Using Phase-Delay Approaches to Estimate Snow Properties: A Comparison of Airborne L-Band InSAR and Ground-Based 6-18 GHz FMCW Radar Observations During the NASA SnowEx 2020 Grand Mesa Campaign

During 2020 and 2021, the NASA SnowEx Mission performed a time series with UAVSAR, and L-band InSAR, in the Western U.S. Small field efforts were performed throughout the time series, and in addition, SnowEx carried out an intensive campaign on Grand Mesa, involving five aircraft with seven different airborne instruments, and a large field campaign. Snow properties can vary significantly over distances of 50-200 meters, and therefore rapid techniques for measuring bulk snow properties are valuable for calibration and validation of snow remote sensing efforts. We developed and deployed a ground-based microwave radar from a snowmobile, during the 2020 NASA SnowEx campaign on Grand Mesa. These observations provide information about the spatial distribution of snow depth, snow water equivalent, and stratigraphy, and were performed coincident with many different in-situ and airborne snow remote sensing observations.