SURFACE SNOW PROPERTIES EFFECTS ON MILLIMETER-WAVE BACKSCATTER

The authors examine the relationship between 94-GHz backscatter from snow cover and the properties of the snow, using statistical analysis of observations made in West Germany in 1986. For terrain covered by dry snow, 94-GHz backscatter does not appear to depend significantly on any of the measured snow properties. Backscatter from wet snow is found to be sensitive to volumetric liquid water content, with the dependence inverse-exponential in form. Backscatter from wet snow is also found to depend on surface roughness, especially the cross-polarized return. Comparison of the 1986 data with similar data obtained in 1984 shows two major disagreements in the response of the vertical transmit vertical receive polarization backscattering coefficient to wet snow surface roughness, and the response of cross-polarized. The backscattering coefficient to snow surface wetness. The 1986 results are considered more reliable.