A Hyperspectral Method for Remotely Sensing
the Grain Size of Snow
Anne W. Nolin* and Jeff Dozier
W e have developed a robust, accurate inversion tech-
nique for estimating the grain size in a snowpacks surface
layer from imaging spectrometer data. Using a radiative
transfer model, the method relates an ice absorption fea-
ture, centered at k1.03 lm, to the optically equivalent
snow grain size. Because the interpretation is based on
the areanot depthof the absorption feature scaled to
absolute reflectance, the method is insensitive to instrument
noise and does not require a topographic correction. We
tested the method using Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging
Spectrometer data over the eastern Sierra Nevada, Califor-
nia, and we validated it with a combination of ground-based
spectrometer data and grain size measurements. Else-
vier Science Inc., 2000
MOTIVATION AND SIGNIFICANCE
Imaging spectrometry is a powerful tool that offers the
ability to quantitatively examine the physical properties of
snow in cold or mountainous regions, where traditionally
such measurements are difficult, time-consuming, and
sometimes dangerous. Snow grain size is the primary pa-
rameter controlling broadband albedo (Wiscombe and
Warren, 1980), hence its estimate is crucial for calculating
the snowpacks absorption of solar radiation. Through this
effect on spectral albedo, grain size also affects our ability
to accurately map snow cover (Painter et al., 1998). Because
the rate of grain growth is exponentially proportional to
snow temperature (Jordan, 1991), changes in grain size
* National Snow and Ice Data Center, Cooperative Institute for
Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado
Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management,
University of California
Address correspondence to Dr. Anne W. Nolin, National Snow and
Ice Data Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental
Sciences, Campus Box 449, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-
0449. E-mail: nolin@spectra.colorado.edu
Received 10 December 1999; revised 3 March 2000.
REMOTE SENS. ENVIRON. 74:207216 (2000)
Elsevier Science Inc., 2000
655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010
are useful indicators of thermodynamic processes in the
snowpack. Changes in snow grain size can help identify
ice sheet surface features, such as melt areas, snow dunes,
and blue ice regions, and often indicate changes in snow-
pack energy balance (Nolin and Stroeve, 1997).
In this paper, we present an inversion technique that
can retrieve quantitative estimates of snow grain size from
near-infrared reflectance data, using the wavelengths around
the ice absorption feature centered at k1.03 lm. We apply
the inversion method to airborne and in situ spectral reflec-
tance data, and we validate the results over a wide range
of grain sizes using field spectrometer data and measure-
ments of grain size from snow samples. Finally, we examine
the robustness and error sources of the method, consider-
ing snow conditions, topography, and instrument noise.
BACKGROUND
Previous Work
Over the past two decades, considerable attention has been
paid to examining the relationships between snow grain size,
snowpack energy balance, and snow albedo. Wiscombe and
Warren (1980) modeled the inverse relationship between
snow albedo and grain size. From a series of laboratory
experiments, Hyvarinen and Lammasniemi (1987) related
changes in a reflectance ratio of near-infrared bands, cen-
tered at 1.03 lm and 1.26 lm, to changes in average ice
grain diameter for three size classes of ice particles. Choud-
hury (1981), Brandt and Warren (1993), and Nolin (1993)
demonstrated higher radiative heating rates with larger
snow grain size. In a study of the Greenland ice sheet,
Nolin and Stroeve (1997) used an energy balance model to
show how changes in snowpack energy balance modify the
surface grain size and thereby affect albedo.
A combination of remote sensing innovations and an
improved understanding of the relationships between snow
reflectance and snow grain size has allowed grain size map-
ping to progress from qualitative to quantitative estimates.
Wiscombe and Warren modeled the effects of grain size
0034-4257/00/$see front matter
PII S0034-4257(00)00111-5
208 Nolin and Dozier
on snow albedo using a two-stream model that was subse-
quently verified by the measurements of Grenfell et al.
