The Altai catastrophic flood began on May 28, 2014, in the headwaters of one of the world's largest rivers, the Ob River, in the south of Western Siberia. The flood resulted from a steady rain which coincided with intensive snow melting in the Altai Mountains. As a result of inclement weather, more than 60 settlements have become flooded. The remote assessment of flooded areas was performed using the images taken by MIRAS radiometer in the microwave range from SMOS satellite. To validate SMOS data, the dependence between the soil volume moisture and emissivity was used; it was determined with laboratory measurements of dielectric parameters of soil sampled in the inundation area. The analysis of satellite images allowed us to outline wetlands and waterlogged areas.

Concentrations of major ions in surface waters of the rivers of Khara-Murin and Snezhnaya are compared based on data of many-year observations carried out in the 1950s and 2000s. The concentrations of HCO ₃ ⁻ , Cl⁻, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ + K⁺ are shown to be stable. A considerable increase in SO ₄ ⁻² concentration was revealed.

Specific emissivity features of swamps and wetlands in Western Siberia were studied for changing seasonal conditions with the use of daily data from satellite microwave sounding. The research technique involved the analysis of the brightness temperatures of the underlying surface at the test sites. Variations in the seasonal dynamics of the brightness temperatures were mainly caused by different rates of seasonal freezing of the upper waterlogged layer of the underlying surface and the dielectric characteristics of the water-containing natural media (water body, soil, and vegetation). We analyzed the long-term trends in the seasonal and annual dynamics of the brightness temperatures of the underlying surface and estimated the hydrological changes in the Arctic and Subarctic. The findings open new possibilities for using satellite data in the microwave range to study natural seasonal dynamic processes and to predict hazardous hydrological phenomena.

The presence of water-dissoluble salts in soils leads to a wide variation in soil microwave radiation that makes precise determination of water-physical characteristics of soil using satellite data hardly possible. To assess the effect of soil salinization, the emissivity of salt-affected soils in the Kulunda plain located in the south of Western Siberia was studied. Steppe site and an inland salt marsh (ISM) formed at the bottom of depressions of dried-up salt lakes were the main objects of the research. Both sites are situated in the same natural-climatic conditions and have similar relief. The spatial distribution of the underlying surface brightness temperature was obtained from L1C product of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. The diurnal temperature variations of ISM were measured in the course of a daily ground-based experiment to determine the temperature gradients. During the laboratory experiment, we defined the dielectric properties of soil and calculated its emissivity. The comprehensive studies are evidence of great diurnal variation in ISM microwave radiation. The joint use of satellite and laboratory data allows us to specify the contribution of salt-affected soils into total microwave radiation of the underlying surface. The brightness temperature obtained from SMOS and the one calculated from the laboratory dependencies of ISM emissivity on temperature and moisture are in fairly well correlation.

A comparative analysis of Western Siberia area images made from the SMOS satellite with a MIRAS radiometer at a frequency of 1.42 GHz at different times is performed. To validate and calibrate the satellite data, ground measurements of physical parameters of the underlying surface were conducted. As a test site, Kulunda Steppe situated in the steppe part of the Altay region was chosen. Using satellite and ground data, water-logging and swamped soils tending to salt and bitter-salt lakes were detected.