Improvement of snow physical parameters retrieval using SAR data in the Arctic (Svalbard)

• Main Authors: Dedieu, Jean-Pierre, Negrello, Charlène, Jacobi, Hans-Werner, Duguay, Yannick, Boike, Julia, Bernard, Eric, Westermann, Sebastian, Gallet, Jean-Charles, Wendleder, Anna
• Other Authors: Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ), École supérieure des géomètres et topographes (ESGT-CNAM), Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers CNAM (CNAM), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ), Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), Théoriser et modéliser pour aménager (UMR 6049) (ThéMA), Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bourgogne (UB), Department of Geosciences Oslo, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo, University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO), Norwegian Polar Institute, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling (DLR)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Snow; Arctic; Radar; Remote Sensing; [SHS.GEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography; [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Norway; Ny-Ålesund; Svalbard; Climate change; Ny Ålesund
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01963077; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01963077/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01963077/file/Bernard_%20ISSW2018.pdf

International audience Arctic snow cover dynamics offer a changing face in terms of temporal duration andwater equivalent, due to recent climate change conditions (Callaghan et al., 2011; Lemke & Jacobi,2012). Indeed, the Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change onearth. In this context, innovative and improved methods are helpful to enhance management of thesnow-pack resource for climate research, hydrology and human activities. The characteristics of Arcticsnow are different from “temperate” snow (i.e. the Alps), in terms of thickness, internal structure, thermalconductivity, and metamorphism. Ground observation often indicates wind slab at the snow surface,internal rounded grains, depth hoar at the bottom, and often internal ice layer or at the interfacewith ground surface (Dominé et al., 2016; Gallet et al., 2017, for spring snow). This work is part of the“Precip-A2” project (OSUG, Grenoble-France), focusing on snow and its interaction with the atmosphere,especially in terms of chemistry, radiative processes and precipitation. The application site isthe Brøgger peninsula, focused on Ny-Ålesund area, Svalbard, Norway (N 78°55’ / E 11° 55’). Onesub-task of the Precip-A2 project is dedicated to X-band radar measurements (ground and spaceborne)to retrieve physical properties of arctic snow.