(1994). Dozier et al. (1981), using the Wiscombe-Warren
model and NOAA-6 AVHRR data, concluded that it was
potentially possible to determine snow grain size from
remote sensing data. However, their results were imprecise
because the width and position of the NOAA-6 AVHRR
near-infrared band limit its sensitivity to snow grain size.
In later work, Dozier and Marks (1987) used Landsat The-
matic Mapper (TM) data to classify snow-covered regions
into relatively fine-grained new snow and older, coarser-
grained snow, but they made no ground truth measure-
ments at the times of the overpasses.
Bourdelles and Fily (1993) mapped snow grain size
using Landsat TM data over the Dumont DUrville region
of Antarctica. However, their method was subject to atmo-
spheric influences, especially in the region below 1.0 lm
where atmospheric effects can be substantial but difficult
to characterize. The snow grain size histograms they pro-
duced using various near-infrared TM channels produced
very different mean values. Perhaps their inconsistent re-
sults were due to their use of a two-stream model (which
only computes upwelling and downwelling fluxes) to inter-
pret the TM reflectance, whereas a bidirectional reflec-
tance model (which can calculate reflectance for a specified
viewing and illumination geometry) might have produced
more accurate results. In more recent work, Fily et al.
(1997) computed snow reflectance from TM data over the
French Alps and compared the results with output from
a bidirectional reflectance model. Contrary to expectations,
their grain size estimates derived from TM band 4 (0.76 lm
to 0.90 lm) reflectances matched their field measurements
better than derived grain sizes from either TM band 5
(1.55 lm to 1.75 lm) or TM band 7 (2.08 lm to 2.35 lm).
Their estimated grain sizes between TM bands 5 and 7
differed, and neither result matched the ground-based
grain size measurements. TM band 4 is highly sensitive
to atmospheric conditions, especially column water vapor
abundance, and for fine snow it is less sensitive to grain
size than TM bands 5 and 7.
While these previous studies showed how remote sens-
ing data could be used for mapping snow grain size, they
also pointed to the need for appropriate instrumentation
and development of inversion approaches to obtain quanti-
tative estimates of grain size while reducing errors from
atmospheric effects.
Results with Imaging Spectrometers
With the advent of the Airborne Visible and Near-Infrared
Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), it has become possible
to relate features in the spectral reflectance signature of
snow to physical properties, such as grain size. With its
upcoming launch in mid-2000, the Hyperion imaging spec-
trometer on NASAs EO-1 satellite will be the first instru-
ment to map Earths surface at high spectral resolution
from space. Table 1 describes the instrument characteris-
tics for AVIRIS and Hyperion. Imaging spectrometers such
as AVIRIS and Hyperion possess the appropriate band
locations for sensitivity to snow grain size and the narrow
bandwidths for high precision.
In a previous snow mapping study, Nolin and Dozier
(1993) described a method for grain size mapping that
made use of the spectral capabilities of AVIRIS. Using the
DIScrete-Ordinates Radiative Transfer model (DISORT;
Stamnes et al., 1988) they modeled the relationship be-
tween snow grain size and near-infrared reflectance for a
wide range of grain radii and solar illumination angles.
They showed that, given an atmospherically corrected
near-infrared image of surface reflectance and the illumi-
nation and viewing geometries, snow reflectance can be
inverted to yield quantitative estimates of snow grain size.
They used a single AVIRIS band centered at 1.03 lm
because (a) at that wavelength snow reflectance is highly
sensitive to grain size, (b) there is still a strong snow reflec-
tance signal, and (c) atmospheric transmittance is high.
There are two drawbacks to this method; the primary one
is the effect of sensor noise when the interpretation is
based on the signal in one wavelength band. The second
drawback is the requirement for knowledge of the sun and
sensor angles, a risky proposition given the lack of digital
elevation models over much of the world and their poor
resolution and accuracy in many alpine and polar regions.
For latitudes less than 60, this second drawback will be
ameliorated by data from the recent Shuttle Radar Topog-
raphy Mission.
