Estimation of Snow Water Equivelant Using a Parameterized Snow Scattering Model

Active microwave sensors, especially high-frequency radar systems, are highly sensitive to snow pack parameters, including Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), which is a crucial parameter in the studies of hydrology and climatology. For example, studies using Ku-band observations from scatterometer QuickSCAT and POLSCAT have shown significant radar backscattering responses on SWE variations. It has become an important objective to develop SWE inversion techniques for high-frequency radar systems, such as TerraSAR-X, QuickSCAT and a dual band, high-frequency (Xand Ku-Band) SAR system for the proposed mission Cold Regions Hydrology High-resolution Observatory (CoReH2O).