Effect of forests on the retrieval of snow parameters from backscatter measurements

In preparation for the CoReH2O satellite mission, one of the three missions selected for scientific and technical feasibility studies within the Earth Explorer Programme of the ESA, experimental and theoretical studies have been under way in order to improve methods for the 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 microwave backscattering measurements. ARTT model capable of simulating scattering from a snow-covered vegetated terrain was developed and implemented to study the sensitivity to snow and vegetation parameters. A procedure for correcting the vegetation effect in the SWE retrieval algorithm has been suggested.