Painter et al. (1998) used a linear spectral unmixing
method to map relative grain size at subpixel resolution
from AVIRIS imagery. This unmixing method assumes that
the mixture of reflectance spectra of the components in an
image pixel (i.e., snow, vegetation, rock, etc.) characterizes
the relative proportions of these components in a pixel.
Unmixing the combined spectra provides estimates of the
proportions of each component in an image pixel. Instead
of characterizing the snow component using a single spec-
trum, Painter et al. used snow spectra (chosen from the
image) that characterized the full range of snow sizes from
coarse- to fine-grained. They successfully mapped snow
grain size variations over Mammoth Mountain, California,
but they did not explicitly estimate the effective grain radius.
Optical Properties of Snow
Mainly because of variability in the absorption of ice, the
optical properties of snow over the solar spectrum range
from nearly complete reflectance to nearly complete ab-
sorption (see Fig. 1). There are several prominent absorp-
tion features: one of them extends from 0.96 lm to 1.08
lm and is centered at k1.03 lm.
Snows spectral reflectance can be characterized as a
multiple scattering problem. Mie theory is used to calculate
the scattering and absorbing properties of individual ice

Table 1. Instrument Characteristics for the AVIRIS and Hyperion Instruments
Instrument Instrument Spectral
Name Type Range (lm)
AVIRIS Airborne 0.42.5
Hyperion Spaceborne 0.42.5
particles, and a radiative transfer model then calculates
the reflectance from a volume of ice particles. In the near-
infrared part of the spectrum, the reflectance of snow
decreases as grain size increases (Wiscombe and Warren,
1980). Scattering models for spherical particles are much
simpler than for other shapes, so we generally assume
that an equivalent sphere can mimic the behavior of an
ensemble of nonspherical shapes. Although snow grains
are usually not spherical, they tend to be spheroidal and
randomly oriented. Mugnai and Wiscombe (1987) showed
that a collection of nonoriented spheroids produce the
same scattering results as spheres. Grenfell and Warren
(1999), drawing on the work of Dobbins and Jizmagian
(1966), have shown that the volume-to-surface area ratio
of the ice particles is an appropriate means for representing
the optically equivalent grain size of a collection of non-
spherical ice particles. Similarly, one can use the ratio of
the third moment to the second moment of the lognormal
size distribution of snow grains (Nolin et al., 1993b). Since
the lognormal distribution has moments of any order, the
mth moment lm(D), can be expressed as shown in Eq. (1)
lm(D)exp[m log(Dg)0.5m2 log2 r] (1)
where D is the particle diameter, Dg is the geometric mean
diameter, and r is the standard deviation of the size distri-
bution. Conceptually, this is similar to the volume-to-sur-
face ratio, but the moments approach has the added advan-
tage of accounting for particle size variation rather than
relying on a single mean value.
The volume-to-surface area ratio of the ice particles,
Figure 1. The spectral directional hemispherical reflec-
tance of snow as calculated using the DISORT model
(Stamnes et al., 1988). Each curve represents the spec-
trum for a different snow grain radius. The dashed line
indicates the location of the 1.03-lm absorption feature.
Hyperspectral Sensing of Grain Size of Snow 209
Number of Spectral Spatial
Channels Resolution (nm) Resolution (m)
224 10 20
220 10 30
or their geometric mean and standard deviation, can be
obtained from stereological analysis of snow-sample plane
sections (Dozier et al., 1987). Effective snow grain radii
typically range from about 50 lm for fresh, cold snow to
1000 lm (1 mm) for well-aged, wet snow or grain clusters.
In addition to grain size, the physical depth and bulk
density of the snowpack come into play via the optical
depth, s, a dimensionless coordinate. For snow it is [see
Eq. (2)]
3WQext 3qsnowdQext
s (2)
4rqice 4rqice
where Qext is the Mie extinction efficiency, a function of
the grain radius r, wavelength k, and the complex refractive
index of ice (Nussenzveig and Wiscombe, 1980), and W is
snow water equivalence, the product of snow density qsnow
and geometric depth d.
