The Spatio-Temporal Variations of Snow Cover in China from the Snow Depth Time Series Dataset Based on Passive Microwave Remote Sensing

Using the long-term(1978-2005) snow depth dataset of China,the spatial distribution,the seasonal snow cover changes and the inter-annual spatio-temporal variations of snow depth and snow cover days over China were analyzed.It is found that the Southeast Tibetan Plateau,the western and southern margins of the Tibetan Plateau,the Northern Xinjiang Region and the mountain regions of Northeast China are the four areas of deeper snow cover over China.In the period from 1978 to 2005,when the snow depth and snow cover days increased in general,with a remarkable increased area in the Tibetan Plateau,there was a pronounced increase phase in the 1990s and a quasi-stational phase from 2000 to 2005.The regions of central and eastern Tibetan Plateau,Northern Xinjiang Region and the mountain regions of Northeast China are sensitive to the inter-annual anomaly variation of snow depth,and the western Tibetan Plateau is sensitive to the inter-annual anomaly variation of snow cover days.