Application of a K-band FMCW Radar for the temporal tracking of dry snow stratigraphy, snowpack melt-freeze states, and mixed snow-rain precipitation events
Abstract
n used to track spatial variability and temporal evolution of snowpack depth, stratigraphy, and SWE in the mountainous and in near surface snow on ice-sheets for several decades. The majority of previous work has focused on frequencies below 18GHz; here we explore snow monitoring applications with a 25 GHz step-frequency modulated continuous wave radar, designed using a low power 25 GHz microwave chipset, high gain horn antennas, and a triangular frequency sweep. Three snow research applications were targeted during the field concept testing; snow stratigraphy of a dry snowpack, detection of liquid water in a snowpack, and detection of mixed snow-rain events. At 25 GHz, the radar is more sensitive to small density contrasts in the stratigraphy, and is much more sensitive to liquid water, enabling monitoring of melt and refreezing events, and detection of precipitation phase when installed upward-looking. This snow monitoring radar system is low cost, low power, and compact, providing opportunities for study of both snow on the ground and falling precipitation, and is therefore relevant to current snow remote sensing missions such as SnowEx, as well as snowfall missions such as GPM. Two of these systems were installed as part of the 2017 NASA SnowEx mission, and examples of precipitation signals will be presented.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.C13D1179R
- Keywords:
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- 0736 Snow;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0758 Remote sensing;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0794 Instruments and techniques;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0798 Modeling;
- CRYOSPHERE