Capabilities of Full-Polarimetric PALSAR/ALOS for Snow Extent Mapping

Snow classification using full-polarimetric PALSAR data is investigated in this paper. It is first demonstrated that dry snowpack over frozen ground slightly affects polarimetric signature at L-band. Given the fact that PALSAR data do not permit the use of a simplistic threshold-based method, a refined method for Snow Covered Area mapping is outlined. A supervised Support Vector Machine approach is used showing fairly good results within the framework of a three-classes classification (dry snow over frozen ground, wet snow and no snow).