Stereo bathymetry to monitor small seasonal agriculture water ponds in ungauged areas

This research validates a method to link radar measurements to soil properties beneath snow in a temperate farming region. By using multiple radar sensors and computer models, we successfully decoupled the ground's interference from the snow signal. Our results show that radar captures unique information that traditional ground tools miss during freeze-thaw cycles. This work provides a vital framework for the future Canadian Terrestrial Snow Mass Mission to monitor water resources.

Soils in cold regions freeze and thaw seasonally, affecting water flow, flooding, and carbon exchange, but these changes are hard to track beneath snow. We studied a Canadian agricultural field using high-resolution airborne radar and ground measurements through winter. Radar signals changed clearly as soils froze and thawed, with one polarization being most sensitive. Our results improve understanding of frozen soils and support future satellite monitoring.

Snow density plays an important role in natural and human systems but current methods for estimating snow density are limited, especially in the Arctic. This work presents a new method using satellite data to estimate snow density in remote areas. An experiment was conducted in the Canadian Arctic to evaluate the algorithm and it appears to replicate density estimates from manual sampling well. With more work this algorithm could be applied to estimate snow density across the pan-Arctic.

We undertake a sensitivity study of three different parameters on the simulation of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) during the snow-covered non-growing season at an Arctic tundra site. Simulations are compared to eddy covariance measurements, with near-zero NEE simulated despite observed CO₂ release. We then consider how to parameterise the model better in Arctic tundra environments on both sub-seasonal timescales and cumulatively throughout the snow-covered non-growing season.

Measurements of the properties of the snow and soil were compared to simulations of the Community Land Model to see how well the model represents snow insulation. Simulations underestimated snow thermal conductivity and wintertime soil temperatures. We test two approaches to reduce the transfer of heat through the snowpack and bring simulated soil temperatures closer to measurements, with an alternative parameterisation of snow thermal conductivity being more appropriate.