Complex Dielectric Constant of Wet Snow Using Bi-Static Synthetic Aperture Radar

This paper presents a feasible method for measurements of the complex dielectric constant for assessment of snow using a coherent Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar. The complex dielectric constant may be measured directly for both wet and dry snowpacks. Since signal delay as well as signal loss is measured, the complex permittivity can be constructed as a closed form expressions. The radar system performance is validated on a snow phantom with good results even for high water content indicating adequate measurements for wet snowpacks.