Accuracy assessment for HUT snow covered area estimation method

The statistical accuracy of HUT Snow Covered Area (SCA) estimation method is assessed. The HUT SCA method is a two step procedure for estimating Snow Covered Area for boreal forest regions. The analysis of the method is conducted with 24 ERS-2 SAR intensity images for 14 boreal forest dominated sub-drainage basins in Northern Finland. The accuracy analysis is carried out for several statistical variables and the statistical interpretation is done with respect to several affecting parameters. The accuracy analysis shows a high correlation coefficient between the SCA estimates and the reference data and RMSE values of 0.213 for open areas and 0.179 for forested areas.