Passive and Active Microwave Remote Sensing and Modeling of Layered Snow ...

• Main Author: Fuller, Mark Christopher
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Graduate Studies 2015
• Subjects: Geophysics; FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences; Physical Geography; Remote Sensing; Snow; Snow Physical Modeling; Snow Active Microwave Remote Sensing; Snow Passive Microwave Remote Sensing; Snow Layering; Layered Snow over Land; Layered Snow over Sea Ice; Snow Assimilation Technique; Snow Water Equivalent; Snow Microstructure; Snow Stratigraphy; Snow Microwave Backscatter Modeling; Snow Microwave Emission Modeling; Depth Hoar; Ice Layers; Wind Slab; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/prism/27265; https://ucalgary.scholaris.ca/handle/11023/2394

This thesis investigates the effects of complexly-layered snow on passive and active microwave remote sensing observations and models, employing detailed in-situ geophysical measurements over various landcover types. First, I present observed and simulated C-band backscatter signatures for complexly-layered snow on smooth, landfast first-year sea ice. Detailed in-situ measurements describe snow structure. A multilayer backscatter model is used to assess the impacts of layered components. The backscatter from a complexly-layered snow cover on smooth first-year sea ice is higher than from a simple snow cover. Sensitivity analysis suggests that rough ice layers within the snow cover and superimposed at the snow-ice interface influence brine volume, and are mechanisms that increase surface and volume scattering. This has implications for sea ice mapping, geophysical inversion, and snow thickness retrievals. Second, I present a snow layer excavation experiment to compare observed and modeled brightness ...