River ice monitoring with MODIS: Application over Lower Susquehanna River

摘要

Spatially detailed characterization of the distribution, amount and timing of river ice is important for identifying and predicting potential ice hazards. Although information on the ice cover over inland water bodies is provided within MODIS snow products (MOD10 and MYD10), this information has little practical value for river ice monitoring. First, many rivers are not properly resolved in the MODIS land/water mask. Second, the cloud mask incorporated in the product is conservative and therefore results in reduced effective area coverage of the product. Third, the accuracy of the incorporated cloud mask (MOD35) depends on the particular setting and underlying land/water mask. The MODIS cloud mask is not suitable for this particular setting, if frequent ice observations are desired.