Characterization of Alpine Snowpacks Using a Low Complexity Portable MIMO Radar System

This paper presents experimental results of the 3-D characterization of alpine snowpacks, obtained using a low complexity portable MIMO radar system that operates at C-band. Different types of snow at different altitudes and seasons are studied. The acquired datasets are processed using the Back Projection Algorithm and the resulting tomograms are compared to Météo France ground measurements (Snow Micro Pen transects, density and stratigraphy profiles and liquid water content). The obtained tomograms show that the system mostly detects melt forms and faceted crystals. These measurements provide 3-D electromagnetic ground truth that can be used to confirm the results obtained by Sentinel-1.