| Paper: | WE-P3.3 |
| Session: | Cryosphere Applications of Radiometry II |
| Time: | Wednesday, March 28, 16:20 - 16:40 |
| Presentation: |
Oral
|
| Topic: |
Snow, ice and oceans: |
| Title: |
Multi-Sensor Allied Ground-Based Microwave Experiment for Snow and Frozen Soil Observations at Altay, China |
| Authors: |
Jiancheng Shi; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Chuan Xiong; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Jinmei Pan; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Tianjie Zhao; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Haokui Xu; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Lu Hu; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Xiang Ji; State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science | | |
| | Shunli Chang; Xinjiang University | | |
| | Suhong Liu; Xinjiang University | | |
| Abstract: |
From October 2017 to March 2018, an allied ground-based microwave experiment for snow and frozen soil is carried out at the Altay National Meteorological Station (88° 05’ E, 47° 44 N) at Xinjiang Province, China to support the Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM) for forward model and retrieval algorithm validation. The Intensive Remote Sensing Observation Site (IRSOS) is located next to a meteorological station, a flux tower and an automatic snow and precipitation observation station. Two radiometers equipped with L-, C-, X-, Ku- and Ka-band antennas and a ground-based SAR at X and dual-Ku bands were installed at IRSOS to observe the time series active and passive microwave signals for the typical natural snow at the Northwest China. A spectrometer is utilized to observe the snow albedo at visible and near-infrared bands. Snowpits were digged every day for basic snow measurements, and the soil temperature and moisture were measured manually and automatically to 50-cm depth. The meteorological condition here features the snow evolution process, and the corresponding changes in snow and soil physical properties reflect in the remote sensing observations. In December 2017, a rapid grain growth from new snow to depth hoar was observed at this site due to extremely large temperature gradient in the snow, which results in an increase in the radar backscattering coefficient and a decrease in the brightness temperature even when the snowpack is shallow. The combined measurements from the active and passive sensors at multi-frequencies will explain different aspects of the snow and soil conditions, and can be modeled by a single set of forward model inputs considering the stratigraphy features inside the snow. These observations can be utilized for snow forward model and snow process model evaluations, and for data assimilation studies. The snow water equivalent, soil moisture and soil freezing-thaw estimation algorithm developed for WCOM will be tested using the data observed. |
