Oveisgharan et al. (2026) Using LIDAR and SNOTEL data for evaluating the performance of snow water equivalent retrieval using Sentinel-1 repeat-pass interferometry

Identification

• Journal: ˜The œcryosphere
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-20
• Authors: Shadi Oveisgharan, E. Havazli, Robert Zinke, Zachary Hoppinen
• DOI: 10.5194/tc-20-4537-2026

Research Groups

• NASA SnowEx campaign team
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology
• Boise State University, Department of Geosciences

Short Summary

This study evaluates the performance of Sentinel-1 repeat-pass interferometry for snow water equivalent (SWE) retrieval using airborne LIDAR snow depth data and in situ SNOTEL SWE observations across diverse snow climates in the western United States.

Objective

• Investigate the feasibility of using Sentinel-1 interferometric phase to estimate changes in snow water equivalent (ΔSWE)
• Evaluate the performance of SWE retrievals derived from Sentinel-1 data against independent datasets

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale, covering diverse snow climates in the western United States
• Temporal Scale: Winter seasons 2020 and 2021, with six-day repeat pass data used for retrieval

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Sentinel-1 interferometric phase differential
• Data sources:
  • Airborne LIDAR snow depth data from the SnowEx campaign
  • In situ SNOTEL SWE observations
  • Sentinel-1 satellite data with six-day repeat pass cycle

Main Results

• Retrieved SWE values show strong agreement with LIDAR measurements, with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.42 to 0.66
• Comparisons with SNOTEL SWE change indicate correlations up to 0.81 and RMSE as low as 0.78 cm
• Temporal coherence is a primary control on retrieval performance, with additional contributions from temperature, snow wetness, and vegetation cover

Contributions

• This study provides a systematic, multi-site evaluation of InSAR-based SWE retrieval using an expanded set of LIDAR and in situ observations
• The findings demonstrate that C-band Sentinel-1 InSAR can successfully retrieve SWE change under favorable conditions characterized by dry snow and sufficient coherence

Funding

• NASA SnowEx campaign (NNX16AC65P)
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (internal funding)

Citation

@article{Oveisgharan2026Using,
  author = {Oveisgharan, Shadi and Havazli, E. and Zinke, Robert and Hoppinen, Zachary},
  title = {Using LIDAR and SNOTEL data for evaluating the performance of snow water equivalent retrieval using Sentinel-1 repeat-pass interferometry},
  journal = {˜The œcryosphere},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.5194/tc-20-4537-2026},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-4537-2026}
}