Articles | Volume 17, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3915-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3915-2023
Research article
 | 
12 Sep 2023
Research article |  | 12 Sep 2023

Evaluating the utility of active microwave observations as a snow mission concept using observing system simulation experiments

Eunsang Cho, Carrie M. Vuyovich, Sujay V. Kumar, Melissa L. Wrzesien, and Rhae Sung Kim

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Cited articles

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Borah, F. K., Tsang, L., Kang, D. K., Kim, E., Siqueira, P., Barros, A., and Durand, M.: Data Analysis and SWE Retrieval of Airborne SAR Data AT X Band and KU Bands, in: 2022 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 17–22 July 2022, 4252–4255, https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS46834.2022.9884965, 2022. 
Bormann, K. J., Brown, R. D., Derksen, C., and Painter, T. H.: Estimating snow-cover trends from space, Nat. Clim. Change, 8, 924–928, 2018. 
Carroll, S. S., Carroll, T. R., and Poston, R. W.: Spatial modeling and prediction of snow-water equivalent using ground-based, air-borne, and satellite snow data, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 19623–19629, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD900093, 1999. 
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Short summary
As a future snow mission concept, active microwave sensors have the potential to measure snow water equivalent (SWE) in deep snowpack and forested environments. We used a modeling and data assimilation approach (a so-called observing system simulation experiment) to quantify the usefulness of active microwave-based SWE retrievals over western Colorado. We found that active microwave sensors with a mature retrieval algorithm can improve SWE simulations by about 20 % in the mountainous domain.