GLIMS Update: Global ASTER imaging reprioritization
Dear GLIMS colleagues, YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE NEEDED. BELOW ARE TWO ASTER IMAGE ACQUISITION RE-PRIORITIZATION SCHEMES (FOR FUTURE IMAGING). ONE IS BASED SIMPLY ON A RANK ORDERING OF CLOUDINESS. CLOUDIER AREAS GET HIGHER PRIORITY. (PLEASE NOTE THAT NO REGIONS ARE SO CLOUDY THAT IT IS CONSIDERED HOPELESS. EVEN BHUTAN HAS SOME CLOUDY IMAGES THAT NEVERTHELESS HAVE MAJOR CLEAR AREAS WHERE GLACIERS ARE VISIBLE, AS ANDY KAAB'S WORK HAS SHOWN.) I PREFER THE SECOND SCHEME, AS IT SHOULD ACHIEVE ROUGHLY ZERO NET CHANGE IN TOTAL ASTER IMAGING RESOURCES DEDICATED TO GLIMS BUT SHOULD ACHIEVE MORE UNIFORM AND MORE COMPLETE GLOBAL COVERAGE. THE TWO SCHEMES WILL BE SUMMARIZED AT A MEETING WITH ASTER MISSION OPERATIONS IN THE DEC. 11-15 TIMEFRAME. A FINAL PLAN, BASED ON YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK, WILL BE SUBMITTED IN EARLY JANUARY 2006. -Jeffrey S. Kargel = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = SCHEME 1. REPRIORITIZATION BASED ON PERCENTAGE OF RETURNED IMAGES HAVING ¾10% CLOUDS. THIS IS A SIMPLE RANK ORDERING BASED ON THIS CLOUD CRITERION. REGIONS REQUIRING MAJOR INCREASE OF PRIORITY: Bhutan 0% Canada-Mackenzie Mountains 5% China-far east Tibet/Sichuan 5% Nepal 6% Irian Jaya 11% China-Kunlun Shan, Altun Shan 11% China-mid-eastern Tibet 12% China-western Tibet 17% Alaska-Kuskokwim Mountains 20% India- between Nepal & Pakistan 24% Pakistan/Afghanistan 24% Alaska-Aleutian Is. & Peninsula 24% High-latitude Antarctic "pointing" ring -- REGIONS REQUIRING SMALL INCREASE IN PRIORITY: New Zealand-North Island 25% Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan 26% Canada-Rockies 27% China/Kyrgzstan-Tian Shan 28% Russian Arctic-Novaya Zemlya 28% Iceland 28% Alaska-Brooks Range 29% Ecuador and Colombia 30% Alaska- St. Elias/ panhandle 31% Mongolia and Russia-S Siberia 32% Russia-Kamchatka 33% New Zealand-South Island 34% Norway-Svalbard 34% Alaska-Chugach/Wrangells/AlaskaRg 35% Russia-Arctic-FrJosef/Northland 35% Europe-Alps 36% Peru-Cordillera Blanca 37% Chile/Argentina-S.Patagonia Icefd 39% REGIONS NOT REQUIRING CHANGE OF PRIORITY: Norway-mainland 44% Canadian Arctic-Devon Island 46% Canadian Arctic-Baffin Island 46% Europe-Pyrenees and Appennines 47% Russia-Eastern Siberia 47% U.S. -Cascades 47% Canada-British Columbia 49% REGIONS REQUIRING DECREASE OF PRIORITY: Greenland-East Central 50% Chile-N Patagon. Icefd., N Chile 52% U.S.-Rockies 52% Southern Peru/Bolivia 53% Russia and fmr Soviet-Caucasus 55% Greenland-Northwest 57% Antarctic Peninsula 60% Russia-Ural Mountains 61% East Antarctica-Scott/Borch/Oates 64% Canada Arctic-Axel Heib +Ellesm 65% Greenland- Central 77% Greenland-Northeast 79% Greenland-South 82% West Antarc.-Ellsworth Land 93% East Antarctica-Wilkes Land coast 94% Greenland-West Central 96% West Antarc.