Experiment measurements of the variation of the radar backscattering coefficient &sgr;¿ and microwave emissivity &egr; with water equivalent W of dry snow are presented and compared to predictions of simple semiempirical scattering and emission models. The results show that &sgr;¿ and &egr; are generally dependent on the snowpack water equivalent as well as contributions by the underlying soil, and that the variation with W is a function of frequency and angle of incidence.