Investigating the Dual-Look Capability of WindSat for Passive Microwave Snow Mapping

Spaceborne passive microwave data are known to underestimate both snow cover extent (SCE) and snow water equivalent (SWE). Sensor viewing geometry and scan azimuth angle, in particular, have not been investigated thus far regarding their impact on mapping snow on the ground. In this study, we apply a dry snow detection algorithm to WindSat Level 1C brightness temperatures of 18.7 and 37.0 GHz for the Northern Hemisphere winter season of 2016–2017. WindSat provides near-instantaneous dual-look ob