Temperature & Moisture Profiles

• Main Authors: A. W. Engl, Roger Deroo
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Weather & downwelling radiance; Arctic; permafrost
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.401.7601; http://www.eecs.umich.edu/RADLAB/html/techreports/RL1014.pdf

Data from the new generation of satellite radiometers will allow us to reliably detect seasonal to decadal changes in the arctic hydrologic cycle as expressed in temporal and spatial patterns of moisture stored in soil and snow, and, through mass balance, in temporal and spatial patterns of freshwater runoff. With the deterioration of the arctic hydrographic monitoring networks (Vörösmarty et al, 2001), remote sensing will become an increasingly vital technology for hydrologic monitoring in the Arctic. A schematic summarizing the remote sensing concept as it has evolved within the remote sensing hydrology community is shown in Figure 1. Realization of this approach will yield higher fidelity lower boundaries of arctic atmospheric circulation models, a record of climate related changes in the permafrost active layer, and a means of estimating the temporal and spatial patterns of meltwater and rainwater runoff.