Item: Application of a k-band microwave sensor in the detection of water melt-freeze states within a snowpack
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Title: Application of a k-band microwave sensor in the detection of water melt-freeze states within a snowpack
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Proceedings 2018, Innsbruck, Austria
Authors:
- Santiago Rodriguez [ CryoGARS group, Geosciences Department - Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA ]
- Dr. Hans-Peter Marshall [ CryoGARS group, Geosciences Department - Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA ]
Date: 2018-10-07
Abstract: Microwave radars in the X and K bands have been used to track spatial variability in in the snowpack depth in mountainous snowpack and ice-sheets. In other applications microwave radars in the X and K bands have been use to estimate equivalent snow water equivalent in the snowpack with respect to spatial or temporal dimensions. In other cases, microwave sensors are useful in tracking the snowpack development and its stratification due to their higher spatial resolution. A new application of microwave radar is the tracking of the presence of a liquid in water at the snow surface or within the snowpack. The attenuation properties of the K-band microwave radiation under the presence of liquid water and its high spatial resolution is an attractive tool to identify the temporal progress of a wetting front as well as it movement within the snowpack. In this study it was demonstrated the value of a Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) microwave sensor to detect melt-freeze phase changes of water in a mountainous. K-band FMCW radar returns were processed to detect phase shifts intrinsic of water phase changes. This technique is a robust technique that reliably identifies not only the presence of liquid water but its transitions from melt to state and vice versa. Tracking of the snowpack surface or its layering melt-freeze state with microwave sensors is a valuable new application that will allow to characterize events such as the onset of spring snowmelt processes, introduction of liquid water from rain, or the introduction of liquid water due to solar radiation on a snowpack with cold content (winter snowpack). In other applications it might provide insights of snowpack lateral flow for hydrological or avalanche stability assessments.
Object ID: ISSW2018_P07.4.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: Microwave radar, microwave sensor, k-band, snowpack, water phase detection
Page Number(s): 652-656
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