.0626 0.0638 
RI1 0.0437 0.0528 0.0491 0.0490 0.0518 0.0484 
AH1 0.0540 0.0647 0.0475 0.0467 0.0584 0.0547 
SE1 0.0491 0.0556 0.0448 0.0432 0.0381 0.0392 
CE1 0.0577 0.0580 0.0488 0.0495 0.0303 0.0311 
MI1 0.0515 0.0632 0.0484 0.0493 0.0553 0.0572 
PPI1 0.0503 0.0631 0.0469 0.0468 0.0541 0.0562 
EgI1 0.0450 0.0536 0.0448 0.0441 0.0458 0.0443 
EmI1 0.0483 0.0595 0.0453 0.0397 0.0475 0.0462 
BMI1 0.0421 0.0491 0.0445 0.0385 0.0508 0.0476 
DI1 0.0527 0.0633 0.0481 0.0441 0.0541 0.0525 
LI1 0.0458 0.0543 0.0455 0.0398 0.0481 0.0449 
CI1 0.0522 0.0636 0.0518 0.0476 0.0576 0.0567 
HI1 0.0494 0.0598 0.0480 0.0447 0.0503 0.0491 
BIC1 0.0519 0.0644 0.0541 0.0510 0.0591 0.0583 
BI1 0.0476 0.0594 0.0467 0.0453 0.0495 0.0502 
VI1 0.0496 0.0647 0.0503 0.0493 0.0527 0.0541 
PART II: Occurrence numbers 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
	   19	  GHz 37	  GHz 
SMMR 01-­‐01-­‐1978	  to	  20-­‐08-­‐1987 01-­‐01-­‐1978	  to	  20-­‐08-­‐1987 
SSM/I 21-­‐08-­‐1987	  to	  18-­‐06-­‐2002 21-­‐08-­‐1987	  to	  18-­‐06-­‐2002 
AMSR-­‐E 19-­‐06-­‐2002	  to	  31-­‐12-­‐2011 19-­‐06-­‐2002	  to	  31-­‐12-­‐2011 
	   EASE-­‐Grid	  coordinates Geographic	  coordinates 
Islands Pixel	  ID X Y La;tude	  (N) Longitude	  (W) 
Boothia	  Peninsula BP1 275 354 70,533 -­‐94,5 
Prince	  of	  Whales PW1 285 349 72,617 -­‐99 
Somerset SI1 288 357 73,35 -­‐93.25 
Axel	  Heiberg AH1 316 361 79,817 -­‐89,683 
South	  Ellesmere SE1 304 368 77,067 -­‐83,283 
Central	  Ellesmere CE1 314 368 79,333 -­‐81,467 
Minto	  Inlet MI1 299 341 75,367 -­‐107,667 
Prince	  Patrick PPI1 310 334 76,9 -­‐118,017 
Eglinton EgI1 306 331 75,783 -­‐118,417 
Emerald EmI1 308 337 76,8 -­‐114,1 
Byram	  MarMn BMI1 298 345 75,217 -­‐104,217 
Devon DI1 295 363 75,017 -­‐88,333 
Lougheed LI1 307 347 77,3 -­‐104,933 
Cornwallis CI1 295 355 75,133 -­‐95,1 
Helena HI1 302 351 76,5 -­‐99,883 
Bathurst	  Is.	  Complex BIC1 299 351 75,783 -­‐98,867 
Banks BI1 302 322 74,005 -­‐123,465 
Victoria VI1 292 327 72,593 -­‐116,232 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
PART II: Occurrence numbers 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
PART II: Occurrence numbers 
0	  
10	  
20	  
30	  
40	  
50	  
60	  
70	  
80	  
90	  
79
-­‐8
0	  
81
-­‐8
2	  
83
-­‐8
4	  
85
-­‐8
6	  
87
-­‐8
8	  
89
-­‐9
0	  
91
-­‐9
2	  
93
-­‐9
4	  
95
-­‐9
6	  
97
-­‐9
8	  
99
-­‐0
0	  
01
-­‐0
2	  
03
-­‐0
4	  
05
-­‐0
6	  
07
-­‐0
8	  
09
-­‐1
0	  
ROS	  
IDI	  
ROS	  +	  IDI	  
1993-­‐1994	  
93-94: BI, BP 
98-99: BM, LI, CI, HI 
02-03: AH, Em 
8 92002-­‐2003	  
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
PART II: Occurrence numbers 
0	  
20	  
40	  
60	  
80	  
100	  
120	  
BP
1	  
PW
1	  
SI
1	  
AH
1	  
SE
1	  
CE
1	  
M
I1
	  
