Remote Imaging and Spectral Characterization of the Cryosphere

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In response to The Research Council of Norway call for Polar Research (POLRES) and the Norway-USA (NOR-USA) cooperation programme we present a suite of activities focused on improving remote imaging capacity in the cryosphere, with an emphasis on spectral measurements over Svalbard. These activities are intended to go well beyond a one-time collaboration, but rather have a principal objective of bringing scientific expertise to Norway that will contribute broadly to issues regarding climate change and hyd rologic security. Initially the collaboration proposed here is intended to bring significant added value to the NFR NORKLIMA Variability of Albedo Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (VAUUAV) Project. The goals of this project are directly relevant to Annex I of the NSF-RCN Statement of Cooperation. The cooperation will enhance the field measurements during the campaigns to address significant in situ processes influencing the spectral measurements. We propose to deploy additional instrumentation in paralle l with our ground stations to measure through remote sensing techniques the continuous evolution of grain size during our measurements. With this data we can quantify a significant factor controlling variability in order to help elucidate the slight but p otentially significant aerosol driven effect. From a broader perspective, this proposal brings together international expertise in remote sensing of the cryosphere both in the evaluation of albedo feedback processes on climate in the Arctic as well as th e application of remotely sensed data in Alpine environments for the management of water resources through the measurement of snow-water-equivalence (SWE). While the data collected will provide valuable products in order to refine satellite algorithms for the spectral characterization of the cryosphere, an enduring objective of RISCC is to establish Norway as an ideal location for satellite based validation experiments for the cryosphere.