Evaluation of UWB Radar Module for Snow Water Equivalent Monitoring

Remote longterm monitoring of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is essential for prediction of hydro electric power production, climate models and more. In this paper we present a low-power, low-cost upward looking radar system compliant with the FCC/ETSI UWB regulations for unlicensed longterm remote SWE monitoring. The SWE is estimated using the two-way time of arrival distance measurement of a fixed reflector. To filter radar clutter and seasonal external environmental interference, the reference reflector is oscillating at 0.6 Hz normal to the radar to enable pulse doppler signal domain processing and robust operation. A SNR of 8 dB is measured trough $3.15m$ dry old snow considered sufficient for most dry snow applications.