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Remote Sensing
Volume 17
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10.3390/rs17050914
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Article

Snow Cover Variability and Trends over Karakoram, Western Himalaya and Kunlun Mountains During the MODIS Era (2001–2024)

by
Cecilia Delia Almagioni
1,2,
Veronica Manara
1,*,
Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti
1,
Maurizio Maugeri
1,
Alessia Spezza
1,3 and
Davide Fugazza
1
1
Environmental Science and Policy Department, University of Milan, via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy
2
Department of Physics “Aldo Pontremoli”, University of Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milan, Italy
3
Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics Department, Ca’ Foscari University, via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(5), 914; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050914
Submission received: 14 January 2025 / Revised: 28 February 2025 / Accepted: 28 February 2025 / Published: 5 March 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Remote Sensing)
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Abstract

Monitoring the snow cover variability and trends is crucial due to its significant contribution to river formation and sustenance. Using gap-filled MODIS data over the 2001–2024 period, the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of three snow cover metrics were studied: number of days, onset and end of the snow cover season across fourteen regions covering the Karakoram, Western Himalayas and Kunlun Mountains. The obtained signals exhibit considerable complexity, making it difficult to find a unique factor explaining their variability, even if elevation emerged as the most important one. The mean values of snow-covered days span from about 14 days in desert regions to about 184 days in the Karakoram region. Given the high interannual variability, the metrics show no significant trend across the study area, even if significant trends were identified in specific regions. The obtained results correlate well with the ERA5 and ERA5-Land values: the Taklamakan Desert and the Kunlun Mountains experienced a significant decrease in the snow cover extent possibly associated with an increase in temperature and a decline in precipitation. Similarly, the Karakoram and Western Himalayas region show a positive snow cover trend possibly associated with a stable temperature and a positive precipitation trend.
Keywords: snow duration; spatial distribution; trends; MODIS data; ERA5 data; Karakoram; Himalayas; Kunluns snow duration; spatial distribution; trends; MODIS data; ERA5 data; Karakoram; Himalayas; Kunluns

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MDPI and ACS Style

Almagioni, C.D.; Manara, V.; Diolaiuti, G.A.; Maugeri, M.; Spezza, A.; Fugazza, D. Snow Cover Variability and Trends over Karakoram, Western Himalaya and Kunlun Mountains During the MODIS Era (2001–2024). Remote Sens. 2025, 17, 914. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050914

AMA Style

Almagioni CD, Manara V, Diolaiuti GA, Maugeri M, Spezza A, Fugazza D. Snow Cover Variability and Trends over Karakoram, Western Himalaya and Kunlun Mountains During the MODIS Era (2001–2024). Remote Sensing. 2025; 17(5):914. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050914

Chicago/Turabian Style

Almagioni, Cecilia Delia, Veronica Manara, Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti, Maurizio Maugeri, Alessia Spezza, and Davide Fugazza. 2025. "Snow Cover Variability and Trends over Karakoram, Western Himalaya and Kunlun Mountains During the MODIS Era (2001–2024)" Remote Sensing 17, no. 5: 914. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050914

APA Style

Almagioni, C. D., Manara, V., Diolaiuti, G. A., Maugeri, M., Spezza, A., & Fugazza, D. (2025). Snow Cover Variability and Trends over Karakoram, Western Himalaya and Kunlun Mountains During the MODIS Era (2001–2024). Remote Sensing, 17(5), 914. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050914

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