Comparison between the interannual variability of snow parameters derived from SSM/I and the Ob river discharge

This paper analyses the relationship between the interannual variations of snow depth and snowmelt date and river discharge measurements in the Ob river basin. The snow parameters are derived from passive microwave remote sensing measurements by SSM/I during the time period 1989–2001. We find a significant correlation between the snowmelt date and the runoff in May (correlation coefficient R = − 0.92) and between the winter snow depth and the runoff in June (R = 0.61) measured at the Ob estuary. These results validate the methods used to derive the interannual variability of the snow parameters, particularly the snow depth. In such vast and remote regions, this is fundamental for monitoring and predicting snow related flood events. Furthermore, the results obtained can be very useful to improve the description of the snow-runoff relationship in global hydrological models.