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Snow Monitoring
Snow has large effects in runoff and hydrology in major areas of Central Europe, especially in the Alps. The detailed knowledge of the snow cover can help to ascertain the water balance in observed areas and can improve 
flood forecast and prediction of stored water (Hydropower).
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Fig. 1: Monitoring of the extent of the snow cover by operational Near-Real-Time service. In case of
slight cloud
cover the
Snow Covered Area SCA
can
derived daily. Left: NOAA-AVHRR, catchment of the Rhine (25. Jan. 2009). Right: SCA map from operational service
By an operational and direct process-chain, using optical and microwave observation, this information is available shortly after satellite-overpass:
- Snow covered area SCA
- Snow line
- Snow free areas
- Wet snow / melting snow
Snow maps are available for different catchments and users within Polar View.
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Fig. 2: Observation of the snow melt for the area of the Upper Danube in the period 25. Feb. – 1. Mar. 2009
left: derived from NOAA-AVHRR (optical); right: derived from ENVISAT ASAR(C-Band)
The derivation of snow cover maps using optical imagery is affected by cloud cover (dark grey). During snow melt ENVISAT C-Band SAR allows wet snow detection (dark blue). Spatial and temporal availability of datasets is however limited.