The main objective of this investigation was to evaluate the usefulness of the data from the S192 Multispectral Scanner aboard Skylab in snow-cloud discrimination. From the available S192 screening films and digital tape data, the reflectance characteristics of snow, ice, and water clouds in different spectral bands from the visible into the near infrared spectral region can be determined. In the visible part of the spectrum, snow, ice, and water clouds appear white. In the near infrared, Band 11 (1.55 to 1.75 micrometers), water clouds are white, ice clouds are gray and snow is black. The ratio of the radiance values in Band 6 (0.68 to 0.76 micrometers to Band 11 (1.55 to 1.75 micrometers appears to provide a method for discriminating between snow cover, ice, and water clouds. (Author).

An international team of over 150 experts provide up-to-date satellite imaging and quantitative analysis of the state and dynamics of the glaciers around the world, and they provide an in-depth review of analysis methodologies. Includes an e-published supplement. Global Land Ice Measurements from Space - Satellite Multispectral Imaging of Glaciers (GLIMS book for short) is the leading state-of-the-art technical and interpretive presentation of satellite image data and analysis of the changing state of the world's glaciers. The book is the most definitive, comprehensive product of a global glacier remote sensing consortium, Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS, http://www.glims.org). With 33 chapters and a companion e-supplement, the world's foremost experts in satellite image analysis of glaciers analyze the current state and recent and possible future changes of glaciers across the globe and interpret these findings for policy planners. Climate change is with us for some time to come, and its impacts are being felt by the world's population. The GLIMS Book, to be released about the same time as the IPCC's 5th Assessment report on global climate warming, buttresses and adds rich details and authority to the global change community's understanding of climate change impacts on the cryosphere. This will be a definitive and technically complete reference for experts and students examining the responses of glaciers to climate change. World experts demonstrate that glaciers are changing in response to the ongoing climatic upheaval in addition to other factors that pertain to the circumstances of individual glaciers. The global mosaic of glacier changes is documented by quantitative analyses and are placed into a perspective of causative factors. Starting with a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction, the GLIMS book gives the rationale for and history of glacier monitoring and satellite data analysis. It includes a comprehensive set of six "how-to" methodology chapters, twenty-five chapters detailing regional glacier state and dynamical changes, and an in-depth summary and interpretation chapter placing the observed glacier changes into a global context of the coupled atmosphere-land-ocean system. An accompanying e-supplement will include oversize imagery and other other highly visual renderings of scientific data.

A comprehensive reference on data assimilation and inverse problems, and their applications across a broad range of geophysical disciplines, ideal for researchers and graduate students. It highlights the importance of data assimilation for understanding dynamical processes of the Earth and its space environment, and summarises recent advances.

Principles of Snow Hydrology describes the factors that control the accumulation, melting and runoff of water from seasonal snowpacks over the surface of the earth. The book addresses not only the basic principles governing snow in the hydrologic cycle, but also the latest applications of remote sensing, and techniques for modeling streamflow from snowmelt across large mixed land-use river basins. Individual chapters are devoted to climatology and distribution of snow, snowpack energy exchange, snow chemistry, ground-based measurements and remote sensing of snowpack characteristics, snowpack management, and modeling snowmelt runoff. Many chapters have review questions and problems with solutions available online. This book is a reference book for practicing water resources managers and a text for advanced hydrology and water resources courses which span fields such as engineering, earth sciences, meteorology, biogeochemistry, forestry and range management, and water resources planning.

This book is about the Himalayan ranges as a source of fresh water supply and a perennial store house of ice, snow and permafrost as well as a vast repository of rich biodiversity, in the light of climate change. Special attention is given to the dynamics of snow and glaciers in the northwestern Himalayas, assessment of climate change patterns, and the consequences of changes and flow regime in order to understand the behaviour of climate change in the northwestern Himalayas. The outcome of melting glaciers are pro-glacial lakes. Their increasing size and potential danger of outbursts requires systematic study, particularly where there is the risk of impact on life and property. Furthermore, the changing trend of the hydrological cycle on a regional or local scale is another area of research which calls for the attention of geoscientists. To date there is a scarcity of reliable data meaning that a concerted effort is still required by all parties.