Research on Snow Depth Measurement Technology Based on Dual-Band Microwave Open Resonant Cavity

LI Mengyao; ZHANG Pengfei; FENG Hao; MA Zhongfa

doi:10.11999/JEIT250724

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LI Mengyao, ZHANG Pengfei, FENG Hao, MA Zhongfa. Research on Snow Depth Measurement Technology Based on Dual-Band Microwave Open Resonant Cavity[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology. doi: 10.11999/JEIT250724

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LI Mengyao, ZHANG Pengfei, FENG Hao, MA Zhongfa. Research on Snow Depth Measurement Technology Based on Dual-Band Microwave Open Resonant Cavity[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology. doi: 10.11999/JEIT250724

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Research on Snow Depth Measurement Technology Based on Dual-Band Microwave Open Resonant Cavity

doi: 10.11999/JEIT250724 cstr: 32379.14.JEIT250724

1.
School of Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
2.
Hangzhou Institute of Technology, Xidian University, Hangzhou 311231, China
3.
Faculty of Integrated Circuit, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China

Accepted Date: 2025-12-12
Rev Recd Date: 2025-12-12

Available Online: 2025-12-31

Abstract

Abstract

Objective Large-scale winter snowfall poses a significant threat to the safety of outdoor infrastructure such as power and communication systems. Real-time monitoring of snow depth within the 1～30 mm range is crucial for precise early warning and snow removal scheduling. Satellites and radar are mostly used to detect snow depths over 10 cm, but they are bulky and have low resolution. Although recently developed planar resonant sensors based on the resonance method improve accuracy, their measurement range is compromised. To address the conflict between range and accuracy, a rectangular resonant cavity structure featuring a dual-cavity, dual-feed, and dual-frequency-band design based on the resonance method is proposed in this work, combined with an inversion algorithm. This approach achieves a large dynamic range of 1～30 mm while maintaining a high measurement accuracy of 1 mm. The designed measurement device is capable of meeting the monitoring requirements for snow depth across six intensity grades, from light snow to heavy snowstorms. Methods The research methodology comprises four main components. First, the phase-matching condition of the resonator formed by the open-ended waveguide and the snow is utilized to theoretically derive the analytical relationship between the resonant frequency and the snow depth, thereby validating the principle's feasibility. Subsequently, a single-cavity model with coaxial feeding is designed and simulated to verify its sensitivity to snow depths ranging from 1 to 25 mm, thus determining its effective operating frequency band. Then, to extend the measurement range, a dual-cavity, dual-feed model incorporating either a metal plate or a Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) as a separator is proposed. A segmented measurement strategy is adopted, where the large and small cavities are responsible for different thickness ranges, achieving stable performance with a precision of 1 mm across the 1～30 mm range under varying snow properties. Finally, an optimal data inversion scheme is selected and implemented to further enhance the measurement accuracy. Results and Discussions This study presents a snow depth measurement technique based on a dual-band open-ended microwave resonant cavity. The dynamic measurement range is successfully extended from 1～25 mm (Fig. 4) for the single-cavity model to 1～30 mm (Fig. 9) for the dual-cavity model. Simulations demonstrate that the dual-cavity model maintains stable performance under variations in snow’s physical properties (Fig. 10～13). Its resonant frequency exhibits a regular low-frequency shift as snow depth increases (Fig. 9(a)), while the attenuation remains below –10 dB (Fig. 9(b)), achieving a precision of 1 mm. Finally, measured results show a consistent trend with simulations (Fig. 15). When combined with an efficient data processing scheme, the inversion error is less than 0.16 mm (Table 5), meeting the requirements for both large dynamic range and high measurement accuracy. Conclusions A dual-cavity, dual-feed, and dual-frequency snow depth measurement method incorporating either a metal plate or an FSS plate as a separator is proposed. The limitation of the insufficient dynamic range in single-cavity designs is overcome by the constructed dual-cavity structure. The measurement resolution is enhanced through the division of labor between the two frequency bands and the application of data inversion algorithms. Experimental results indicate that this scheme achieves segmented measurement of snow depths within the 1～30 mm range, with an inversion accuracy of 0.16 mm and a measured precision better than 1 mm. The study comprehensively discusses the impact of variations in snow density and humidity on the measurement accuracy of resonant frequency and attenuation. For subsequent research, machine learning methods are suggested to correlate test parameters with meteorological parameters, thereby further improving measurement accuracy and expanding the system's early-warning capability.
- Snow depth measurement,
- Microwave open resonant cavity,
- Data inversion

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References(27)

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