Measurements of the Dielectric Properties of Snow in the 4-18 GHz Frequency Range

Microwave dielectric measurements were made on snow samples with wetness between 0 and 0.12 by volume and densities between 0.17 and 0.37 g/cm3 A free-space transmission method was used at eight frequencies between 4 GHz and 18 GHz. The data at each frequency have been fitted with a model that assumes a linear dependence on snow wetness. The average correlation coefficients were 0.92 for the dielectric constant ε', and 0.95 for the dielectric loss factor ε" and the attenuation coefficient α. All measured quantities show a strong wetness-dependence, and ε' and α also depend strongly on frequency whereas ε" exhibits a relatively weak frequency-dependence.