Airborne retrievals of snow and ice surface emissivity at millimeter wavelengths

Author

Hewison, Tim J. ; English, Stephen J.

Author_Institution

DERA, Meteorol. Office, Farnborough, UK

Volume

37

Issue

4

fYear

1999

fDate

7/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1871

Lastpage

1879

Abstract

Passive microwave radiometers (24-157 GHz) have been flown over Baltic Sea ice and snow sites in April 1995 and on March 15, 1997. Data from these instruments are analyzed with reference to ground measurements of snow and ice conditions, and emissivity spectra are presented for 12 classifications of surface type. A simple model based on dielectric permittivity can accurately represent the microwave spectra of sea ice, but cannot be extended to the behavior of dry snow above 100 GHz without the addition of an extra term to represent volume scattering. The parameterization presented is intended to provide a background for temperature and humidity retrievals from satellite sounders, but the results will be of interest to the snow and ice remote-sensing communities

Keywords

atmospheric humidity; atmospheric techniques; atmospheric temperature; hydrological techniques; oceanographic regions; oceanographic techniques; radiometry; remote sensing; sea ice; snow; 24 to 157 GHz; AD 1995 04; AD 1997 03; Baltic Sea; Finland; Gulf of Bothnia; airborne retrieval; dielectric permittivity; dry snow; emissivity; humidity; ice conditions; measurement technique; microwave radiometry; microwave spectra; millimeter wavelengths; mm wave; ocean; parameterization; remote sensing; sea ice; snow cover; snowcover; snowpack; temperature; Dielectric measurements; Ice surface; Instruments; Ocean temperature; Permittivity measurement; Radiometers; Sea ice; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Snow;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.774700

Filename

774700