EGU2020-3560
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3560
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Validating snow surface radiative transfer models between 89 and 243GHz using airborne observations over Arctic tundra

Kirsty Wivell1, Melody Sandells2,3, Nick Rutter2, Stuart Fox1, Chawn Harlow1, and Richard Essery4
Kirsty Wivell et al.
  • 1Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • 2Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • 3CORES Science and Engineering Limited, Burnopfield, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • 4School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Satellite microwave radiances in atmospheric sounding bands, such as the 183GHz water vapour band, are an important source of data for Numerical Weather Prediction. However, these observations are frequently discarded in polar regions as they are also sensitive to the surface, and there is large uncertainty in the background surface emissivity which depends on the microphysical properties of the snowpack. We evaluate simulations of brightness temperature and emissivity from the Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer (SMRT) model for Arctic tundra snow at frequencies between 89 and 243GHz to assess the potential of being able to assimilate observations at key sounding frequencies, such as 183GHz. In-situ measurements of the surface snowpack were collected for 36 snow pits in Trail Valley Creek, near Inuvik, Canada during the March 2018 Measurements of Arctic Cloud, Snow, and Sea Ice nearby the Marginal Ice Zone (MACSSIMIZE) campaign, a collaboration between the Met Office, Northumbria University, Edinburgh University and the Universite de Sherbrooke. These snowpack measurements provide realistic microphysical snow properties as input to SMRT. We present the evaluation of SMRT simulations against surface-based radiometer observations and airborne observations taken with the Microwave Airborne Radiometer Scanning System (MARSS) and International Submillimetre Airborne Radiometer (ISMAR) on the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe 146 research aircraft.

How to cite: Wivell, K., Sandells, M., Rutter, N., Fox, S., Harlow, C., and Essery, R.: Validating snow surface radiative transfer models between 89 and 243GHz using airborne observations over Arctic tundra, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3560, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3560, 2020

How to cite: Wivell, K., Sandells, M., Rutter, N., Fox, S., Harlow, C., and Essery, R.: Validating snow surface radiative transfer models between 89 and 243GHz using airborne observations over Arctic tundra, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3560, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3560, 2020

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