Retrieval of snow water equivalent from Nimbus-7 SMMR data: Effect of land-cover categories and weather conditions

The effect of the four major surface types in Finland (forests, boglands, farmlands, and water (ice)) on the microwave brightness temperature of snow-covered areas is investigated. Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data are employed to derive the response of each surface type. An algorithm to retrieve the water equivalent of snow cover from Nimbus-7 SMMR data is tested in different dry snow conditions.