-Ronne/Zumberge Coast 97% SCHEME 2. MODIFIED REPRIORITIZATION BASED ON PERCENTAGE OF RETURNED IMAGES HAVING ¾10% CLOUDS, WITH MOVEMENT UP OR DOWN THE LIST BASED ON IMPORTANCE TO PEOPLE (WATER RESOURCES, HAZARDS, TOURISM, POPULATION DENSITY NEARBY); IMPORTANCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE TRACKING; AND DENSITY (FREQUENCY) OF IMAGING AND EXISTENCE OF GAPS IN IMAGE COVERAGE. THE SUGGESTED DECREASED PRIORITIZATION OF THE CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC AND GREENLAND IN SCHEME 2 IS NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE UNIMPORTANT (THEY ARE MAJOR FACTORS FOR SEA LEVEL AND OCEANIC CIRCULATION, HENCE CLIMATE FEEDBACKS), BUT RATHER THEY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY IMAGED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GLIMS' OBJECTIVES. OTHER REGIONS FALL WELL SHORT OF GLIMS IMAGING REQUIREMENTS. I AM SUGGESTING A MORATORIUM ON IMAGING OF THE HIGH NORTHERN LATITUDES FOR A PERIOD OF 2 YEARS (SUMMER 2006 AND 2007) WHILE OTHER AREAS CAN BE IMAGED WITH GREATER SUCCESS, HOPEFULLY. REGIONS REQUIRING TRIPLED PRIORITY: Bhutan 0% Canada-Mackenzie Mountains 5% China-far east Tibet/Sichuan 5% Nepal 6% Irian Jaya 11% China-Kunlun Shan, Altun Shan 11% China-mid-eastern Tibet 12% China-western Tibet 17% India- between Nepal & Pakistan 24% Pakistan/Afghanistan 24% Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan 26% China/Kyrgzstan-Tian Shan 28% Ecuador and Colombia 30% Alaska- St. Elias/ panhandle 31% Alaska-Chugach/Wrangells/AlaskaRg 35% Europe-Alps 36% Peru-Cordillera Blanca 37% Chile/Argentina-S.Patagonia Icefd 39% REGIONS REQUIRING DOUBLED PRIORITY: Alaska-Kuskokwim Mountains 20% Alaska-Aleutian Is. & Peninsula 24% New Zealand-North Island 25% Canada-Rockies 27% Russian Arctic-Novaya Zemlya 28% Iceland 28% Alaska-Brooks Range 29% Mongolia and Russia-S Siberia 32% Russia-Kamchatka 33% New Zealand-South Island 34% Norway-Svalbard 34% Russia-Arctic-FrJosef/Northland 35% U.S. -Cascades 47% REGIONS NOT TO HAVE A CHANGE OF PRIORITY: Norway-mainland 44% Canadian Arctic-Devon Island 46% Canadian Arctic-Baffin Island 46% Europe-Pyrenees and Appennines 47% Russia-Eastern Siberia 47% Canada-British Columbia 49% Chile-N Patagon. Icefd., N Chile 52% U.S.-Rockies 52% Southern Peru/Bolivia 53% Russia and fmr Soviet-Caucasus 55% Antarctic Peninsula 60% Russia-Ural Mountains 61% East Antarctica-Scott/Borch/Oates 64% West Antarc.-Ellsworth Land 93% East Antarctica-Wilkes Land coast 94% West Antarc.-Ronne/Zumberge Coast 97% REGIONS REQUIRING DECREASE OF PRIORITY: Greenland-East Central 50% Greenland-Northwest 57% Canada Arctic-Axel Heib +Ellesm 65% Greenland- Central 77% Greenland-Northeast 79% Greenland-South 82% Greenland-West Central 96%
Quoting Jeff Kargel <jkargel1054@earthlink.net>:
Dear GLIMS colleagues,
YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE NEEDED.
