Monitoring of a Terrestrial Snowfall Event on Grassland Using C-Band and L-Band Polarimetric Microwave Radars

Terrestrial snow plays a crucial role in the Earth's system as it significantly governs the energy balance of the cryosphere. Among the diverse methods for measuring snow, remote sensing permits continuous surveillance across various space and time scales. The focus of our study is to evaluate the efficacy of co-located C-band and L-band microwave scatterometers for monitoring snowfall on the ground. In pursuit of this objective, co-polarized and cross-polarized signals were acquired both before and after the occurrence of a snowfall event. The Normalized Radar Cross Sections (NRCS) of C-band and L-band scatterometers were examined throughout the entire study duration. Our findings reveal that both L-band and C-band scatterometers promptly detected wet snow accumulation on the ground. Specifically, C-band at a lower elevation incidence angle (30°) and L-band at a higher incidence angle (55°) exhibited the greatest sensitivity to the accumulation of wet snow on the ground.