Mapping snow cover variations using a MODIS daily cloud-free snow cover product in northeast China

Cloud contamination is one of the major barriers for wider applications of MODIS snow cover products. This study presents a cloud-removal approach, through multiday backward replacements based on Terra and Aqua daily MODIS snow cover products (MOD10A1 and MYD10A1), to generate a series of daily cloud-free snow cover products for advanced applications (MODMYD_MC). The products are evaluated using snow depth data measured during 2000 to 2010 at 53 weather stations in the Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. The results show that the annual mean cloud covers of MOD10A1, MYD10A1, MODMYD_DC (the daily combination of MOD10A1 and MYD10A1), and MODMYD_MC are 50%, 54%, 35%, and 0%, mean snow covers are 6%, 6%, 10%, and 19%, and their mean agreements of snow cover mapping are 42%, 40%, 51%, and 91%, respectively. The snow-covered days (SCDs) derived from MODMYD_MC are also in good agreement (91%) with those obtained from snow cover images are then used to investigate the detailed variation of snow cover in the XiaoXing’AnLing watershed. The snow-covered area in the watershed has an increasing trend in the recent decade, with the minimum present in the 2002 (hydrologic year) and the maximum present in 2010. The plains with lower elevation show shorter SCD but larger interannual variations than in the mountainous areas. This study indicates that MODMYD_MC can be applied to monitor the spatiotemporal variations of snow cover in northeast China and elsewhere in the world.