Greetings Jeff: Our e-mail system isn't rendering your first message correctly, "returned images having 3/410% clouds." Should this be greater than or less than? I've found that images with less than 35% cloud cover frequently have some useful parts but realistically less than 25% are the most useful. With this in mind herewith some numbers for Svalbard and Franz Josef Land gathered from LPDAAC this morning. Svalbard: Search box: 9E to 24E, 76N to 81N Period: 2005-04-01 to 2005-09-30 Day & Night L1A....673 images...519 with cloud cover equal to or greater than 35%....154 with less than 35% L1B....17 images...4 of those 17 are of only the ocean so only 13 include some land ice Franz Josef Land: Search box: 45E to 65E, 80N to 82N Period: 2005-04-01 to 2005-09-30 Day & Night L1A....295 images...211 with cloud cover equal to or greater than 35%....84 with less than 35% L1B....18 images ________________________________________________________ Here are some Svalbard numbers previously compiled for the years 2000 through and including 2004. The search box was slightly different, 10E to 34E and 76.5N to 81N. Period was July 01 through September 30 for each year and only Day images were recorded. The numbers are for L1B images only. "Usable" I defined as any image with less than 35% cloud cover and containing some small snippet of cloud-free land. 2000: 194 L1B images....20 usable 2001: 93 L1B images....40 usable 2002: 7 L1B images....7 usable 2003: 17 L1B images....10 usable 2004: 16 L1B images....7 usable These numbers were compiled in June 2005 and I'm sure they haven't changed a bit. The availability of the Windows/DOS-based L1A-to-L1B conversion software has allowed us to use L1As from these year that will probably never get converted otherwise. However, I have no sense of what those numbers might be. I've recently been collecting 2000-2004 L1B images of Franz Josef Land but haven't yet looked through them for "usable" images. I'll do so if it would be helpful. Finally, we are not overwhelmed with repeat coverage for large parts of Svalbard (the area I'm most familiar with). Finding 8 or 9 glaciers in the archipelago with 2 or more years of ASTER imagery for my thesis work has been a real chore. bill sneed graduate student climate change institute univ. of maine, orono
Jeff - I've been reading from the sidelines and thought I'd pass along some news. I'll be attending theTues night GLIMS meeting, and I'll have some plots of the ASTER L1A data acquired under the GLIMS DARs/XARs. The LP DAAC is building an on-demand Level-1B processing system, which will enable us to process any Level-1A scene to Level-1B. The processing is going to include implementing corrections for the known problems with the geolocation data (earth rotation, earth nutation, and height above sea level. This is an important advancement that will enable all L1A data to be processed consistently, and it will make ~70%+ more Level-1B data available than have been in the past (unless PIs had their own means to process L1A to L1B. In preparation for this, we will be generating a consistent browse for all L1A images that will be loaded into GloVis. I can go over this at the meeting if you'd like. (If my reply does not go out through the listserver, please pass this information along.) Regards, John ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ John L. Dwyer LP DAAC Project Scientist SAIC, Contractor to the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science Sioux Falls, SD 57198 Voice: +1 605 594-6060 Fax: +1 605 594-6567 Email: dwyer@usgs.gov http://lpdaac.usgs.gov -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Jeff, dear GLIMS colleagues, I support stongly all initiative to increase double ou triple priority over the European Alps. Because last 05 summer is a perfect demonstration for image lacking example. In despite of DAR request from different stewarts (Corripio, Paul, Ranzi, Dedieu), almost no ASTER recording were provided. A recent overview on the Aster catalog at USGS showed that the last recent image aquired over the Western Europe is 196/027 from August, the 17th. So, none over the Western Alps since last May. There is nothing that we can use for glacier mapping in the European Alps this year from ASTER. Frank Paul wrote me only one scene has been acquired from the hohe Tauern region on 29 july 2005 but there is lots of snow in the image. Landsat7 slc-off are so tripped that non usefull for energy balance calculation. And we provided field albedo measurements all summer long ... This is a pity. I hope the best about ASTER imaging reprioritization ! with all my best regards, JPDedieu ************************************************************************* Jean-Pierre DEDIEU Laboratoire de Glaciologie et de Géophysique de l'Environnement (LGGE) UMR CNRS 5183 54, rue Molière - BP 96 38402- St. MARTIN d'HERES Cedex FRANCE Tel :+33 (0)4 76 82 42 73 Fax :+33 (0)4 76 82 42 01 Courriel/eMail : dedieu@lgge.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr Toile/Web: http://www-lgge.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr ************************************************************************ Selon Jeff Kargel <jkargel1054@earthlink.net>:
Dear GLIMS colleagues,
YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE NEEDED.
