Item: A NEW APPROACH TO MEASURE SNOWPACK TEMPERATURE
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Title: A NEW APPROACH TO MEASURE SNOWPACK TEMPERATURE
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2024, Tromsø, Norway
Authors:
- Anne Heggli [ Desert Research Institute ]
- Dan McEvoy [ Desert Research Institute ]
- Rosemary Carroll [ Desert Research Institute ]
- Christine Albano [ Desert Research Institute ]
- Lucas Zukiewicz [ Natural Resources Conservation Service ]
Date: 2024-09-23
Abstract: Snowpack temperature profiles are critical to calculate cold content needed to predict snowmelt timing and can be valuable to assess temperature gradients that can lead to the formation of weak layers and affect the stability of the snowpack. However, to date, there is no successful operational method to efficiently measure snowpack temperature profiles and a major gap in our ability to validate modeled snow temperature at a watershed scale exists. Leveraging the success of cooperative snow survey programs, this project will use a non-contact infrared Snow Temperature Profiler (STP) in conjunction with the cooperative snow surveys in the western United States. The STP is designed for use during manual snow surveys and is intended to be lowered into the hole left behind by federal snow samplers. This measurement alone will provide the snowpack temperature profile. When combined with snow water equivalent and snow depth data collected from the federal sampler, it allows the calculation of cold content, which is a necessary parameter to calculate snow melt rates, timing, and volume. This poster will describe the STP and method to obtain observations, provide an overview of the three-year project to implement the STP, and summarize initial year-1 testing of the STP in various snow climates.
Object ID: ISSW2024_P8.23.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Dan McEvoy
Keywords: snow temperature, snowmelt, infrared temperature
Page Number(s): 1180 - 1184
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