Because flux extinction in snow is exponential (Bohren
and Barkstrom, 1974), we call the thickness of the surface
snow layer that determines the retrieved grain size the 1/e
light penetration depth (i.e., the depth where the incident
solar irradiance has been decreased to e1, about 37%).
This depth, expressed as either an optical depth, s, or as
a geometric depth, d, is directly proportional to the number
density of particles in the snow layer. For the same bulk
density, a layer composed of larger ice particles has a lower
number density than one composed of smaller particles,
so the light transmittance is greater, as Table 2 shows. The
1/e depth for a snow pack with a bulk density of 250 kg
m3 ranges from 10 to 50 grain diameters.
210 Nolin and Dozier

Table 2. 1/e Transmittance Depth for Light at k1.03 lm as a Function of Snow Grain Size
Number of Grain
Grain 1/e Optical 1/e Geometric 1/e SWE Diameters per
Radius (lm) Depth Depth (mm) (mm) 1/e Geometric Depth
50 40.50 4.9 1.2 49.0
100 29.25 7.1 1.8 35.5
200 20.90 10.1 2.5 25.3
500 12.75 15.5 3.9 15.5
750 10.13 18.5 4.6 12.3
1000 8.50 20.7 5.2 10.3
Values presented are for a constant snowpack density of 250 kg m3. Column 4 shows geometric depth and density combined into snow water
equivalent (SWE) depth.

Although bulk density itself does not affect the spectral
albedo of snow (Bohren and Beschta, 1979), it does affect
the relationship between optical depth and geometric depth.
For example, given a constant grain radius r250 lm, the
1/e optical depth remains constant at 18.5 for all density
values. However, the equivalent geometric depth decreases
with increasing density from 28 mm at qsnow100 kg m3
to 6 mm at qsnow500 kg m3. Therefore, our inversion
method derives an optically equivalent grain size for a
surface layer whose thickness depends inversely on the
snows density. However, the thickness of this layer is never
greater than a few centimeters and is often less than 1 cm.
If the penetration depth were greater, we would need to
account for vertical homogeneity of grain size. Grain size
tends to increase with depth, and rapidly changing grain
size in the near-surface snow will affect measurements
of surface reflectance in the visible part of the spectrum
(Warren, 1982). While snowpack vertical heterogeneity
most certainly affects measurements in the shorter wave-
lengths, use of the 1.03-lm absorption feature typically
represents just the top 0.5 cm to 3 cm of a snowpack,
over which the grain size distribution is more likely to be
homogeneous. In the 1.03-lm region, vertical heterogene-
ity would play a role in restricted cases, such as a thin
surface ice crust or where surface hoar has formed.
METHODOLOGY
Absorption Band Depth
To best describe the method used in this research, we
illustrate an inversion technique developed by Clark and
Roush (1984). For ice frosts, they determined the depth
of a spectral absorption feature and related it to frost grain
size. They recognized that an apparent continuum could
represent the spectrum in the absence of the absorption
feature of interest. Clark and Roush calculate the scaled
band depth Db as the difference between the continuum
reflectance Rc and the reflectance spectrum Rb in the deep-

Figure 2. The 1.03-lm absorp-

tion feature from two AVIRIS
snow reflectance spectra for Mam-
moth Mountain in 1993 and Tioga
Pass in 1989. The continuum re-
flectance is plotted as the solid line
across the top of each feature. De-
rived grain sizes are shown for
each location.

est part of the absorption band, normalized by the contin-
uum reflectance, as seen in Eq. (3):
RcRb
Db (3)
Rc
Figure 2 shows the snow spectral reflectance and contin-
uum reflectance for the absorption features centered at
1.03 lm, derived from AVIRIS measurements. The advan-
tage of scaling the band depth by the continuum reflec-
tance is that the grain size estimates become independent
of the absolute magnitude of reflected radiance, and
thereby are not sensitive to topography. The solar illumina-
tion angle changes the magnitude of the reflectance spec-
trum, but changes neither the shape nor relative depth of
the absorption feature.