BELOW ARE TWO ASTER IMAGE ACQUISITION RE-PRIORITIZATION SCHEMES (FOR FUTURE IMAGING). ONE IS BASED SIMPLY ON A RANK ORDERING OF CLOUDINESS. CLOUDIER AREAS GET HIGHER PRIORITY. (PLEASE NOTE THAT NO REGIONS ARE SO CLOUDY THAT IT IS CONSIDERED HOPELESS. EVEN BHUTAN HAS SOME CLOUDY IMAGES THAT NEVERTHELESS HAVE MAJOR CLEAR AREAS WHERE GLACIERS ARE VISIBLE, AS ANDY KAAB'S WORK HAS SHOWN.) I PREFER THE SECOND SCHEME, AS IT SHOULD ACHIEVE ROUGHLY ZERO NET CHANGE IN TOTAL ASTER IMAGING RESOURCES DEDICATED TO GLIMS BUT SHOULD ACHIEVE MORE UNIFORM AND MORE COMPLETE GLOBAL COVERAGE.
THE TWO SCHEMES WILL BE SUMMARIZED AT A MEETING WITH ASTER MISSION OPERATIONS IN THE DEC. 11-15 TIMEFRAME. A FINAL PLAN, BASED ON YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK, WILL BE SUBMITTED IN EARLY JANUARY 2006.
-Jeffrey S. Kargel
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
SCHEME 1. REPRIORITIZATION BASED ON PERCENTAGE OF RETURNED IMAGES HAVING ¾10% CLOUDS. THIS IS A SIMPLE RANK ORDERING BASED ON THIS CLOUD CRITERION.
REGIONS REQUIRING MAJOR INCREASE OF PRIORITY:
Bhutan 0%
Canada-Mackenzie Mountains 5%
China-far east Tibet/Sichuan 5%
Nepal 6%
Irian Jaya 11%
China-Kunlun Shan, Altun Shan 11%
China-mid-eastern Tibet 12%
China-western Tibet 17%
Alaska-Kuskokwim Mountains 20%
India- between Nepal & Pakistan 24%
Pakistan/Afghanistan 24%
Alaska-Aleutian Is. & Peninsula 24%
High-latitude Antarctic "pointing" ring --
REGIONS REQUIRING SMALL INCREASE IN PRIORITY:
New Zealand-North Island 25%
Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan 26%
Canada-Rockies 27%
China/Kyrgzstan-Tian Shan 28%
Russian Arctic-Novaya Zemlya 28%
Iceland 28%
Alaska-Brooks Range 29%
Ecuador and Colombia 30%
Alaska- St. Elias/ panhandle 31%
Mongolia and Russia-S Siberia 32%
Russia-Kamchatka 33%
New Zealand-South Island 34%
Norway-Svalbard 34%
Alaska-Chugach/Wrangells/AlaskaRg 35%
Russia-Arctic-FrJosef/Northland 35%
Europe-Alps 36%
Peru-Cordillera Blanca 37%
Chile/Argentina-S.Patagonia Icefd 39%
REGIONS NOT REQUIRING CHANGE OF PRIORITY:
Norway-mainland 44%
Canadian Arctic-Devon Island 46%
Canadian Arctic-Baffin Island 46%
Europe-Pyrenees and Appennines 47%
Russia-Eastern Siberia 47%
U.S. -Cascades 47%
Canada-British Columbia 49%
REGIONS REQUIRING DECREASE OF PRIORITY:
Greenland-East Central 50%
Chile-N Patagon. Icefd., N Chile 52%
U.S.-Rockies 52%
Southern Peru/Bolivia 53%
Russia and fmr Soviet-Caucasus 55%
Greenland-Northwest 57%
Antarctic Peninsula 60%
Russia-Ural Mountains 61%
East Antarctica-Scott/Borch/Oates 64%
Canada Arctic-Axel Heib +Ellesm 65%
Greenland- Central 77%
Greenland-Northeast 79%
Greenland-South 82%
West Antarc.-Ellsworth Land 93%
East Antarctica-Wilkes Land coast 94%
Greenland-West Central 96%
West Antarc.-Ronne/Zumberge Coast 97%
SCHEME 2. MODIFIED REPRIORITIZATION BASED ON PERCENTAGE OF RETURNED IMAGES HAVING ¾10% CLOUDS, WITH MOVEMENT UP OR DOWN THE LIST BASED ON IMPORTANCE TO PEOPLE (WATER RESOURCES, HAZARDS, TOURISM, POPULATION DENSITY NEARBY); IMPORTANCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE TRACKING; AND DENSITY (FREQUENCY) OF IMAGING AND EXISTENCE OF GAPS IN IMAGE COVERAGE.
