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EFFECTS OF FOREST ON THE SNOW PARAMETERS DERIVED FROM MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS DURING THE BOREAS WINTER FIELD CAMPAIGN
Author(s) -
CHANG A. T. C.,
FOSTER J. L.,
HALL D. K.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(199612)10:12<1565::aid-hyp501>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - snow , snowpack , environmental science , taiga , boreal , water equivalent , snow cover , microwave , brightness temperature , atmospheric sciences , vegetation (pathology) , remote sensing , meteorology , geography , geology , forestry , physics , quantum mechanics , medicine , archaeology , pathology
Passive microwave data have been used to infer the areal snow water equivalent (SWE) with some success. However, the accuracy of these retrieved SWE values have not been well determined for heterogeneous vegetated regions. The Boreal Ecosystem–Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Winter Field Campaign (WFC), which took place in February 1994, provided the opportunity to study in detail the effects of boreal forests on snow parameter retrievals. Preliminary results reconfirmed the relationship between microwave brightness temperature and snow water equivalent. The pronounced effect of forest cover on SWE retrieval was studied. A modified vegetation mixing algorithm is proposed to account for the forest cover. The relationship between the microwave signature and observed snowpack parameters matches results from this model.