Sensitivity of Sentinel-1 C-band SAR backscatter, polarimetry and interferometry to snow accumulation in the Alps

Abstract

The physical drivers of Sentinel-1 C-band backscatter observations during snow accumulation are still uncertain. To investigate these, backscatter fluctuations (in co-polarization VV, cross-polarization VH, and cross-polarization ratio VH-VV) were temporally and spatially linked to modeled surface (0–10 cm) soil moisture (SM) and soil temperature (T) (here referred to as soil dynamics) and modeled snow depth (SD) and snow water equivalent (SWE) (snow dynamics) in the bare and herbaceous regions of the Alps at a spatial resolution of 1 km. Results demonstrate that, during snow accumulation and at a regional scale, VH and VH-VV variability is primarily influenced by SD and SWE, whereas VV fluctuations are driven by a combination of soil and snow dynamics. At low local incidence angles, VV is driven by snow dynamics rather than by soil dynamics, which results in a decreased sensitivity of VH-VV to snow accumulation, potentially degrading VH-VV based SD retrieval. Additionally, polarimetric and interferometric Sentinel-1 observations are generated to assess their sensitivity to snow dynamics. Results show that polarimetric α (from entropy-α dual-pol decomposition) and the first Stokes parameter are more sensitive to SD than VH-VV and VV, respectively, suggesting the potential for improved SD retrievals. Finally, results show that interferometric 6-day coherence observations respond to modeled SWE accumulation, with low coherence values after significant SWE accumulation and higher values in case of minor SWE changes.