- Finnish Meteorological Institute, FMI, Arctic Space Centre, Helsinki, Finland (miriam.kosmale@fmi.fi)
Seasonal snow is the largest single component of the cryosphere, covering about 50% of the Northern Hemisphere’s land surface during mid-winter. Snow plays an important component of Earth’s hydrological and climate systems and provides a significant feedback effect in a warming climate owing to its high albedo. Snow also a major, if not dominant, freshwater source in many regions and an important contribution to the global water cycle.
Within Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Finnish Meteorological Institute will offer consistent long-term observations of snow from satellite. C3S provides reliable, open, and free access to a wide variety of Climate Data Records (CDRs) consistently derived from satellite observations that can be used to monitor climate change.
Snow water equivalent (SWE) is an important variable indicating the amount of accumulated snow on land surfaces. FMI’s SWE processor combines satellite-based passive microwave radiometer data with ground based synoptic snow depth observations using Bayesian data assimilation, incorporating a microwave snow emission model. Building on developments in ESA GlobSnow and Snow CCI projects, the new Copernicus services facilitate the transition from research to operations by ensuring reliable access to the climate data records and all information needed to use them effectively.
FMI’s contribution to C3S services focus on the operational production and provision of consistent and long-term data records on Essential Climate Variable (ECV) of snow water equivalent based on observation dating back to 1979. The new C3S SWE dataset is extended in time and will offer a fully documented, quality-controlled, free and open product, easily accessible via the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS).
We are presenting the activities of C3S cryosphere and hydrology and how the new remote-sensing products of Snow Water Equivalent provide operational snow information to these domains.
How to cite: Kosmale, M., Luojus, K., Moisander, M., Venäläinen, P., Takala, M., and Ikonen, J.: Long-term satellite remote sensing SWE observations for new operational C3S cryosphere and hydrology services, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-13003, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-13003, 2025.
