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Auteur Silvan Leinss |
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Depth, anisotropy, and water equivalent of snow estimated by radar interferometry and polarimetry / Silvan Leinss (2015)
Titre : Depth, anisotropy, and water equivalent of snow estimated by radar interferometry and polarimetry Type de document : Thèse/HDR Auteurs : Silvan Leinss, Auteur Editeur : Zurich : Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule ETH - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Zurich EPFZ Année de publication : 2015 Collection : Dissertationen ETH num. 23093 Importance : 243 p. Format : 21 x 30 cm Note générale : bibliographie
A thesis submitted to attain the degree of doctor of sciences of ETH ZurichLangues : Anglais (eng) Descripteur : [Vedettes matières IGN] Traitement d'image radar et applications
[Termes IGN] anisotropie
[Termes IGN] image TerraSAR-X
[Termes IGN] interféromètrie par radar à antenne synthétique
[Termes IGN] MNS TerraSAR & TanDEM-X
[Termes IGN] neige
[Termes IGN] polarimétrie radarRésumé : (auteur) Snow contributes to the water supply of almost one-sixth of the world's population and has a strong influence on the energy balance of the earth. Snow provides water for life but also threatens life in the form of avalanches and flooding due to snow melt. Most of the world's snow cover is located in remote and inaccessible regions, therefore large-scale snow monitoring is only possible with remote sensing techniques. In the entire electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from kilometer long radio waves to ultrashort gamma waves, only three atmospheric spectral windows exit through which satellites can observe the surface of the earth. Two of them, the optical and the infrared window, are often blocked by clouds or atmospheric water vapor. Visible or infrared light, which is reflected at the snow surface, is difficult to be used for derivation of any volumetric information of the snow pack. Active and passive microwave systems, which operate in the radio window, have the potential to obtain volumetric information of snow because microwaves can penetrate the snow cover. The aim of this thesis is to determine snow properties, like snow depth, snow anisotropy, and snow water equivalent, by analyzing phase differences of radar signals reflected from snow covered regions. Current radar systems provide not only the backscatter intensity of an object, but also an object-specific scattering phase. The phase contains information about object properties as well as accurate information about the propagation delay time. In this thesis, phase differences resulting from propagation delays are analyzed with respect to different polarizations, observation times and observation geometries. Based on polarimetric phase differences, a method to determine the depth of fresh snow was developed. The copolar phase difference (CPD) obtained from radar images acquired with vertically and horizontally polarized microwaves by the satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X were analyzed. Positive phase differences could be explained by a horizontal anisotropy in fresh snow, which results from snow settling. As the phase difference is a volumetric property, the magnitude of the phase difference is roughly proportional to the depth of fresh snow. The validation with snow depth measurements on the ground show that the spatial variability of the depth of fresh snow can be determined with a resolution below 100 m with space-borne sensors like TerraSAR-X. Cold temperatures have been found to decrease observed phase differences due to temperature gradient metamorphism. The observed relation between the CPD and fresh snow, snow settling, and temperature gradient metamorphism provides a contact-less and destruction-free tool to observe the anisotropy, which is a metamorphic state of snow. The measurable dielectric anisotropy is directly linked to the structural anisotropy of snow which is responsible for the mechanical stability as well as the thermal conductivity of the snow pack. This makes the anisotropy relevant for the energy balance of snow and snow covered soil. In order to measure the anisotropy, a rigorous electromagnetic model was developed which provides a parameter free link between three-dimensional two-point correlation functions of the microstructure of snow, the effective permittivity tensor, and the macroscopically measured copolar phase difference. For verification of the model, four years of ground-based radar data, acquired by the SnowScat instrument in Sodankylä, Finland, were analyzed with respect to the frequency and incidence angle dependence of the copolar phase. Computer tomography data were used for validation of the anisotropy determined from the copolar phase difference measured by SnowScat. The unique dataset of the currently longest time series of anisotropy measurements provides a new basis for improvement of existing snow models. Four years of anisotropy data were used to develop and validate a thermodynamic snow model based on meteorological input data. The model consists of three terms which describe snow settling, temperature gradient metamorphism, and relaxation based on isotropic water vapor transport. The model was calibrated by balancing the three terms in order to reproduce the measured anisotropy time series. The results of the model, vertically resolved anisotropy pro les of the snow pack, were validated with anisotropy pro les determined by computer tomography. In comparison to the anisotropy, which determines specific properties of the snow volume, the snow water equivalent (SWE) determines how much water is stored in the snow pack. Differential interferometry, where the phase difference of two radar acquisitions separated by a certain time is analyzed, is a promising tool to determine SWE. However, temporal decorrelation of the phase signal is a major drawback of this technique. A decorrelation time of a few days has been observed in space-borne acquisitions from TerraSAR-X which prevents any successful SWE determination. However, using SnowScat as a ground based radar interferometer, it was possible for the first time to measure the accumulation of SWE during four entire winter seasons. A multi-frequency phase unwrapping technique was used for reconstruction of phase wraps which occurred due to intense snow precipitation. The study was performed at exceptionally high frequencies in the X- and Ku-band and with a very high temporal resolution of only 4 hours. The successful demonstration of differential interferometry to determine SWE raises hope to apply the demonstrated technique on data of future radar satellites which operate at longer repeat times of a few days and lower frequencies of a few GHz. Both methods, the CPD analysis as well as differential interferometry, cannot be vi applied for wet snow. Microwave penetration into wet snow is generally small and most of the reflected energy results from scattering at the snow surface. This is interesting for single-pass SAR interferometry, where phase differences are compared, which are measured by two SAR-sensors which simultaneously observe the same scene with slightly different angles. Single-pass SAR interferometry can provide accurate surface models at a horizontal resolution of a few meters. The difference between two digital elevation models (DEM), one obtained during snow free conditions and one obtained during the onset of snow melt, can therefore provide direct information about snow depth. DEM differencing was applied on TanDEM-X acquisitions from spring and autumn and snow depths maps were obtained which agree with the snow- depth-maps provided by the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, SLF. A key requirement for successful snow depth estimation is that the snow surface can be recognized as wet. As the backscatter intensity decreases significantly during snow melt, wet snow detection is straight forward and the total accumulated snow depth of wet spring snow can be determined. This thesis shows that the analysis of the phase signal contained in radar acquisitions provides a broad spectrum of information about the snow pack. The developed method for anisotropy determination provides not only a unique opportunity to improve snow models, but also a method to globally sense the metamorphic state of snow. The currently longest radar-derived time series of SWE measurements raise hope to apply differential interferometry for global SWE determination of dry snow. The shown accuracy for snow depth determination from high frequency, interferometric, single-pass SAR systems demonstrates that such systems are important missions for monitoring changes in snow depth and ice thickness in remote alpine and polar regions in order monitor changes of the global distribution of fresh water stored in the form of ice or snow. Numéro de notice : 17199 Affiliation des auteurs : non IGN Thématique : IMAGERIE Nature : Thèse étrangère Note de thèse : doctoral thesis : Sciences : ETH Zurich : 2015 En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-010603517 Format de la ressource électronique : URL Permalink : https://documentation.ensg.eu/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=81170