Monitoring the subsurface of an alpine glacier using polarimetric SAR observations at L-band

Abstract

Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) sensors represent, nowadays, an established tool for the observation of glaciarized areas. At dry snow conditions, such sensors combine the penetration capability of microwaves into snow/ice and the sensitivity of polarimetry to different scattering mechanisms. Therefore, PolSAR measurements are sensitive to the surface as well as near-surface features, especially at lower frequencies. A key objective of this study is to monitor the seasonal variability of the surface and near-surface features of an Alpine glacier exploiting multi-temporal airborne PolSAR data. Results of the polarimetric analysis are compared to ground-based Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and snow depth measurements performed in coordination with the SAR campaign.