Active-passive microwave scattering in the Antarctica wind-glazed region: an analog for icy moons of Saturn

Bonnefoy, Léa Elise; Prigent, Catherine; Picard, Ghislain; Soriot, Clément; Le Gall, Alice; Kilic, Lise; Jimenez, Carlos

doi:10.5194/tc-20-1297-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1297-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1297-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

Research article

|

19 Feb 2026

Research article |

| 19 Feb 2026

Active-passive microwave scattering in the Antarctica wind-glazed region: an analog for icy moons of Saturn

Léa Elise Bonnefoy, Catherine Prigent, Ghislain Picard, Clément Soriot, Alice Le Gall, Lise Kilic, and Carlos Jimenez

Model code and software

smrt-model/smrt: v1.5 with more strict dependencies constraints (v1.5.1) G. Picard et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15807924

Short summary

Microwave radiometry senses the thermal emission from a target, whereas its active counterpart, radar, sends a signal to the target and measures the reflected signal. We simultaneously model radar and radiometry over the East Antarctic ice sheet, which we propose as an analog for icy moons: we can reproduce most data with a unique model. The radar response of Saturn's moons cannot be reproduced and is likely caused by processes unaccounted for in the model and less efficient in the Antarctic.