Item: Using a Thermal Imager to Quantify Buried Thermal Structure in Natural Snow
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Title: Using a Thermal Imager to Quantify Buried Thermal Structure in Natural Snow
Proceedings: Proceedings, 2012 International Snow Science Workshop, Anchorage, Alaska
Authors:
- Cora Shea [ Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Canada ]
- Bruce Jamieson [ Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Canada ]
- Karl Birkeland [ USDA Forest Service National Avalanche Center, Bozeman, Montana, USA ]
Date: 2012
Abstract: Avalanche researchers and practitioners have long measured snowpack temperatures in snow pits with thermometers about 10 cm apart. This led to the assumptions that temperature gradients are smooth and that temperature changes are regular. For this study, we used a thermal imager in standard snow pits in the Canadian Rocky Mountains during two seasons between 2010 and 2012. We collected the first season of data in a very shallow, below treeline snowpack study plot, and the second season of data in a deeper, treeline study plot. Data included thousands of thermal images, as well as visual macro images of the snow crystals in each pit layer to monitor changes. We observed strong temperature gradients on the scale of individual snow crystals. We found that these small scale gradients correlated with future snow crystal changes. We also found that these gradients changed quickly with the weather, even at depth. This paper focuses on our most recent findings from the 2011-12 season, and describes our overall progress in extracting data from thermal images to use for research and forecasting. We use correlations to present very general relationships between thermal data, crystal size, and layer stability tests. We also present temperature and gradient changes at depth during a period of clearing.
Object ID: issw-2012-267-276.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): unknown
Keywords: temperature gradient, thermal imaging, snow crystals, snow stability tests
Page Number(s): 267-276
Subjects: thermography snow crystals stability test
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