Monitoring Wet Snow With a Multiband Dual-Receiver Radar System

The seasonal snowpack holds a fundamental significance for hydrological, climatic, and safety considerations in mountainous regions. A deep and accurate understanding of its dynamics is needed to evaluate the quantity of available freshwater and to create avalanche risk reports. Despite the traditional manual analysis still being the standard method, technological instruments, particularly those employing microwave frequencies, have been used lately for snowpack monitoring purposes. However, these approaches exhibit some limitations and may lead to ambiguous results unless supplemented with additional sources of information or more sophisticated techniques. This article introduces a recent development in snowpack monitoring utilizing a dual-receiver microwave radar system. The instrument, previously validated for dry snow conditions, demonstrates high precision in retrieving both the depth and dielectric properties of a snowpack. A preliminary attempt to monitor wet snow has been made in the past, investigating the presence of water. In this work, a more systematic analysis of real data has been conducted by implementing a multiband configuration and exploiting different kinds of wetness conditions. The tests carried out on wet snow are compared to manual analysis outcomes. Furthermore, this new configuration has been used to efficiently monitor the melting-freeze cycle over both daily and seasonal periods. The results reported in this article highlight the instrument’s capability to provide accurate data in diverse snow conditions, thanks to its multiband feature, offering a promising way for enhanced snowpack research and monitoring practices.