Snow Depth Maps from ADS Imagery with 2-Meter Resolution

Snow depth maps with a spatial resolution of 2 meters were generated by digital photogrammetry from ADS 80/100 imagery. The maps represent the difference between a winter Digital Surface Model (DSM) and a summer DSM from 2013, with buildings, vegetation, and outliers masked. The work was published by Bühler et al. in 2015 and last updated in 2019.

Use Cases

• Estimating snow volume in alpine catchments based on the absolute values of snow depth, including negative values.
• Analyzing snow distribution patterns above the treeline based on the 2-meter resolution maps.
• Validating or calibrating other snow measurement methods using the photogrammetry-derived depth data.
• Studying the impact of infrastructure on snow depth measurements based on the building masking process.
• Assessing the uncertainty in snow depth due to image orientation accuracy, which is roughly 1-2 GSD (30cm).

Strengths

• High spatial resolution of 2 meters derived from ADS 80/100 imagery.
• Specific masking of buildings, vegetation (>1m height), and unrealistic snow depth outliers (>15m or <-15m).
• Methodology is documented in a peer-reviewed publication (Bühler et al., 2015).

Limitations

• Building masking may be incomplete in dense settlements due to potential mismatches with the TLM layer.
• Negative snow depth values are present due to image orientation uncertainty, requiring special handling for volume estimation.
• Last updated 2019-01-01 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

ENVIDAT via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Generated from digital photogrammetry and image matching of ADS 80/100 data.

Time Range

Winter imagery acquisition dates and summer DSM from 2013.

Freshness

2019-01-01 00:00:00

Geography

High-alpine catchments, likely Switzerland (based on use of swisstopo TLM layer).