Remote Sensing in Snow Hydrology

The authors of this monograph initially provide an assessment of the role of snow and ice in the global water balance, and methods of snow measurements are detailed. Periodical satellite snow-cover mapping enabling the regional distribution of snow and water equivalent is evaluated, enhancing runoff forecasts. Remote sensing, as applied in spatial resolution, using sensors, is introduced, distinguishing snow, clouds and glacial ice. Sensors are introduced enabling snow, clouds and glacier ice to be distinguished. Refined data processing, combined with the Geographical Information System (GIS), shows how satellite images partially obscured by clouds can be restored, thus improving the frequency of usable scenes. The SRM model illustrates how this process has been exploited by independent users, listing applications for runoff models in excess of 100 basins globally. In parallel with advances in remote sensing, the model's capabilities have been extended to compute runoff in glacierized basins, extremely large basins and in ungauged basins, as documented through examples in the text.