Warm Season Snow/Ice Probability Maps from MODIS and VIIRS Sensors over Canada

摘要

The development of snow and ice probability maps at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) from the MODIS and VIIRS sensors is described. Time series are generated for each warm season (April-September) since 2000 at 250m spatial resolution over the Northern latitudes that cover Canada and neighboring regions. These data are valuable for characterization of fresh water resources, such as snow and land ice, which are very sensitive to climate variations. Comparison of CCRS data against several land cover schemes revealed large discrepancies in the permanent snow/ice extent that can reach nearly 200% over the Canadian Arctic region. CCRS results are very consistent with the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) and can be used for the RGI validation and updates. Data are publicly available from the Canadian Federal Geospatial Platform (FGP) data archive.