The ESA SnowPex project and an introduction to the APVE workshops

Transcription

1 The ESA SnowPex project and an introduction to the APVE workshops Bojan R. Bojkov Head Sensor Performance, Products and Algorithms Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes European Space Agency ESA/ESRIN

2 Part 1 with T. Nagler (Enveo): Introduction to the ESA SnowPEX project

3 Snow an important hydrological resource

4 Continental to Hemispheric Satellite Snow Extent Products Name Product type Pixel Spacing Frequenc y Period Main Sensor Organisation NOAA IMS Binary 4 km daily OPT, PMW, + manual NOAA (Helfrich et al.) NOAA IMS Binary 24 km daily OPT, PMW NOAA ESA GlobSnow Fractional 1 km daily - monthly ATSR2 AATSR SYKE et al. NASA MOD10 Fractional 0.5 km Daily MODIS NSIDC (Hall et al.) AVHRR Pathfinder Binary 5 km daily AVHRR CCRS (Zhao, et al) CryoLand Fractional (Europe) 0.5 km daily MODIS ENVEO / SYKE et al.

5 Maximum Snow Extent: 1-7 March 2010 MOD10 GlobSnow IMS

6 Motivation Time series of Northern Hemisphere June snow cover from NOAA snow chart CDR. Rate of Snow Extent decrease: % / decade ( ) (Derksen & Brown 2012) Questions: - How large is the uncertainty in rate of Snow Extent? - In which regions are the highest changes? Requirement formulated at the First GCW Snow Watch Meeting (Toronto, January 2013): Need to develop community endorsed best practise to intercompare global / hemispheric (pre) operational snow products derived from different EO sensors and generated by means of different algorithms, and assess the product quality.

7 SnowPEX Objectives The SnowPEX project aims to bring together scientists and institutions of seasonal snow pack monitoring for assessing the quality of current satellite-based snow products derived from EO data, and working out guidelines for improvement. The primary objectives are Intercompare and evaluate global / hemispheric (pre) operational snow products derived from different EO sensors and generated by means of different algorithms, assessing the product quality by objective means. Evaluate and intercompare temporal trends of seasonal snow parameters from various EO based products in order to achieve wellfounded uncertainty estimates for climate change monitoring. Elaborate recommendations and needs for further improvements in monitoring seasonal snow parameters from EO data. The project will support the setup of a consolidated operational satellite snow observation system for the WMO Global Cryosphere Watch and help to improve the snow cover data base for climate monitoring, as addressed by the WCRP-CliC programme

8 SnowPex Status Consortium: T. Nagler (PI), Enveo (Austria); R. Fernandes, CCRS (Canada); S. Metsämäki, Syke (Finland); J. Pulliaineni/K.Luojus, FMI (Finland); C. Derksen, EC (Canada); R. Solberg, NR, (Norway) Key elements: Develop community accepted best practices for snow product intercomparisons (satellite and in-situ) following the CEOS QA4EO ( principles Organise two International Satellite Snow Products Intercomparison workshops (ISSPI) first one held in July in College Park, MD Coordinate with/contribute to the WMO/GCW Duration: 24 months through mid-2016 Information/documentation:

9 ISSPI-1 Highlight: in-situ Short-term priority for EO validation by in-situ datasets however should specifically address: 1. Establish in-situ/eo intercomparison/validation protocols 2. Define (globally) representative reference sites 3. The point to area representativity issue, especially in complex areas (mountains, mixed areas, etc.) Ross Brown s ISSPI presentation

10 ISSPI-1 Highlight: sat. reference scenes Hi-resolution resolution datasets i.e. Landsat, Spot 5/6, etc., preferred for direct inter-comparisons Need consistent L1 version (re)processing of hi-resolution satellite data reference scenes globally At a minimum over reference sites/regions identified in the workshop Orthorectified with common public DEM, using common auxiliary data (land mask, land classification, etc.), consider imprved cloud screening procedures Readily accessible archive (possibly need to reconcile the existing archives, for example the ESA and USGS Landsat archives) About 400 Landsat scenes were so far identified for SE evaluation (with data currently available at ENVEO, SYKE and Rutgers University)

