A Microwave Sensor for the Measurement of the Liquid Water Content on the Surface of the Snow Cover

Abstract

In microwave remote sensing of snow as well as in snowand avalanche research, it is essential to be able to measure the liquid water content of the snow [11] , 2). So far, snow hydrologists often used the "snow ball test" to get a quick but rather rough distinction between dry, humid and very wet snow. If they wanted to measure the snow wetness more accurately, they were forced to use time-consuming calorimetric methods. They are rather applicable in the laboratory. Another deficiency of such methods is that they imply the destruction of the snow sample to be measured.