Investigations on snow parameters by radiometry in the 3- to 60-mm wavelength region

We report on a 2-year period of monitoring parameters of a natural snowpack by ground-based microwave radiometry on a high-altitude Alpine test site. The microwave brightness temperatures are compared to a large set of ground-truth data. Three stages in the seasonal development of the snow cover are easily distinguishable which allow the prediction of the beginning of the snow melting. The moisture content of the melting surface layer is estimated by the aid of the typical daily variations of microwave brightness temperatures in spring. The test site was composed of two snow fields. The first one was lying on slightly reflecting soil, and the second one was lying on a completely reflecting metal foil. By measuring on both fields some microwave snow parameters can be determined. The damping coefficients for microwaves between 5 and 100 GHz were estimated by comparing the results of two extreme theories. Both theories gave results from less than 1 dB/m to more than 30 dB/m depending on the snow state, especially its liquid water content.

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