The potential of retrieving snow line dynamics from Landsat during the end of the ablation seasons between 1982 and 2017 in European mountains

Kurzfassung

Snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is continuously decreasing during the ablation seasons in the context of climate change. Snow Line Elevation (SLE) is a suitable indicator illustrating detailed snow cover distribution dynamics at a regional scale. In order to carry out time-series analyses of the SLEs in mountain areas, long-term (>30 years) and detailed spatial resolution (<100 m) data are required. In this article, we have retrieved SLEs from Landsat during the end of the ablation seasons in European mountains between 1984 and 2017. Based on our analyses, it is possible to use the Landsat archive to illustrate potential long-term snow line dynamics in the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, and the Pyrenees. The snow lines appear to recede to higher elevations in these Southern European Mountains. To further implement statistical analyses, it is required to fill the missing observations, and reduce uncertainties induced by intermediate snowfall events.