Sensitivity of microwave emission to snow parameters: a model simulation study

Snow cover is an important component of the hydrological cycle and a key indicator of global warming. Microwave radiometry has proved to be an important method to monitor this quantity. This work aims at investigating the sensitivity of microwave emission to snow parameters by means of an advanced model called IRIDE (Ifac RadiatIve Dry snow Emission). The model is obtained by properly coupling the Advanced Integral Equation Method and the Dense Media Radiative Transfer Theory under the Quasi-Crystalline Approximation. In the implementing of the model several errors found in literature have been corrected.