Snow melt monitoring at Fugleberget, around Hornsund, Svalbard, 2014-2016

We present a multi-year high-resolution spatial data set on snow cover evolution in a catchment located in South-West Spitsbergen on Svalbard. The data set has significant potential for validation of satellite-derived snow extent (SE) products and provides unique baseline information for various studies in this high-Arctic setting. An automatic camera system was set near the summit of Fugleberget, overlooking an area of several square kilometres near the Hornsund Polish Polar Station. In total, 203 images obtained during three spring and summer seasons were orthorectified and georeferenced using a Matlab-based toolbox, followed by a GIS-based classification of the snow-covered area at a spatial scale of 0.72 km². The results allow for precise quantification of the snow-covered area in daily resolution over the entire ablation period. In the studied Fuglebekken catchment, the highest rate of snow disappearance was observed in late May/early June.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
GCMD keywords
  • name: EARTH SCIENCE > CLIMATE INDICATORS > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE INDICATORS > SNOW COVER DEGRADATION
  • name: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW COVER
  • name: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW MELT
  • name: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE
  • name: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > ALBEDO
Dataset Center https://pangaea.de
Maintainer
Dataset PI
  • PI name: Daniel Kępski PI email: d.kepskifoo(at)igf.edu.pl PI ORCID: 0000-0001-7903-2942 PI Institution: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
  • PI name: Bartłomiej Luks PI email: luksfoo(at)igf.edu.pl PI ORCID: 0000-0003-2287-385X PI Institution: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
  • PI name: Krzysztof Migała PI Institution: University of Wroclaw PI Department: Department of Climatology and Atmosphere Protection
  • PI name: Tomasz Wawrzyniak PI email: twawrzyniakfoo(at)igf.edu.pl PI ORCID: 0000-0003-3393-753X PI Institution: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
  • PI name: Sebastian Westermann PI email: sebastian.westermannfoo(at)geo.uio.no PI ORCID: 0000-0003-0514-4321 PI Institution: University of Oslo PI Department: Department of Geosciences
  • PI name: Bronisław Wojtuń PI Institution: University of Wroclaw PI Department: Department of Ecology, Biogeochemistry and Environmental Protection
Dataset Owner
  • Owner name: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences Owner PIC (Participant Identification Code): 996625337 Owner address: ul. Ksiecia Janusza 64, 01-452 Warszawa, Poland
  • Owner name: University of Wroclaw Owner PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999845155 Owner address: plac Uniwersytecki 1, 50-137 Wrocław
  • Owner name: University of Oslo Owner PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999975814 Owner address: Problemveien 7, 0315 Oslo, Norwegia
Licence Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Dataset status Complete
Activity type
  • photographs
  • maps
  • long-term monitoring
Access constraint Open
Embargo
Dataset modified
Metadata created
Quality statement Quality controlled by manual inspection
Quality Editor
  • Editor name: Bartłomiej Luks Editor ORCID: 0000-0003-2287-385X Editor Institution: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
Spatial distribution { "coordinates": [ [ [ 15.53151, 77.00713 ], [ 15.56566, 77.01195 ], [ 15.59619, 77.00135 ], [ 15.56376, 76.99213 ], [ 15.53278, 76.99167 ] ] ], "type": "Polygon" }
Region Hornsund, Svalbard
Start time 2014-04-08 12:00 CEST
End time 2016-07-18 12:00 CEST
Dataset citation Kepski, Daniel; Luks, Bartlomiej; Migala, Krzysztof; Wawrzyniak, Tomasz; Westermann, Sebastian; Wojtun, Bronislaw (2017): Snow melt monitoring at Fugleberget, around Hornsund, Svalbard, 2014-2016. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.874387
Dataset DOI 10.3390/rs9070733
External resource
  • Resource URL: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.874384 Data access type: URL
  • Resource URL: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.874385 Data access type: URL
  • Resource URL: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.874386 Data access type: URL
Publication
  • Publication title: Terrestrial Remote Sensing of Snowmelt in a Diverse High-Arctic Tundra Environment Using Time-Lapse Imagery Publication DOI: 10.3390/rs9070733
Project
  • Project title: SSF Svalbard Strategic grant "Snow Monitoring Using Automatic Camera Systems at Svalbard Key Sites" Project ID: 236768/E10 Project financing institution: Svalbard Science Forum, Research Council of Norway