Global mapping of snow water equivalent with the Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM)

Global mapping methods of snow water equivalent (SWE) are developed in this study using WCOM (Water Cycle Observation Mission) active/passive multichannel observations. Based on the payloads of WCOM mission, especially with X/Ku scatterometer and L/Ku/Ka radiometer active/passive observations, there are obvious advantages in snow water equivalent retrieval. The estimation of SWE mainly rely on the high resolution X and Ku band scatterometer, and combined active/passive retrieval can provide more reliable SWE product. The retrieval method of SWE from X/Ku scatterometer is described in this study, and combined active/passive retrieval is also briefly described. These validation of SWE retrieval from X/Ku band scatterometer showed that we can get high accurate and high resolution SWE products from WCOM and then meet the science requirement of WCOM for water cycle studies.