ALBERT

Description: Airborne Ku- (13.5 GHz) and L-band (1.3 GHz) polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) observations were made of snow and lake ice at Ontario field sites during the 2022-2023 winter season. The airborne radar system, called CryoSAR, is a fully polarimetric SAR configured for repeat pass observations of snow and lake ice. A primary goal of this experiment is to acquire SAR observations for estimating changes in snow mass and lake ice properties using microwave backscatter and land surface models. Field campaigns at Powassan (terrestrial snow) and Haliburton Highlands (lake ice) were conducted to provide correlative ground reference data of snow and lake ice. A combination of traditional field observations of snow properties, and detailed state-of-the-art measurements of microstructure properties was made to quantify the bulk and stratigraphic characteristics of the snow and lake ice at the two sites. At Powassan, six soil moisture monitoring stations and a weather station provided observations of soil moisture/state and temperature, and snow and atmospheric variables. Drone-based lidar snow depth estimates provided snow depth maps during the season. Lake ice and atmospheric variables were measured at Haliburton Highlands. CryoSAR repeat pass overflights were conducted at both sites during the season. This presentation discusses the Ku- and L-band polarimetric SAR responses from snow and lake ice during the winter season and the impact that snow mass has on the Ku-band response. This unique experimental data set is being used to support Ku-band retrieval science from snow and lake ice for the Terrestrial Snow Mass Mission.