Research progress on snow monitoring based on optical and microwave remote sensing in pastoral area

The advantage and disadvantage of satellites data, such as advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR), multispectral scanner (MSS), thematic mapper (TM), moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR), advanced microwave scanning radiometer (AMSR/AMSRE), synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and FY series sensor, which are frequently used to snow monitoring, are summarized. On the basis of it, the development of snow monitoring by using optical remote sensing, snow depth monitors and snow cover classification decision tree, were systematically studied. Some problems existing in snow monitoring, future development trend and research priorities were discussed, which will provide the scientific base for the further research on snow monitoring in pastoral area.