Experimental results on the frequency dependence of attenuation, scattering, and absorption of millimeter waves in a dry snow cover

Abstract

The reflectivity and transmissivity and coherent transmittance of dry homogeneous snow are measured as functions of the thickness of a snow layer at frequencies of 22.2, 37.5, 60, and 94 GHz. The experimental characteristics are approximated using the FIRE, HUT, and Kubelka–Munk models. The experimental frequency dependences of the extinction coefficient and model quantities: absorption, scattering, and flux attenuation coefficients are analyzed. It is shown that the dependence of the model quantities is governed by a power function of frequency in which the exponent for each quantity depends on the structure of snow and the frequency interval in which the remote sensing of the snow cover is performed. It is found that the frequency dependence of the scattering coefficient for coarse-grained snow in the millimeter-wave band is close to linear.