Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Remote Sensing of Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Remote Sensing of Environment, 203, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2017.08.038
Accepted author manuscript, 2.48 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC-ND
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Error sources and guidelines for quality assessment of glacier area, elevation change, and velocity products derived from satellite data in the Glaciers_cci project
AU - Paul, Frank
AU - Bolch, Tobias
AU - Briggs, Kate
AU - Kääb, Andreas
AU - McMillan, Malcolm
AU - McNabb, Robert
AU - Nagler, Thomas
AU - Nuth, Christopher
AU - Rastner, Philipp
AU - Strozzi, Tazio
AU - Wuite, Jan
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Remote Sensing of Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Remote Sensing of Environment, 203, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2017.08.038
PY - 2017/12/15
Y1 - 2017/12/15
N2 - Satellite data provide a large range of information on glacier dynamics and changes. Results are often reported, provided and used without consideration of measurement accuracy (difference to a true value) and precision (variability of independent assessments). Whereas accuracy might be difficult to determine due to the limited availability of appropriate reference data and the complimentary nature of satellite measurements, precision can be obtained from a large range of measures with a variable effort for determination. This study provides a systematic overview on the factors influencing accuracy and precision of glacier area, elevation change (from altimetry and DEM differencing), and velocity products derived from satellite data, along with measures for calculating them. A tiered list of recommendations is provided (sorted for effort from Level 0 to 3) as a guide for analysts to apply what is possible given the datasets used and available to them. The more simple measures to describe product quality (Levels 0 and 1) can often easily be applied and should thus always be reported. Medium efforts (Level 2) require additional work but provide a more realistic assessment of product precision. Real accuracy assessment (Level 3) requires independent and coincidently acquired reference data with high accuracy. However, these are rarely available and their transformation into an unbiased source of information is challenging. This overview is based on the experiences and lessons learned in the ESA project Glaciers_cci rather than a review of the literature.
AB - Satellite data provide a large range of information on glacier dynamics and changes. Results are often reported, provided and used without consideration of measurement accuracy (difference to a true value) and precision (variability of independent assessments). Whereas accuracy might be difficult to determine due to the limited availability of appropriate reference data and the complimentary nature of satellite measurements, precision can be obtained from a large range of measures with a variable effort for determination. This study provides a systematic overview on the factors influencing accuracy and precision of glacier area, elevation change (from altimetry and DEM differencing), and velocity products derived from satellite data, along with measures for calculating them. A tiered list of recommendations is provided (sorted for effort from Level 0 to 3) as a guide for analysts to apply what is possible given the datasets used and available to them. The more simple measures to describe product quality (Levels 0 and 1) can often easily be applied and should thus always be reported. Medium efforts (Level 2) require additional work but provide a more realistic assessment of product precision. Real accuracy assessment (Level 3) requires independent and coincidently acquired reference data with high accuracy. However, these are rarely available and their transformation into an unbiased source of information is challenging. This overview is based on the experiences and lessons learned in the ESA project Glaciers_cci rather than a review of the literature.
KW - CCI
KW - ECV monitoring
KW - Elevation change
KW - Glaciers
KW - Outlines
KW - Quality measures
KW - Satellite data
KW - Velocity
U2 - 10.1016/j.rse.2017.08.038
DO - 10.1016/j.rse.2017.08.038
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85029384858
VL - 203
SP - 256
EP - 275
JO - Remote Sensing of Environment
JF - Remote Sensing of Environment
SN - 0034-4257
ER -