Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China

Optical remote sensing satellites have great potential for detecting long-term and large-scale snow cover properties with minimal manual effort. However, cloud contamination makes it challenging to obtain snow cover extent using optical sensors. To address this issue, we develop a series of spatiote...

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Main Authors: Dajiang Yan, Yinsheng Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-08-01
Series:International Journal of Digital Earth
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2497520
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author Dajiang Yan
Yinsheng Zhang
author_facet Dajiang Yan
Yinsheng Zhang
author_sort Dajiang Yan
collection DOAJ
description Optical remote sensing satellites have great potential for detecting long-term and large-scale snow cover properties with minimal manual effort. However, cloud contamination makes it challenging to obtain snow cover extent using optical sensors. To address this issue, we develop a series of spatiotemporal cloud-clearing processes to mitigate cloud contamination based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow products. A 21-year daily gap-filled snow cover dataset over Northeast China from the snow years of 2000–2020 is generated and validated against China Meteorological Administration-classified snow depth observations and Landsat images, achieving mean overall accuracies of 92.47% and 90.54%, respectively. The annual snow cover duration (SCD) calculated on the basis of this gap-filled snow cover product revealed an overall decreasing trend, with a rate of decrease of 1.044 days per year. The rate of decrease in the seasonal SCD was most significant in spring, followed by that in winter and autumn. The correlation between changes in SCD and changes in snowfall is stronger than the correlation between SCD changes and air temperature changes, indicating that SCD is more sensitive to changes in snowfall, which could have significant implications for our understanding of climate change and its impact on snow cover.
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spelling doaj-art-f249fcbc9a894c03b7caa5434dbaaf672025-08-25T11:31:42ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Digital Earth1753-89471753-89552025-08-0118110.1080/17538947.2025.2497520Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast ChinaDajiang Yan0Yinsheng Zhang1Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and land Surfaces Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and land Surfaces Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaOptical remote sensing satellites have great potential for detecting long-term and large-scale snow cover properties with minimal manual effort. However, cloud contamination makes it challenging to obtain snow cover extent using optical sensors. To address this issue, we develop a series of spatiotemporal cloud-clearing processes to mitigate cloud contamination based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow products. A 21-year daily gap-filled snow cover dataset over Northeast China from the snow years of 2000–2020 is generated and validated against China Meteorological Administration-classified snow depth observations and Landsat images, achieving mean overall accuracies of 92.47% and 90.54%, respectively. The annual snow cover duration (SCD) calculated on the basis of this gap-filled snow cover product revealed an overall decreasing trend, with a rate of decrease of 1.044 days per year. The rate of decrease in the seasonal SCD was most significant in spring, followed by that in winter and autumn. The correlation between changes in SCD and changes in snowfall is stronger than the correlation between SCD changes and air temperature changes, indicating that SCD is more sensitive to changes in snowfall, which could have significant implications for our understanding of climate change and its impact on snow cover.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2497520Snow covercloud removalsnow cover durationmodisnortheast china
spellingShingle Dajiang Yan
Yinsheng Zhang
Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China
International Journal of Digital Earth
Snow cover
cloud removal
snow cover duration
modis
northeast china
title Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China
title_full Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China
title_fullStr Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China
title_full_unstemmed Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China
title_short Investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud-free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for Northeast China
title_sort investigating snow cover duration changes based on a cloud free snow cover product developed using a spatiotemporal cloud removal method for northeast china
topic Snow cover
cloud removal
snow cover duration
modis
northeast china
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2497520
work_keys_str_mv AT dajiangyan investigatingsnowcoverdurationchangesbasedonacloudfreesnowcoverproductdevelopedusingaspatiotemporalcloudremovalmethodfornortheastchina
AT yinshengzhang investigatingsnowcoverdurationchangesbasedonacloudfreesnowcoverproductdevelopedusingaspatiotemporalcloudremovalmethodfornortheastchina