Scattering From Wet Snow by Applying Strong Fluctuation Theory

In this study, the strong fluctuation theory is applied to calculate the scattering from a half space of wet snow. The first and second moments of the fields are calculated using the bilocal and the distorted Born approximations, and the low frequency limit is taken. The singularity of the dyadic Green's function is taken into account. The effective permittivity of wet snow is calculated using the two-phase model with non-symmetrical inclusions. In the two-phase model, wet snow is assumed to consist of dry snow (host) and liquid water (inclusions). Numerical results for the backscattering coefficients of wet snow are illustrated for random media with isotropic and anisotropic correlation functions. The three-phase strong fluctuation theory model with symmetrical inclusions is also presented for theoretical comparison. In the three-phase model, wet snow is assumed to consist of air (host), ice (inclusions) and water (inclusions) and the shape of the inclusions are spherical. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data.