CLPX-Airborne: Polarimetric Ku-Band Scatterometer (POLSCAT) Data

Data Contributors

YUEH, SIMON H

Parameters

RADAR BACKSCATTER

Instruments

RADAR : RADIO DETECTION AND RANGING

This data set contains Ku-band polarimetric scatterometer (POLSCAT) data collected as part of the Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX) to enable the development of a retrieval algorithm for snow water equivalent (SWE). POLSCAT is a Ku-band polarimetric scatterometer operating at 13.95 GHz. Flights were flown on 19, 21, and 23 February 2002 (during IOP1), 25 March 2002 (IOP2), and 25, 28 and 30 March 2003 (IOP 4). 205 flight lines of data were collected over Fraser, North Park and Rabbit Ears MSAs.

The NASA CLPX is a multi-sensor, multi-scale experiment that focuses on extending a local-scale understanding of water fluxes, storage, and transformations to regional and global scales. Within a framework of nested study areas in the central Rocky Mountains of the western United States, ranging from 1-ha to 160,000 km2, intensive ground, airborne, and spaceborne observations are collected. Data collection focuses on two seasons: mid-winter, when conditions are generally frozen and dry, and early spring, a transitional period when both frozen and thawed, dry and wet conditions are widespread.

Data Citation

Yueh, S. 2003. CLPX-Airborne: Polarimetric Ku-Band Scatterometer (POLSCAT) Data. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media.