MICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING AS A METHOD FOR ESTIMATING SNOW RESERVES IN FORESTS OF THE WESTERN SAYAN

Abstract

A Russian-American team of remote sensing researchers investigates the applications of active microwave (synthetic-aperture radar) imagery for estimation of water reserves in snowpack in the Western Sayan Range of East Siberia. Considerable attention is devoted to an explanation of the study's principal finding—that a fundamentally different statistical relationship exists between strength of the reflected radar signal and snow cover depth in open areas versus forested areas with high levels of canopy closure. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1999, No. 4, pp. 85-90.