PP
I1
	  
Eg
I1
	  
Em
I1
	  
BM
I1
	  
DI
1	  
LI
1	  
CI
1	  
HI
1	  
BI
C1
	  
BI
1	  
VI
1	  
ROS	  
IDI	  
ROS+IDI	  
Islands with most combined occurrences: 
 
 - Boothia Peninsula (Ouellet et al., 2015 – SNOWPACK) 
 - Axel Heiberg 
 - Byram Martin 
 - Lougheed + Cornwallis 
 - Banks + Victoria 
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
Future outcome and concluding remarks 
-  More on GRP threshold, with observed events: 
Sites	   La;tude	   Longitude	   Al;tude	   Year	  avalaible	   N	  total	   Amount	  average	   Tair	  (°C)	   SD	  (cm)	  
Sachs	  Harbour	   72°00’00,00’’N	   125°16’00,00’’	  O	  86,3m	   1980-­‐2013	   10	   0,88	   -­‐2,94	   9,11	  
CamBay	   69°06’29,00’’N	   105°08’18,00’’	  O	  31,1m	   1980-­‐2015	   59	   1,89	   0,31	   24,69	  
Gjoa	  Heaven	   68°38’08,00’’N	   95°51’01,00’’	  O	   46,9m	   1984-­‐2015	   78	   2,25	   -­‐0,61	   15,22	  
Taloyoak	   69°33’00,00’’N	   93°35’00,00’’	  O	   27,4m	   1984-­‐2015	   85	   1,7	   0,95	   10,12	  
Kugaaruk	   68°32’26,00’’N	   89°47’50,00’’	  O	   15,5m	   1984-­‐2015	   17	   4,64	   3,27	   12,76	  
Igloolik	   69°22’00,00’’N	   81°49’00,00’’	  O	   52,7m	   1984-­‐2015	   29	   1,73	   2,11	   19,54	  
Hall	  Beach	   68°46’33,00’’N	   81°14’33,00’’	  O	   9-­‐10m	   1980-­‐2015	   163	   1,53	   -­‐0,38	   24,61	  
Nanisivik	   72°59’00,00’’N	   84°37’00,00’’	  O	   641,9m	   1980-­‐2011	   21	   3,7	   1,3	   19,24	  
Resolute	   74°43’01,00’’N	   94°58’10,00’’	  O	   67,7m	   1980-­‐2015	   77	   1,5	   -­‐0,91	   8,83	  
Eureka	   79°59’00,00’’N	   85°56’00,00’’	  O	   10,4m	   1980-­‐2015	   10	   1,64	   0,5	   12	  
Alert	   82°31’04,00’’N	   62°16’50,00’’	  O	   30,5m	   1980-­‐2006	   19	   0,83	   -­‐0,34	   17,32	  
Paulatuk	   69°21’40,00’’N	   124°04’31,00’’	  O	  4,6m	   1985-­‐2013	   12	   1,48	   -­‐3,44	   11,25	  
Kugluktuk	   67°49’00,00’’N	   115°08’38,00’’O	   22,6m	   1978-­‐2015	   120	   1,97	   0,25	   19,32	  
Remote Sensing of  the Cryosphere I, Wednesday Dec. 16th 2015 
Future outcome and concluding remarks 
Plans for 2016: 
 
-  Dysdrometer installation in Cambridge Bay along with passive 
microwave radiometers (19-37-89 GHz); 
-  More on climatology assessment, tracking origin of  ROS and 
LPDs; 
-  New PhD student working on the modeling of  ROS-snow 
interactions using the SNOWPACK model. 
Acknowledgements 
Funding and logistics:   
 
Environment Canada 
Parks Canada 
Canadian High Arctic Research Station 
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) 
Canada Foundation for Innovation 
National Search and Rescue Secretariat (SAR-NIF) 
Centre d’études nordiques (CEN) 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 
Mitacs scholarship program 
Hydro-Québec 
Polar Continental shelf Program 
 
Canadian Centre for Inland Waters - Burlington, ON, December 8th 2015 


Rain-on-Snow and Ice Layer Formation Detection Using Passive Microwave Radiometry: An Arctic Perspective

Rain-on-Snow and Ice Layer Formation Detection Using Passive Microwave Radiometry: An Arctic Perspective

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