FMCW Radar Applications for Snow-Cover Studies
Gary Koh1
The use of radars for snow-cover studies has great potential. Radars are nondestructive and can
cover large areas of snow-covered terrain, making them ideal for investigating the temporal and
spatial variability of snow-cover properties and processes. The most promising radar technique for
snow research is the frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar. FMCW radars are
inexpensive, simple to build and operate, and compact enough for field-portable applications. A
modular PC-based FMCW radar system developed at CRREL has been used for a wide range of
applications. These applications include 1) detection of flow channels in a snowpack, 2) snow-cover
effect on radar detection of buried land mines, 3) spatial variability of polar firn stratigraphy, 4)
radarsnowpack interaction as a function of radar bandwidth, 5) depth profile of tundra snow, and 6)
clutter statistics of snow cover. A brief review of these applications is presented to demonstrate the
versatility of FMCW radars for snow-cover studies.
1
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, New
Hampshire 03755-1290, USA
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