11 Part 2 with Yves Creview (CSA): The Arctic and high-latitude Products Validation and Evolution workshop (APVE)

12 APVE Motivation High-latitudes areas and the Arctic are sparsely populated, extremely remote, with a challenging and harsh environment These sensitive areas are undergoing tremendous changes human access, exploration, environmental changes, etc. These areas are also impacted by human activity at mid-latitudes through long-range transport and the Arctic/sub-Arctic can be considered the Earth s canary

13 APVE Motivation (ii)!marine biomass and physical coastal Space-borne Earth Observation in the last decades has allowed us to witness nature in remote areas and science to explore these phenomena New Siberian Lena Delta MERIS RR

14 APVE Motivation (iii) Comparing SeaWIFS derived chlorophyll climatology to a climate model, large differences are evident - yet the differences seem to correlate well with the Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDM) see Spiegel, et al., 2005

15 APVE Motivation (iv) Earth Observation, as illustrated here, has a tremendous potential for high-latitudes by: Monitoring sea ice change Monitoring hemispheric temperature change Identifying land cover changes and permafrost change Help estimate river runoff (with models) etc. but, the high-latitudes are challenging for EO, especially for optical type measurements: Extended polar night Extended periods with (very) high solar zenith angles High cloud occurrences Difficult environment for validation (and few validation data)

16 Rationale for a Targeted Workshop The Arctic and high-latitude Products Validation and Evolution (APVE) workshop-series is therefore proposed: In response to strategic priorities common to ALL northern-latitude and Arctic Nations and most of which are Member States of ESA Earth Observation (potentially) provide stand-alone and complementary technology for monitoring vast, harsh, and inaccessible environments Both are integral part of long-term high-latitude commitments by Arctic countries (e.g. IPY follow-on, Polar services, etc.)

17 Rationale for a Targeted Workshop (ii) (but) "Technology and science are only as good as our ability to use the information they provide (and) "The successes are dependent on our ability to relay the information the final mile to the people Unknown marine scientist Nov. 17, 2006 Tsunami warning system

18 APVE Workshop Themes 1. Mapping, characterization and changes with time of highlatitude areas and the Arctic Characterization and physical changes due to processes and dynamics Collection of cartographic information (incl. land classification) 2. Environmental monitoring of land, water and atmosphere in high-latitude areas and the Arctic Includes physical, chemical and biological parameters to detect short-term changes and trends Environmental monitoring of coastal transition zone 3. Sustainable economic development of natural resources in high-latitudes and the Arctic Mapping and monitoring to support economic activities including the exploitation of natural resources and also transportation, by land, water and air

19 APVE Workshop Themes (ii) 4. Safety and emergency response in high-latitude areas and the Arctic Monitoring to improve safety and to support emergency response to both natural and man-made conditions 5. Security and Sovereignty in high-latitude areas and the Arctic Monitoring to support the protection of humans, wildlife and property and the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 6. Validation capacity and infrastructure in high-latitude areas and the Arctic Specifically addressing the needs abd coordination of the above points Multi-sectorial/cross-discipline with common data needs

20 APVE Workshop Concept APVE will foster the assessment, development, and exploitation of the broad spectrum of capabilities offered by Space-based Earth observation technology in response to high-latitude and Arctic stakeholders information needs Addressing National, Regional, and International interests Focus on existing agency data, and others in support of future capabilities (evolution) Pooling resources (systems, programmes, audience, etc.) Better operation support/amplified impact

21 APVE Workshop Status ESA has begun the planning of two APVE workshops, similar in format to the 2008 ESA/CSA MORSE workshop, and the ESA ACVE (atmosphere), LPVE (land) and S3VT (Sentinel- 3) workshops This is a collaborative effort with LOOKNorth (a CND Centre of Excellence) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) The first workshop will take place from November in Ottawa, Canada 30+ presentations addressing product evolution and validation for land, lakes, coastal zones, snow, ice, etc. Follow-up workshop in Sweden (SHMI) in the Spring 2015

22 Thank you for your attention!