Comparative Analysis of Hyperspectral and Multispectral Data for Mapping Snow Cover and Snow Grain Size

Abstract. The present study demonstrates the potential of imaging spectroscopy to produce the snow cover maps and estimation of snow grain size in the Himalayan region. Snow cover maps and snow grain size produce from imaging spectroscopy data were also compared with multispectral imagery (i.e. Landsat 8 and ASTER). Snow grain size was estimated using the snow grain index and compared with the asymptotic radiative transfer (ART) theory method. The overall matching area was 78.29 % among different snow grain size classes using grain index Method and ART method. An attempt has been made to derive the snow grain size using Landsat 8 and ASTER data for the same area. It was found that grain size derived from Landsat 8 and ASTER data show correlation of 81.67 % and 86.34 % respectively. The snow cover maps were produced using Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI). Snow cover maps were also produced using ASTER imagery for the same area and compared with Hyperion snow cover maps. The correlation between both snow cover maps were show 91 % correlation.