Description
We propose a project to improve the monitoring and impact assessment of snow in Romania under present climate and future scenarios. The current status is that the network of weather stations is too sparse in regions with seasonal snow cover to provide reliable snow monitoring and impact applications. To mitigate this, we will develop new methods for monitoring and impact assessment of snow that will use the upcoming Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3 satellites in combination with existing weather stations and snow pack modelling from weather to climate timescales.
Summary of project results
The SnowBall project approached a challenge of national interest – thorough and timely knowledge of the seasonal distribution and characteristics of the snowcover and related hazards such as flash floods and avalanches. Snow monitoring is extremely important for the management of the water resources (surface and ground waters), for extreme events forecasting (floods caused by rapid snowmelt, avalanches) and to assessing the impact, in present climate conditions and in a climate change perspective. The main delivered output of the project was the development of a new service capable to supply the national authorities but also the large public with significant information in quasi-real time, for the monitoring of the spatial and temporal evolution of the snow layer parameters and of the associated hazards (floods caused by sudden snowmelt and avalanches) in present and future climate conditions respectively, on the basis of data measured in-situ and supplied by satellites. The most important achievement was the improvement of the snow monitoring using satellite (including the new Sentinels mission) and in-situ data, for the assessment of water resources and of the associated hazards, in the context of climate change. The project’s outputs delivered were: - New instruments and equipment for measuring the snow layer; - One set of highly performing algorithms and Sentinel-1, Sentinel-3 satellite data processing chains - Impact of climate variability and change on the snow layer and the associated hazards; - Assessment of water volumes resulted from melting of snow infiltrated in the unsaturated area in view to replenish the aquifers; - Development of new algorithms for avalanche detection on the basis of satellite images, for the detection of changes induced in the environment and for the assessment of the associated hazard; - More accurate forecast of water runoff as resulted from snowmelt
Summary of bilateral results
- Better understanding of the expertise and knowledge existing in Norway and Romania in the field of determining the properties of snow from satellite images and from in-situ measurements, of applications in hydrology, water resources management and the management of hazardous phenomena. - Teamwork highlighted the complementary expertise and decided to continue the cooperation in other domains. The Norwegian partner (NR) and the National Meteorological Administration started already to work on a new project proposal. - Successful demonstration of the added value of the project final products has led to an increased interest in snow products derived from satellite data, flood and avalanche hazard maps and impact studies on the climate change. - 4 joint scientific publications; The project contributed in establishing peer-to-peer relationships, facilitated by joint work in field surveys in Romania and Norway, as well as in laboratory work stages. The cooperation between the NMA and the NR promoted new perspectives for cooperation in the fields of: design and deployment of an operational service for the provision of new satellite-derived products and in-situ data on snow parameters; in using satellite products to improve the performance of avalanche monitoring and snowmelt flood warning and monitoring. The experience of the Norwegian partner NR in satellite images processing for snow-related applications significantly contributed to the achievement of the project objectives referring to the assessment of the snow parameters and to the development of algorithms for the detection of avalanches from high and very high spatial resolution images. The project consortium developed and tested an innovative algorithm (the Multi-sensor/multi-temporal Wet Snow - MWS), able to provide the snow wetness maps, on a daily basis, useful in hydrological and hydro-geological models and for avalanche hazard estimation. The project visibility is highlighted by: 13 scientific publications in international and national magazines with reviewers; 5 conferences/seminars organized through the common research program, 2 of which at international level; 41 papers in national and international conferences, workshops and seminars. The project consortium highly contributed to the technology transfer between Romania and Norway.