@article{fdi:010074014,
  title = {{M}ulti-criteria evaluation of snowpack simulations in complex {A}lpine terrain using satellite and in situ observations},
  author = {{R}evuelto, {J}. and {L}ecourt, {G}. and {L}afaysse, {M}. and {Z}in, {I}. and {C}harrois, {L}. and {V}ionnet, {V}. and {D}umont, {M}. and {R}abatel, {A}. and {S}ix, {D}. and {C}ondom, {T}homas and {M}orin, {S}. and {V}iani, {A}. and {S}irguey, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}his work presents an extensive evaluation of the {C}rocus snowpack model over a rugged and highly glacierized mountain catchment ({A}rve valley, {W}estern {A}lps, {F}rance) from 1989 to 2015. {T}he simulations were compared and evaluated using in-situ point snow depth measurements, in-situ seasonal and annual glacier surface mass balance, snow covered area evolution based on optical satellite imagery at 250 m resolution ({MODIS} sensor), and the annual equilibrium-line altitude of glaciers, derived from satellite images ({L}andsat, {SPOT}, and {ASTER}). {T}he snowpack simulations were obtained using the {C}rocus snowpack model driven by the same, originally semi-distributed, meteorological forcing ({SAFRAN}) reanalysis using the native semi-distributed configuration, but also a fully distributed configuration. {T}he semi-distributed approach addresses land surface simulations for discrete topographic classes characterized by elevation range, aspect, and slope. {T}he distributed approach operates on a 250-m grid, enabling inclusion of terrain shadowing effects, based on the same original meteorological dataset. {D}espite the fact that the two simulations use the same snowpack model, being potentially subjected to same potential deviation from the parametrization of certain physical processes, the results showed that both approaches accurately reproduced the snowpack distribution over the study period. {S}lightly (although statistically significantly) better results were obtained by using the distributed approach. {T}he evaluation of the snow cover area with {MODIS} sensor has shown, on average, a reduction of the {R}oot {M}ean {S}quared {E}rror ({RMSE}) from 15.2% with the semi-distributed approach to 12.6% with the distributed one. {S}imilarly, surface glacier mass balance {RMSE} decreased from 1.475 m of water equivalent ({W}.{E}.) for the semi-distributed simulation to 1.375 m {W}.{E}. for the distribution. {T}he improvement, observed with a much higher computational time, does not justify the recommendation of this approach for all applications; however, for simulations that require a precise representation of snowpack distribution, the distributed approach is suggested.},
  keywords = {snow and ice remote sensing ; snowpack simulation ; mountain areas ; complex terrain ; {FRANCE} ; {ALPES}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{R}emote {S}ensing},
  volume = {10},
  numero = {8},
  pages = {art. 1171 [32 p.]},
  ISSN = {2072-4292},
  year = {2018},
  DOI = {10.3390/rs10081171},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010074014},
}