Toward coupling of radar simulation of snowpack reflectivity with a multi-layered snow hydrology model

Recent advances in forward microwave simulation need to be matched with the implementation of the multi-layered snow hydrology model. Starting from the coupling work of the microwave emission model with a snow hydrology model, the forward simulation of the active microwave signatures is implemented to determine the reflectivity between air and snowpack interface. Also, considering the air-snow-soil interfaces, a more complete set of the input layers are aimed to simulate the microwave reflectivity in microwave ranges. This implementation is applied into the Fraser in CLPX2002. By using the HPACK theory (Matzler 2009) to extract the backscattering coefficient from the reflectivity of the snowpack, the comparison of the POLSAR and AIRSAR is conducted against the forward simulation of the radar backscattering simulations. This study will lead to the better understanding how the snowpack metamorphosis such as density, grain size, and liquid water content in a layer formation affects on the radar backscattering signature.