Snow Pack and Lake Ice Pack Remote Sensing using Wideband Autocorrelation Radiometry

A novel microwave radiometric technique, wideband autocorrelation radiometry (WiBAR), offers a deterministic method of remotely sensing the propagation time τdelay of microwaves through low loss layers at the bottom of the atmosphere. Terrestrial examples are the snow and lake ice packs. This technique is based on the Planck radiation from the surface beneath the pack which travels upwards through the pack towards the radiometer; such a signal we call a direct signal. On the other hand, part of this radiation reflects back from the pack's upper interface then from its lower interface, before traveling towards the radiometer's antenna. Thus, there are two signals received by the radiometer, the direct signal and a delayed copy of it. The microwave propagation time τdelay through the pack yields a measure of its vertical extent. We report a time series of measurements of the ice pack on Lake Superior from February to April 2014 to demonstrate this technique. The observations are done at frequencies from 7 to 10 GHz. At these frequencies, the volume and surface scattering are small in the ice pack. This technique is inherently low-power since there is no transmitter as opposed to active remote sensing techniques. The results of this paper is to present the WiBAR technique and show that the microwave travel time within a dry snow pack and lake ice pack can be deterministically measured for different thicknesses using this technique.