While this band-depth method is a valuable approach
to the problem, its reliance on a single spectral band causes
the accuracy of the results to suffer in the presence of
noise in the reflectance spectrum. Noise-induced changes
in the spectrum affect the depth of the absorption feature
and may give erroneous grain size estimates.
Near-infrared signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for AVIRIS
have been as low as 80, but in recent years have exceeded
500, and some level of noise is inherent in every sensor.
Near-infrared SNRs for Hyperion are expected to range
from 100 to 150. In addition to sensor noise, atmospheric
correction methods never completely remove all effects of
absorption and scattering, so they are potential sources of
noise in a reflectance spectrum.
Absorption Band Area
To minimize any effects of noise on grain size retrievals,
this investigation uses the scaled area of the absorption
feature, Ab, rather than simply the scaled absorption band
depth. Scaled band area is a dimensionless quantity and
is calculated by integrating the scaled absorption band
depth over the wavelengths of the absorption feature [see
Eq. (4)].
RcRb
Ab (4)
k
Rc
The basic assumption is that the noise is randomly dis-
tributed Gaussian noise (white noise). While the exact
distribution of sensor noise is not known, a normal distribu-
tion is a reasonable assumption and has been used by others
in examining sensor noise characteristics (Sabol et al.,
1992). By integrating over the absorption feature, the fluc-
tuations caused by noise should average out and produce
an estimate closer to the true value.
The scaled band-area mapping technique first re-
quires that radiometrically calibrated imaging spectrome-
ter data be atmospherically corrected to obtain surface
reflectance. The data do not need to be corrected for topo-
graphic and anisotropic scattering effects. In this work, we
used the ATmosphere REMoval program (ATREM; Gao
Hyperspectral Sensing of Grain Size of Snow 211
et al., 1993) to convert at-sensor radiances to surface reflec-
tance. ATREM uses the 6S code (Vermote et al., 1997) to
model atmospheric scattering and also derives water vapor
values on a per-pixel basis using a band-ratio technique.
Next, to accurately map the absorption feature, the end
points of the feature must be located. Since noise may be
present in the measured reflectance spectrum, the contin-
uum end points are established by averaging the reflec-
tance values for pairs of AVIRIS bands centered at k0.95
lm, 0.96 lm and at k1.08 lm, 1.09 lm. We then calculate
the continuum-scaled band depth for each channel and
integrate using the trapezoidal rule to determine the scaled
area of the absorption feature. For AVIRIS, therefore, our
use of 17 bands substantially reduces noise effects, as we
will show later. It is worth noting that for the AVIRIS data
used in this study, the source of spectral noise appears to
be solely from the sensor, rather than from the atmospheric
correction method. There is virtually no difference in the
shape of the absorption feature before and after atmo-
spheric correction, because this absorption feature is lo-
cated in a spectral region where atmospheric scattering and
absorption are small, especially in the dry, high-visibility
conditions under which the AVIRIS images were acquired.
In parallel, we use the DISORT model (Stamnes et al.,
1988) to calculate spectral reflectance for the same 17
AVIRIS channels for a wide range of snow grain radii
(501,000 lm). DISORT requires inputs of single-scatter-
ing albedo and asymmetry parameter (computed using Mie
theory), cosine of the solar illumination angle, and direct
and diffuse irradiance. The direct beam and diffuse spectral
irradiance at the surface of the snowpack are computed
using the 6S model for both the ground-based field spec-
trometer measurements and the AVIRIS data. For each
grain size, we calculate a scaled band area from the model-
derived spectrum, and we create a lookup table in which
the scaled band areas are juxtaposed with their correspond-
ing snow grain radii. Figure 3 shows the relationship be-
tween scaled band area and grain size.
