INTEGRATION OF DMRT AND SNOWPACK MODELS FOR SIMULATING BACKSCATTERING AND COMPARISON WITH COSMO-SKYMED DATA

In this paper the integration between the Dense Media Radiative Transfer (DMRT-QMS) model and the SNOWPACK model was investigated in order to simulate snow parameters and the backscattering at X band (9.6 GHz) from nivo-meteorological data. The role of the stickiness parameter (t) in DMRT-QMS was analyzed by using experimental data of backscattering collected from COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) and snow data generated by SNOWPACK. The relationships between t and both ice volume fraction and coordination number (nc) were assessed. The DMRT and SNOWPACK simulations were compared with CSK backscattering measurements showing a significant agreement, although for a limited dataset.