NASA Remote Sensing of Seasonal Snow: SnowEx campaigns, ongoing research, and future opportunities

NASA Earth Science Division’s Water and Energy Cycle Focus Area (hereafter, WEC) supports investigations of the distribution, transport, and transformation of water and energy within the Earth system through Earth observing missions, airborne field campaigns, directed research at NASA Centers, competed research programs, and support for the World Climate Research Programme International Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Project. During 2017-2023, WEC supported four field campaigns as part of its Snow EXperiment (SnowEX: https://snow.nasa.gov/snowex) and WEC continues to invest in research that leverages SnowEx data, including Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) and Snow Water Equivalent Synthetic Aperture Radar and Radiometer (SWESARR) observations, to advance global satellite-based snow water equivalent (SWE) monitoring and modeling capabilities. Seasonal snowpack dynamics play an integral role in the Earth system by regulating local surface energy budgets, impacting the timing and availability of snowmelt, and consequently, influencing the availability of water for ecosystems and human society. New research suggests that snow variability can also have significant non-local climate impacts. For example, between springtime Tibetan Plateau snow cover and summer US climate.

This presentation provides an overview of NASA WEC’s recent and ongoing snow-related research and highlights opportunities for future international participation. We will introduce twelve new research projects that all leverage SnowEx data, four of which will pursue development of global SWE retrievals from the forthcoming NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission. Then, we will summarize related activities supported across NASA’s Earth Science Division, including land data assimilation and modeling, commercial satellite data evaluation, remote sensing theory, and instrument development. To close, we will suggest potential opportunities for international collaboration that could be facilitated through GEWEX and NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program.