Dense Media Radiative Transfer Applied to SnowScat and SnowSAR

The dense media radiative transfer (DMRT) theory is applied to data analysis of recent measurements of multifrequency microwave backscatter from the snow cover on earth. Measurement includes ground-based campaign (SnowScat) and airborne mission (SnowSAR). Both the quasi-crystalline approximation (QCA) model and the bicontinuous model are used for a multilayer snow medium. Two size parameters are used for both models. Grain size and stickiness parameter are used for QCA model. The bicontinuous model has two parameters: the mean wave number 〈ζ〉 and the parameter b. The mean wave number 〈ζ〉 corresponds to the inverse of the grain size, while the b parameter controls the width of the wave number distribution and is related to the clustering property. The bicontinuous model is used to generate the microstructures of snow by computer, and Maxwell equations are solved numerically for each sample of computer-generated structure to calculate the extinction coefficient and the phase matrix. Other geometric descriptors of the bicontinuous medium include correlation functions and specific surface areas, both of which can be calculated from the parameters 〈ζ〉 and b. In making comparisons, we use ground measurements of specific surface area, grain size, densities, and layering of snow cover as input for the theoretical models. The geometric properties and the scattering properties of the bicontinuous model are also compared with past models. In making the multifrequency comparisons, we use the same physical parameters of all three frequencies: 1) X band; 2) Ku bands of 13.3 GHz; and 3) 16.7 GHz. It is emphasized that the DMRT models provide frequency, size, and angular dependence that depart from the classical model of Rayleigh scattering and are in better agreement with experimental observations.