Can commercial very-high-resolution (VHR) satellite stereo imagery be used to make accurate measurements of mountain snow depth at a scale and frequency suitable for seasonal snow monitoring?
Across six consecutive winters over Grand Mesa, Colorado, repeat satellite stereo produced 3 meter snow depth maps that captured spatial patterns of accumulation and melt with accuracy approaching airborne benchmarks. This work opens a path for scalable snow mass monitoring from space to complement targeted aerial campaigns.
I led the snow depth processing, validation, and analysis, and developed the supporting land cover classification approach used to mask non-snow surfaces.