Detecting rain-on-snow events in the Arctic via satellite
Sep 14, 2009 - by Staff
Thomas Grenfell and Jaakko Putkonen, A method for the detection of the severe rain-on-snow event on Banks Island, October 2003, using passive microwave remote sensing, Water Resources Research 44 (2008), W03425
When rain falls atop snow on the Arctic tundra, it can create a strong layer of ice that prevents reindeer, caribou, and other ungulates from reaching food on the ground. Sporadic but significant, these rain-on-snow events are very poorly documented and observed. Grenfell and Putkonen show the potential for using multifrequency satellite imagery to characterize where and when rain-on-snow events occur.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON