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Analysis of the Snow Water Equivalent at the AEMet-Formigal Field Laboratory (Spanish Pyrenees) During the 2019/2020 Winter Season Using a Stepped-Frequency Continuous Wave Radar (SFCW)
- Source :
- Remote Sensing, Volume 13, Issue 4, Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 616, p 616 (2021), Zaguán: Repositorio Digital de la Universidad de Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaguán. Repositorio Digital de la Universidad de Zaragoza, instname
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Snow makes a great contribution to the hydrological cycle in cold regions. The parameter to characterize available the water from the snow cover is the well-known snow water equivalent (SWE). This paper presents a near-surface-based radar for determining the SWE from the measured complex spectral reflectance of the snowpack. The method is based in a stepped-frequency continuous wave radar (SFCW), implemented in a coherent software defined radio (SDR), in the range from 150 MHz to 6 GHz. An electromagnetic model to solve the electromagnetic reflectance of a snowpack, including the frequency and wetness dependence of the complex relative dielectric permittivity of snow layers, is shown. Using the previous model, an approximated method to calculate the SWE is proposed. The results are presented and compared with those provided by a cosmic-ray neutron SWE gauge over the 2019–2020 winter in the experimental AEMet Formigal-Sarrios test site. This experimental field is located in the Spanish Pyrenees at an elevation of 1800 m a.s.l. The results suggest the viability of the approximate method. Finally, the feasibility of an auxiliary snow height measurement sensor based on a 120 GHz frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar sensor, is shown.
- Subjects :
- 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
stepped-frequency continuous wave radar
02 engineering and technology
snow
01 natural sciences
law.invention
Radar engineering details
law
0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
Radar
Water cycle
lcsh:Science
SWE
SDR
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Remote sensing
snowpack multilayer reflectance
software defined radio
Elevation
SFCW
020206 networking & telecommunications
Snowpack
Snow
Continuous-wave radar
snow water equivalent
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Environmental science
Continuous wave
lcsh:Q
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20724292
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Remote Sensing
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....09d795d8ed597d97345d8d8b385a90bd
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040616