The concept of band-area mapping makes physical sense
because the scaled area of the absorption feature is directly
proportional to the amount of energy absorbed by the ice
particles over that spectral region. While both the reflec-
tance spectrum and the continuum reflectance decrease
with increasing grain radius, the scaled area of the absorp-
tion feature increases with grain size, which, in turn, has
been related to the absorption efficiency (Bohren and Bar-
kstrom, 1974).
Spectral Reflectance Data
We used a combination of AVIRIS data and ground-based
field spectrometry data to examine the relationship between
grain size and reflectance spectra for a variety of snowpacks.
On January 11, 1993 an AVIRIS image was acquired over
Mammoth Mountain in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Recent
snowfall, 6 hours before the overflight, blanketed the
212 Nolin and Dozier
mountain with more than 10 cm of fine-grained snow.
Temperatures remained well below freezing, preventing
discernible grain growth, even on south-facing slopes.
This investigation also used a second AVIRIS image,
acquired May 26, 1989 over the Tioga Pass area of the Sierra
Nevada. The snow was actively melting and snow cover
was discontinuous, patchy, and generally thin (less than 30
cm in depth). Both the 1989 and 1993 reflectance data
show a small amount of sensor noise, as the uneven nature
of the 1.03-lm absorption features show in Figure 2.
Ground-based snow spectral reflectance data were col-
lected with an Analytical Spectral Devices Full-Range
(ASD-FR) field spectrometer in three locations: a site on
the western portion of Greenland ice sheet; Lake Mendota,
Wisconsin; and Pumice Valley, California (south of Mono
Lake). The ASD-FR has a spectral resolution of 10 nm in
the near-infrared region. Reflectances were computed by
dividing the radiance reflected from the snow surface by
that reflected from a calibrated Spectralon target (Lab-
sphere, 1994).
Grain Size Measurements
We measured snow grain size in two ways. The most analyt-
ical, but time-consuming, technique is by stereology (Doz-
ier et al., 1987). We acquire a sample of snow from the
top 0 cm to 5 cm, place the intact sample in a container, and
infuse the pore space with filler, such as dimethylphthalate.
After freezing the sample, we can then plane and polish
it for microscopic observation and photography. Stereologi-
cal analysis of a digital image of the sample surface (with
a pixel size of 26 lm) is performed to calculate bulk density,
grain size, and other relevant parameters, including sur-
Figure 3. The nonlinear relationship between
snow grain radius and scaled band area. Scaled
dimensionless band areas were computed with
DISORT.
face-to-volume ratio for an objective estimate of the opti-
cally equivalent snow grain size.
A far simpler approach that we have found provides
consistent measurements of snow grain size, uses field
measurements of minimum, maximum, and mean grain
radii made with a gridded card and magnifying lens. While
not as precise as those acquired through stereological analy-
sis, the results are sufficiently accurate for comparison with
reflectance-derived grain sizes.
RESULTS
Grain Size Retrievals
Figure 4 shows grain sizes computed using the scaled band-
area method in the Mammoth Mountain AVIRIS image.
Grain sizes are smallest at the highest elevations and some-
what larger at lower elevations. The elevation differences
in grain size most likely reflect different rates of metamor-
phism caused by temperature differences. Pixels containing
mixtures of snow, vegetation, and rock display anomalously
high grain size values. Therefore, these pixels were masked
out of the grain size map by using a fractional snow covered
area image generated from the same AVIRIS data (Nolin
et al., 1993a; Painter et al., 1998). Pixels having a fractional
snow cover less than 90% were masked to black. The reflec-
tance image on the left side of Figure 4 shows large differ-
ences in illumination. The sun is illuminating the mountain
from the south (lower right of the image), causing extensive
shadowing of the areas on the north side of the summit
ridge. Grain size estimates on both sides of the ridge (right
side of Fig. 4) are nearly identical. As Figure 5 shows, mea-
sured grain sizes from snow samples collected on Mam-
 Hyperspectral Sensing of Grain Size of Snow 213

Figure 4. Reflectance and grain size images of Mammoth Mountain, CA. The sun was shining from the lower
left corner of the image. In the left image, the crest of the mountain runs diagonally across the center from
upper left to lower right. Vegetation is dark, snow is bright, and ski runs are visible on the north side of the
mountain. Reflectance in some pixels exceeds 1.0 because the data have not been converted to albedo. Be-
cause of the anisotropic reflectance of snow, measured reflectance often exceeds unity. In the right image,
pixels containing less than 90% snow cover have been masked to black.

