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Capabilities of Microwave Sensors for Monitoring Areal Extent and Physical Properties of the Snowpack

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Land Surface Processes in Hydrology

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 46))

Abstract

Active and passive microwave sensors on board of Earth observation satellites show excellent possibilities for monitoring the snow cover from regional to global scales. An important advantage of microwave sensors is the capability to observe the Earth’s surface through clouds and thus to provide information on the snow cover in regular time intervals, depending primarily on the satellite orbits. Another advantage is the capability of microwaves to penetrate dry snow, to detect properties of the snow volume, and to estimate the mass of snow lying on the ground.

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Rott, H. (1997). Capabilities of Microwave Sensors for Monitoring Areal Extent and Physical Properties of the Snowpack. In: Sorooshian, S., Gupta, H.V., Rodda, J.C. (eds) Land Surface Processes in Hydrology. NATO ASI Series, vol 46. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60567-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60567-3_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64458-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-60567-3

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