AUTOMATED VERSUS MANUAL METHODS IN THE ANALYSIS OF SNOW COVER

Abstract

The authors compare the relative advantages and shortcomings of automated versus manual procedures (in interpolation of an isarithmic map from point-symbol data) for the compilation of a map of maximum snow cover of the former USSR. The initial data were obtained from a point-symbol map of maximum snow depths for the winters of 1985/86 and 1987/88. The map of manually interpolated isarithms was subsequently digitized and put in an identical format with the automated-interpolation map to facilitate comparison. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, seriya geograficheskaya, 1998, No. 3, pp. 114-121.