Mapping Dry/Wet Snow Cover in the Indian Himalayas using IRS Multispectral Imagery

Abstract Application of remote sensing data has been made to differentiate between dry/wet snows in a glacierized basin. The present study has been carried out in the Gangotri glacier, Himalayas, using IRS-LISS-III multispectral data for the period March–November 2000 and the digital elevation model. The methodology involves conversion of satellite sensor data into reflectance values, computation of NDSI, determination of the boundary between dry/wet snows from spectral response data, and threshold slicing of the image data. The areas of dry snow cover and wet snow cover for different dates of satellite overpasses have been computed. The dry snow area has been compared with non-melting area obtained from the temperature lapse rate method, and the two are found to be in close mutual correspondence (

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