EnviSnow

Snow cover has the largest area extent of any component of the cryosphere (the portions of the Earth's surface where water is in a solid form) and most of the Earth's snow-covered area is located in the Northern Hemisphere, where the mean snow-cover extent ranges from 46.5 million km2 in January to 3.8 million km2 in August.

Satellite-based remote sensing instruments have shown to be an efficient tool for monitoring of snow parameters. The current available snow products are based on single sensors, thus the temporal and spatial limitations are given by the single sensor characteristics. Full operational utilisation of optical sensor products has so far been limited by the cloud cover. For the end users to be able to utilise remote sensing data in operational monitoring and management of snow, the data must meet the temporal and spatial resolution and accuracy requirements. But above all, the guaranteed availability of the products must be ensured before any regular operational service can be established.

The overall goal is to develop and validate new and improved multisensor algorithms for retrieving snow and soil parameters from EO data improved for use in global climate study and hydrology, in particular run off and flood prediction.

The project will enhance the European capability of utilising EO data in operational applications for sustainable management of the environment and make Europe more competitive in the global industry and research market

The following sub-objective have been identified in order to reach the objectives.

For more information contact: Rune Solberg

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