Articles | Volume 18, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-747-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-747-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Feb 2024
Research article |
| 20 Feb 2024
| 20 Feb 2024
Bayesian physical–statistical retrieval of snow water equivalent and snow depth from X- and Ku-band synthetic aperture radar – demonstration using airborne SnowSAr in SnowEx'17
Siddharth Singh
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Michael Durand
School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Edward Kim
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Ana P. Barros
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
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Snow water equivalent (SWE) is of fundamental importance to water, energy, and geochemical cycles but is poorly observed globally. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements at X- and Ku-band can address this gap. This review serves to inform the broad snow research, monitoring, and application communities about the progress made in recent decades to move towards a new satellite mission capable of addressing the needs of the geoscience researchers and users.
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Short summary
Seasonal snowfall accumulation plays a critical role in climate. The water stored in it is measured by the snow water equivalent (SWE), the amount of water released after completely melting. We demonstrate a Bayesian physical–statistical framework to estimate SWE from airborne X- and Ku-band synthetic aperture radar backscatter measurements constrained by physical snow hydrology and radar models. We explored spatial resolutions and vertical structures that agree well with ground observations.
Seasonal snowfall accumulation plays a critical role in climate. The water stored in it is...
