Item: SNOWAVE: A MULTIBAND MICROWAVE RADAR INSTRUMENT FOR SNOWPACK AND GLACIER MONITORING
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Title: SNOWAVE: A MULTIBAND MICROWAVE RADAR INSTRUMENT FOR SNOWPACK AND GLACIER MONITORING
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2024, Tromsø, Norway
Authors:
- Martina Lodigiani [ Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy ] [ Fondazione Montagna Sicura, Courmayeur, Italy ]
Date: 2024-09-23
Abstract: The cryosphere is a crucial field of study due to climate change’s impact on ice and snow, affecting freshwater supplies, agriculture, hydroelectric power, and mountain safety. Enhancing monitoring technologies is essential. A new portable and compact radar system, Snowave, has been developed for this purpose. Snowave is a multiband dual-receiver radar that measures snowpack and glacier depth, density, snow water equivalent (SWE), and liquid water content (LWC). It uses frequencies from UHF (300 MHz) to the X band (8-12 GHz), adapting to different environments. Lower frequencies are suited for deep, dry glaciers to identify snow/ice interfaces, while higher frequencies are used for wet snowpacks and detailed stratigraphic analysis. Snowave offers rapid, non-destructive, and repeatable measurements without additional support or assumptions, thanks to its dual-receiver differential post-processing. It complements standard manual analysis, which is time-consuming and destructive. Snowave has been successfully tested in the Alpine and polar environments, demonstrating its effectiveness in various snow and glacier conditions.
Object ID: ISSW2024_P8.21.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Pedro Fidel Espin-Lopez
Keywords: Cryosphere Monitoring, Radar, Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), Liquid Water Content (LWC), Multiband Radar
Page Number(s): 1170 - 1173
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