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| Titel |
Comparing snow settlement at field and laboratory scales |
| VerfasserIn |
C. Fierz, H. Löwe, S. Schleef |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250067598
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Much of our actual knowledge about snow physics stems from cold laboratory experiments.
Small snow samples of one to a few centimetres in size are studied by means of powerful
laboratory techniques such as X-ray micro-tomography. Time scales range from a few days to
several weeks. It is expected that the detailed knowledge of both snow micro-structure and
snow physics gained from these laboratory experiments will lead to a new generation of
snow-cover models. Field experiments, on the other side, look at scales of few tenths of
centimetres to a few metres within the natural snowpack. Specially designed sensors allow in
situ measurements of settlement of arbitrarily defined “snow layers” over a whole season.
Particularly during snowfalls, three distinct periods can usually be observed starting with an
initial and mostly rapid settlement followed by a less pronounced densification that ends with
a much lower, snow type depending settlement rate for densities above around 270 kg
m-3.
The question remains, however, whether these two scales can be covered by one
and the same model. Indeed, while laboratory experiments are mostly done on
quasi-homogeneous samples, layering is always present and influential in the natural
snowpack. Are thus results from cold laboratory experiments comparable to findings
from field studies? We will discuss laboratory and field experiments with regards to
snow settlement, focussing on possible common behaviour at different densities. |
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