SISpec - Snow & Ice Spectral Archive

The Snow and Ice Spectral library contains snow and ice spectral signature collected during several field campaigns in Arctic and Antarctica. Absolute spectral reflectance curves, in the wavelength range between 350 and 2500 nm, were obtained with a portable spectroradiometer, the Fieldspec FR (from Analytical Spectral Device), as a ratio between the radiation reflected from the measured surface and the radiation reflected by a white reference panel (Spectralon). Measurement sites, large enough to be recognized and sampled even at the spatial resolution of satellite images, were selected paying particular attention to the different types of snow surface characteristics and taking into account the local weather conditions. In the library, each spectral curve is associated with nivological data of the surfaces examined , such as the grains shape and size, density and hardness of the snow pack , snow surface temperature. The adopted standard for the description of the snow cover is the International classification for seasonal snow on the ground (Fierz et al. 2009 IASC). The original database has been updated for this web version of the project, as well as the algorithms specifically written to browse the library and to perform spectral data elaborations.