Overview of dielectric properties

Q&A-Section: Overview of dielectric properties

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[Valeria Llactayo Peña]

Hi! in the theory it is mentioned that wet surfaces (as in the case of snow or melting ice) the high dielectric constant increases the permittivity and generates high backscattering values, but other studies (I quote below) mention the opposite, also, water bodies in a radar image always appear with low decibel levels… could someone explain better the radar behavior in glacial areas please!

Scher, C., Steiner, N. C., & McDonald, K. C. (2021). Mapping seasonal glacier melt across the Hindu Kush Himalaya with time series synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The Cryosphere, 15(9), 4465-4482.

Winsvold, S. H., Kääb, A., Nuth, C., Andreassen, L. M., Van Pelt, W. J., & Schellenberger, T. (2018). Using SAR satellite data time series for regional glacier mapping. The Cryosphere, 12(3), 867-890.