Microwave Scattering and Medium Characterization for Terrestrial Snow With QCA–Mie and Bicontinuous Models: Comparison Studies

Comparison studies are made between the QCA-Mie model and the bicontinuous model in microwave scattering from terrestrial snow. Both the scattering properties and the medium characterization are compared. For QCA, we use the multisize and the sticky particle models. For the bicontinuous model, we use the probability distribution function for the wavenumber. We compare the scattering rate and the angular distribution of scattering using the mean cosine of scattering and show that the two models have similar properties. In medium characterization, we use the pair distribution functions used in QCA to derive the correlation functions. We show that both the Percus-Yevick pair functions and the bicontinuous model have tails in the correlation functions that are distinctly different from the traditional exponential correlation functions. The methodologies of using ground measurements of grain size distributions and correlation functions to obtain model parameters are addressed.