Investigation of a mmWave-Radar-Based Sensor for Snow-Suspension Density Measurements

The precise and robust determination of snow-suspension densities is inevitable for the reliable prediction of the destruction potential of powder snow avalanches. Therefore, in this letter, a novel sensor approach for the snow-density determination is investigated. It relies on highly stable and fast time-of-flight measurements utilizing a highly accurate mmWave-radar system. Next to theoretical considerations on the applicability of dielectric mixing equations for snow-suspensions, first test measurements, that were carried out on super dilute snow-squalls, are presented and discussed in detail.