Impact of Vegetation in the Retrieval of Snow Parameters from Backscattering Measurements at the X- and Ku-bands

In preparation of the satellite mission CoReH2O, one of the six missions which has been selected for scientific and technical feasibility studies within the Earth Explorer Programme of the European Space Agency, experimental and theoretical studies started in order to investigate backscatter properties and improve the methods for retrieval of snow physical properties from SAR data. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of vegetation in the retrieval of snow parameters from backscattering measurements at the X- and Ku-bands. First the key vegetation types found in snow covered regions where identified on the basis of available global scale data base. A model able to simulating scattering from a vegetated snow-covered terrain was then developed and implemented. Lastly, a sensitivity analysis to vegetation parameters was conducted on sparse vegetation and coniferous forest.