Operational snow map production for whole eurasia using microwave radiometer and ground-based observations

An operational system for production of snow water equivalent (SWE) maps over the whole Eurasia is presented. The system uses synoptic weather station measurements and microwave radiometer data to determine the snow water equivalent over the area. The novel feature of the system is that it combines satellite observations of brightness temperature with ground- based data applying a non-linear Bayesian data assimilation technique. This yields accuracy characteristics better than those of only using either of the two data.