International Snow Science Workshop Proceedings - Montana State University Library

Item: A Unique Time Series of Daily and Weekly Snowpack Measurements At Weissfluhjoch, Davos, Switzerland

• • Title: A Unique Time Series of Daily and Weekly Snowpack Measurements At Weissfluhjoch, Davos, Switzerland

    Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2016 Proceedings, Breckenridge, CO, USA

    Authors:

    • Neige Calonne  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Cecilia Cetti  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Charles Fierz  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Alec van Herwijnen  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Matthias Jaggi  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Henning Löwe  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • M. Matzl  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Lino Schmid  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
    • Martin Schneebeli  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]

    Date: 2016-10-02

    Abstract: Recently, different efforts were dedicated to improve various components of snowpack models, notably, by including more objective parameters of snow microstructure. To contribute with a dataset for this purpose, we designed a new measurement campaign for the winter 2015-2016 at Weissfluhjoch, Switzerland. We focused on density and specific surface area (SSA) of snow, two fundamental microstructural parameters from which many physical snow properties can be estimated. Weekly measurements of density (density cutter) and SSA (IceCube) profiles at 3 cm vertical resolution now extend the traditional snow measurements. To investigate also short time evolutions, daily SnowMicroPen measurements were additionally done from which proxies of density and SSA can be calculated at 1 mm vertical resolution. Occasionally, snow samples were also taken from the snow pit for micro-tomography measurements to investigate specific snow cover features, such as weak layers, graupel or crusts at a 10 micrometers resolution. Finally, Propagation Saw Tests were performed nearly on a weekly basis. In this paper, we present an overview of this measurement campaign carried out from December 2015 to March 2016. We show preliminary results of the density profile evolution that highlight the advantage of daily measurements compared to weekly ones when aiming at a highly continuous picture. The present dataset offers new opportunities for calibrating and validating physically based snowpack models, as well as for a better understanding of processes such as fracture propagation, snow densification, or crust formation.

    Language of Article: English

    Presenters:

    Keywords: density, specific surface area, snowpack, monitoring, measurement

    Page Number(s): 684-689

    Subjects: SnowMicroPen snow microstructure specific surface area (SSA)

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