Monitoring of the boreal regions from 1992 to 1996 with the Special Sensor Microwave Imager

The Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) measurements are used to monitor the length of the growing season in the boreal regions, north of latitude 50/spl deg/N, during the 1992-96 period. The algorithms used to monitor these periods give estimates of surface temperatures, snow depth and snow cover. The global fields that were derived from the satellite estimates exhibit most of the classical climatological features related to the influence of latitude and geomorphology. 1992 and 1996 were years that had globally shorter growing seasons than the years 1993 to 1995. The times when snow has completely melted and when the first snow fall occurs are monitored on a global scale and the yearly variability is analyzed.