Measurements of the Dielectric Properties of Snow in the 4-18 GHz Frequency Range

Microwave dielectric measurements were made on snow samples with wetness between 0 and 0.12 by volume and densities between 0.17 and 0.37 g/cm3 A free-space transmission method was used at eight frequencies between 4 GHz and 18 GHz. The data at each frequency have been fitted with a model that assumes a linear dependence on snow wetness. The average correlation coefficients were 0.92 for the dielectric constant ¿\´, and 0.95 for the dielectric loss factor ¿" and the attenuation coefficient ¿. All measured quantities show a strong wetness-dependence, and ¿\´ and ¿ also depend strongly on frequency whereas ¿" exhibits a relatively weak frequency-dependence.