Coreh2o, a Candidate Esa Earth Explorer Mission for Snow and Ice Observations

The COld REgions Hydrology High-resolution Observatory (CoReH2O) satellite is a candidate mission for the Earth Explorer Programme of ESA. Detailed scientific and technical studies (Phase-A) on the mission are going on. The sensor is a dual frequency SAR, operating at 17.2 and 9.6 GHz, VV and VH polarizations. The mission will deliver spatially distributed snow and ice observations, to improve the representation of the croysphere in hydrological and climate models. Retrieval algorithms have been developed for primary geophysical products to be delivered by the mission: the extent and water equivalent (SWE) of the snow pack, and snow accumulation on glaciers. Performance of retrievals for snow extent and SWE was tested with simulated and experimental data, including Kuand X-band SAR images of the airborne SnowSAR system and towerbased scatterometer measurements. Additional field campaigns are planned in various regions to further test and consolidate the retrieval algorithms.