83rd Annual

Tuesday, 11 February 2003
Relationship between passive microwave measurements and snow parameters
Norman C. Grody, NOAA/NESDIS, Camp Springs, MD
Measurements from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) will be used to demonstrate the variations in emissivity due various snow parameters (e.g., snow depth, grain size, fractional volume and stratification). AMSU was first launched in 1998 aboard the NOAA - K operation satellite, and contains window channels at 23, 31, 89, 150 GHz. The AMSU measurements will be used to identify metamorphic changes in the spectral characteristics as the snow ages in addition to the effects of melting and re-freezing of the snow surface. Ice crusts on the surface and within the snow pack are also shown to affect the satellite measurements. The paper will also provide models to account for the satellite observations and develop relationships between the AMSU channel microwave measurements and snow parameters. The model results will also be used to relate the high frequency microwave measurements at 150 GHz to those at visible wavelengths.

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