Critical Review for Estimation of Snow Depth Using Satellite Products and Auxiliary Parameters

Estimating snow depth is a crucial component and has a significant influence on climate change, the hydrosphere, the energy balance between the surface of the Earth and the atmosphere, and the ecological environment. The high-altitude Hindu Kush (HK) regions are completely covered with snow during the winter period and are responsible for climate change and hazard studies. Therefore, snow depth (SD) estimation is an important field of study in the HK region. As a result, remote sensing is the primary source of information on large-scale SD. Microwave SD remote sensing research has advanced for more than 30 years, starting with the launch of the Nimbus-7 satellite. Researchers have made significant progress in several areas, including electromagnetic dispersion and emission modelling, earth and aerial experiments, and inversion techniques for a future global high-resolution SD remote sensing mission. This research paper will provide an overview of the research and developments in the fields of SD inversion algorithms using passive microwave data and electromagnetic scattering/emission modeling over snow-covered terrain.