Recent advancements to the understanding of snow-microwave interaction have helped to identify the considerable potential for radar-based retrieval of terrestrial snow mass. If applied to space-borne platforms, such retrievals could provide much needed improvements to the spatial and temporal availability of snow mass estimates. To further understanding of these interactions in tundra environments, this study evaluates an extensive set of coincident in situ snow measurements and airborne dual-frequency (17.2 and 9.6 GHz) radar observations near Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. Given known uncertainties related to the role of microstructure in radar-based retrievals, an enhanced snow pit protocol was introduced to objectively characterize specific surface area (SSA) with a shortwave infrared integrating sphere (IRIS) system. Snow pit and bulk snow measurements including SSA are used to parameterize the Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks Adapted to Include Backscattering (MEMLS3&a) and evaluate observed spatial diversity in the airborne radar signal.