moth Mountain at the time of the overflight closely agree
with the values estimated from the band-area technique.
Further tests using ground-based field spectrometer
data and measured grain sizes provide validation over a
wide range of snow grain sizes, indicating that the band-
area method is valid over the range of possible grain sizes.
Because these are in situ rather than airborne data, no
atmospheric correction was necessary. It also worked well
for melting snow, as discussed previously.
The method is also effective over regions of thin snow,
as the results from the May 1989 AVIRIS image acquired
over Tioga Pass show. Ground measurements of snow depths
ranged from about 5 cm to just less than 50 cm, and the
snowpack was patchy. As with the 1993 AVIRIS image,
the fraction of snow cover in each pixel was calculated and
pixels having less than 90% snow cover were masked out.
Scaled band-area estimates of snow grain size were very
similar to those measured from snow samples with no
apparent bias (Fig. 5).
Effects of Liquid Water
In the spectral region around 1 lm, both liquid water and
ice have absorption features. Two liquid water absorption
features are located near the 1.03-lm ice absorption fea-

Figure 5. Scatterplot showing the correlation be-

tween measured snow grain size and grain size de-
rived from both airborne (AVIRIS) and ground-based
(ASD-FR) spectrometer measurements.
214 Nolin and Dozier
ture, one at 0.95 lm and another at 1.15 lm. Ideally, for
this grain size mapping method, it would be best if either
there were no overlap between liquid water and ice absorp-
tion features. However, there is some small amount of
overlap that under very wet snow conditions could have a
small effect on the 1.03-lm absorption feature. Green and
Dozier (1996) mapped both surface snow grain size and
liquid water from AVIRIS reflectance spectra of melting
snow on Mammoth Mountain, California. They demon-
strated that in the presence of liquid water, the ice absorp-
tion feature shifts to shorter wavelengths and becomes less
deep. However, at low amounts of liquid water (3% to
5% by volume) that are typical of unsaturated wet snow
(Colbeck, 1979), we found no effect of liquid water on the
accuracy of snow grain size retrievals. Spectral reflectance
and grain size measurements of wet snow were made over
the Tioga Pass site (AVIRIS data), the Greenland ice sheet
site (ASD-FR data), and the Pumice Valley site (ASD-FR
data). Although liquid water content was not measured,
visual inspection confirmed that the snow was melting. In
all cases, the measurements closely agree with the derived
snow grain sizes from the scaled band-area calculations
(Fig. 5). For the purposes of grain size retrieval, it is likely
that the overlap between liquid water and ice absorption
features is negligibly small.
Effects of Light-Absorbing Particulates
Light-absorbing particulates, such as soot and dust, are pres-
ent in minute quantities in most snowpacks. When present
in sufficient amounts, they cause a substantial decrease in
the visible reflectance of snow (Warren and Wiscombe,
1980). While no extremely dirty snowpacks were measured
in this investigation, concentrations of light-absorbing par-
ticulates were measured for both the Mammoth Mountain
and Greenland snowpacks. The Mammoth Mountain sam-
ples contained approximately 2.5 ppmw (parts per million
by weight) of dust particles. The Greenland samples were
substantially cleaner typically, with less than 0.5 ppmw of
dust. Both locations represent very clean snowpacks. In
these locations, the dust has no discernible effect on the
accuracy of grain size retrievals. Given that the predomi-
nant effect of such particulates is in the visible part of the
spectrum, it is unlikely that dust and soot would affect
grain size retrievals.
