Retrieving snow and ice characteristics by remotely sensed emissivity using the multi-view brightness temperature within 8 μm to 14 μm

We define emissivity “classes” for different snow grain sizes from angular and spectral field measurements of snow grain size and emissivity above snow and ice from Hori et al. (2006, 2007): fine, medium, coarse, suncrust, and ice. Remaining pixels are either indistinct between classes, unclassified, or invalid. Temperatures above the freezing point label pixels as wet. Analysing 26 AATSR scenes in 2007 and 2008, we retrieve a high portion of classification in Greenland, Antarctica, and the sea ice of the Hudson Bay. Steep and heterogeneous topography may cause invalid and unclassified pixels in Eurasia. Close to coasts we generally find a higher snow temperature and a large number of wet pixels.