Main aim of the work assumed recognition of physicochemical changes in snowpack occurring during the melting period. Properties of snow cover had been identified at two sites in Western Sudetes mountains (860 and 1228 m asl) in SW Poland since the end of January, and monitored until the disappearance of snow in late Spring. Snow pit measurements and sample collection at both sites were made fol...

The estimation of snow water equivalent (SWE) from passive microwave sensors remains a formidable challenge primarily due to the non-unique nature of the microwave scattering signatures over snow cover surfaces. Ideally, there is a straightforward relationship between the volume of snow crystals present in the snow pack, and hence, SWE or snow depth, and the degree of microwave scattering by ic...

The objective of this study is to propose and evaluate a method for snow cover mapping during clouds using the daily MODIS/Terra snow cover product. The proposed SNOWL approach is based on reclassifying pixels assigned as clouds to snow or land according to their relative position to the regional snow-line elevation. The accuracy of the SNOWL approach is evaluated over Austria, using daily snow...

As demonstrated in the previous chapter, snow interacts strongly with the global climate system, both influencing and forming as a result of this system. The following chapters discuss the interaction of snow with the chemical and biological systems. This chapter discusses the physical properties of snow as the habitat and regulator of the snow ecosystem. In this sense, the physical snow cover ...

In arctic tundra, where wind transport of snow is common, shrubs can significantly modify the distribution and physical characteristics of the snow cover. We examined interactions between shrubs and snow by measuring snow depths along three 1-km transects in arctic Alaska and then measuring plant canopy characteristics at the same locations during the following growing season. Snow depths corre...

[1] Small, self-recording temperature sensors can be deployed quickly and inexpensively to monitor spatial and temporal patterns of snow accumulation and melt in complex environments. Burying these sensors slightly below the soil surface provides a record of the presence or absence of snow cover because near-surface soil temperatures only experience diurnal temperature oscillations when they ar...

[1] The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument was launched in October 2011 on the satellite now known as the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. VIIRS was designed to improve upon the capabilities of the operational Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and provide observation continuity with NASA’s Earth Observing System’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradi...

The feasibility of simulating daily snowmelt runoff in an arid mountain watershed with limited hydro-meteorological measurements was explored with an enhanced temperature-index snowmelt runoff model (SRM) in which the degree-day factor (DDF) is varied on the basis of shortwave solar radiation and snow albedo. The model satisfactorily simulated snowmelt runoff with a model efficiency of 0Ð64 for...