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Letters to Nature

Nature 312, 434-435 (29 November 1984) | doi:10.1038/312434a0; Accepted 18 September 1984

Comparative utility of microwave and shortwave satellite data for all-weather charting of snow cover

David Robinson*, Klaus Kunzi†, George Kukla* & Helmut Rott‡

  1. *Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA
  2. †Institut fur Angewandte Physik, Universitat Bern, 3012 Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, Switzerland
  3. ‡Institut fur Meteorologie und Geophysik, Universitat Innsbruck, Schopfstrasse 41, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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Charting snow cover by shortwave imaging requires visual analysis which is complicated by cloud coverage and poor surface illumination1,2. Microwaves, however, being almost unaffected by clouds and independent of solar illumination, are potentially useful for monitoring the extent and variation in snow cover, in climatological and hydrological studies. Data from spaceborne passive microwave sensors have previously been used to chart regional overland snow cover3–5; but charting hemispherical snow coverage was not feasible until high spatial resolution and multiple channels were combined in the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) launched in 1978 on the Nimbus-7 satellite. Here we compare SMMR data with shortwave images obtained over Asia to justify further use of microwave sensors in automated charting of seasonal snow cover under all weather conditions. Agreement between the two methods is found in approx75% of the tested grid points.