Effects of Thin Snow
Similar to the dirty snow effects, thin snow influences
visible reflectance. As described previously, light transmit-
tance in snow depends on density and grain size. Light is
transmitted further for larger-grained, low-density snow.
Table 2 shows that the representative sampling depth is
quite small for k1.03 lm. The retrievals from the
Tioga Pass site, where the snowpack was thin and patchy
over much of the image, are evidence of the lack of sensitiv-
ity of the scaled band-area retrieval method to snow depth.
Effects of Sensor Noise
In this part of the investigation, we tested the robustness
of the band-area method and the band-depth method in
the presence of noise. The noisy spectrum was created
using Eq. (5):
RRx SNR
R
(5)
where R is the noise-free spectral reflectance, SNR is the
instrument signal-to-noise ratio, and x is a random number
from a Gaussian distribution with zero mean and unit vari-
Figure 6. The modeled effects of 1r noise on
the accuracy of grain size retrievals for
SNR100 for both the band-area and band-
depth methods. Because the white noise ef-
fects tend to average out, the multiband ap-
proach used in the band-area calculations is
about twice as accurate as is the single-channel
band-depth calculation.

ance. This superimposes 1r noise on the original noise-free
signal, with the noise level depending on the specified SNR.
Figure 6 shows the effects of 1r noise with a SNR of
100 for both the band-area and band-depth methods. Even
with 1r noise, the absorption feature is clearly detectable
using both the band-depth and band-area methods. How-
ever, the band-depth method is twice as sensitive to the
noise as the band-area method, especially for larger grain
sizes. Both methods showed an increase in the effects of
noise as grain size increased. The maximum noise-induced
grain size error from the band-area method was 50 lm
and the minimum was 10 lm.
Limitations of the Method
While this grain size mapping method is accurate and
robust, several conditions must be met for it to be effective.
First, the pixel must be completely snow-covered. Non-
snow image components, such as vegetation and soil, will
reduce the depth of the 1.03-lm absorption feature.
Dirty snow conditions, where the snow cover contains
1% dust by weight, will also reduce the 1.03-lm absorp-
tion feature, thereby reducing the retrieved grain size
(Clark and Lucey, 1984). Therefore, this grain size mapping
method would work best in locations like the polar ice
sheets, where the snow cover is extensive, the snow is
clean, and there are no trees. It is also effective in midlati-
tude montane regions, where image-processing techniques
identify snow-covered pixels prior to application of the
scaled band-area mapping method.
Finally, the method requires that the reflectance mea-
surements be made at sufficient spectral resolution, so that
the absorption feature is adequately resolved. All measure-
ments presented here have been made with instruments
having at least 10-nm spectral resolution. The spectral reso-
lution required for accurate grain size determination with
this method has not yet been determined.
CONCLUSIONS
Imaging spectrometer measurements in the near-infrared
wavelengths have been used successfully to map grain size
in the surface snow layer. The scaled band-area method
appears to be both accurate and robust. It is insensitive to
illumination effects resulting from topography and solar
geometry. Results also appear to be resistant to random,
Gaussian noise in the reflectance spectrum.
Multitemporal maps of snow surface grain size can aid
in identifying the onset of snow melt as well as providing
the major variable needed for estimating albedo of snow-
covered terrain. The high spectral resolution of imaging
spectrometers, such as AVIRIS and Hyperion, is crucial
to meeting the goal of estimating the albedo and surface
radiation balance for improved snowmelt modeling.
We are grateful to Dr. Robert E. Davis of the U.S. Army Cold
Regions Research and Engineering Lab for his assistance with
Hyperspectral Sensing of Grain Size of Snow 215
the stereological analysis of snow samples and to the Mammoth
Mountain Ski Area for their logistical support. Dr. James Conel
and Mark Helmlinger of the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
provided valuable assistance with the Pumice Valley measure-
ments. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration sup-
ported this research.
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