Observations of seasonal snow cover at X and Ku bands during the NoSREx campaign

Inhalt:
Results from an experimental campaign, providing measurements of snow microwave backscatter over four winter seasons, are presented. The main dataset consists of tower-based scatterometer observations and coinciding measurements of snow, soil and atmospheric properties. In situ data includes measurements of snow SSA and snow microstructure using computer tomography during dedicated campaign periods. Airborne observations at X and Ku bands were collected at the test site during two seasons using the ESA SnowSAR instrument, covering typical land cover features of the boreal forest zone. We present the main findings of the experiment, relating the physical properties of snow to the measured backscatter. The tower based observations are applied to study the temporal evolution of the backscatter signal, including effects such as metamorphism of snow microstructure. The airborne data are used to study the effects of varying land cover on snow backscatter signatures, as well as to demonstrate the retrieval of Snow Water Equivalent from X/Ku band backscatter observations using the retrieval concept developed for CoReH2O.