THE SUGGESTED DECREASED PRIORITIZATION OF THE CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC AND GREENLAND IN SCHEME 2 IS NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE UNIMPORTANT (THEY ARE MAJOR FACTORS FOR SEA LEVEL AND OCEANIC CIRCULATION, HENCE CLIMATE FEEDBACKS), BUT RATHER THEY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY IMAGED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GLIMS' OBJECTIVES. OTHER REGIONS FALL WELL SHORT OF GLIMS IMAGING REQUIREMENTS. I AM SUGGESTING A MORATORIUM ON IMAGING OF THE HIGH NORTHERN LATITUDES FOR A PERIOD OF 2 YEARS (SUMMER 2006 AND 2007) WHILE OTHER AREAS CAN BE IMAGED WITH GREATER SUCCESS, HOPEFULLY.
REGIONS REQUIRING TRIPLED PRIORITY:
Bhutan 0%
Canada-Mackenzie Mountains 5%
China-far east Tibet/Sichuan 5%
Nepal 6%
Irian Jaya 11%
China-Kunlun Shan, Altun Shan 11%
China-mid-eastern Tibet 12%
China-western Tibet 17%
India- between Nepal & Pakistan 24%
Pakistan/Afghanistan 24%
Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan 26%
China/Kyrgzstan-Tian Shan 28%
Ecuador and Colombia 30%
Alaska- St. Elias/ panhandle 31%
Alaska-Chugach/Wrangells/AlaskaRg 35%
Europe-Alps 36%
Peru-Cordillera Blanca 37%
Chile/Argentina-S.Patagonia Icefd 39%
REGIONS REQUIRING DOUBLED PRIORITY:
Alaska-Kuskokwim Mountains 20%
Alaska-Aleutian Is. & Peninsula 24%
New Zealand-North Island 25%
Canada-Rockies 27%
Russian Arctic-Novaya Zemlya 28%
Iceland 28%
Alaska-Brooks Range 29%
Mongolia and Russia-S Siberia 32%
Russia-Kamchatka 33%
New Zealand-South Island 34%
Norway-Svalbard 34%
Russia-Arctic-FrJosef/Northland 35%
U.S. -Cascades 47%
REGIONS NOT TO HAVE A CHANGE OF PRIORITY:
Norway-mainland 44%
Canadian Arctic-Devon Island 46%
Canadian Arctic-Baffin Island 46%
Europe-Pyrenees and Appennines 47%
Russia-Eastern Siberia 47%
Canada-British Columbia 49%
Chile-N Patagon. Icefd., N Chile 52%
U.S.-Rockies 52%
Southern Peru/Bolivia 53%
Russia and fmr Soviet-Caucasus 55%
Antarctic Peninsula 60%
Russia-Ural Mountains 61%
East Antarctica-Scott/Borch/Oates 64%
West Antarc.-Ellsworth Land 93%
East Antarctica-Wilkes Land coast 94%
West Antarc.-Ronne/Zumberge Coast 97%
REGIONS REQUIRING DECREASE OF PRIORITY:
Greenland-East Central 50%
Greenland-Northwest 57%
Canada Arctic-Axel Heib +Ellesm 65%
Greenland- Central 77%
Greenland-Northeast 79%
Greenland-South 82%
Greenland-West Central 96%
participants (4)
-
dedieu＠lgge.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr -
Jeff Kargel -
John L Dwyer -
william.sneedjr＠maine.edu