Copernicus Global Land Lot 2 is a component of the Copernicus Global Land Service addressing the thematic domain of cryosphere and water. One of the main objectives of Copernicus program is to provide to the scientific community as well as other stakeholders, including policy makers, information required for several applications. The products are operationally generated and delivered freely through the Copernicus Global Land portal in near real-time as well as in offline.
SYKE is part of the cryosphere team with FMI and ENVEO. The cryosphere has a strong impact on Earth’s energy balances and changes in snow extent tend to amplify climate fluctuations. Reliable information on snow cover across the Northern Hemisphere and Arctic and sub-Arctic regions is thus needed for climate monitoring, for understanding the Arctic climate system, and for the evaluation of the role of snow cover and its feedback in climate models. In addition, snow cover parameters are crucial for the prediction of water balance, streamflow and river runoff in hydrological models and water resource management. And, in weather prediction, snow and ice conditions affect the energy exchange in the surface-atmosphere boundary.
The key cryosphere parameters monitored within the Copernicus Global Land Service are the areal snow extent, snow water equivalent and lake ice extent. They are observed using optical and microwave sensors in order to provide spatially and temporally extensive information. SYKE is leading the production of the Lake Ice Extent product from optical satellite data.
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- Researcher Kirsikka Heinilä, first name.last name@ymparisto.fi, 0295 251 155