Publication Date:
2019-07-17
Description:
Snow stratigraphy and water percolation are key contributing factors to avalanche
formation. So far, only destructive methods can provide this kind of information. Radar technology
allows continuous, non-destructive scanning of the snowpack so that the temporal evolution of internal
properties can be followed. We installed an upward-looking ground-penetrating radar system (upGPR)
at the Weissfluhjoch study site (Davos, Switzerland). During two winter seasons (2010/11 and 2011/12)
we recorded data with the aim of quantitatively determining snowpack properties and their temporal
evolution. We automatically derived the snow height with an accuracy of about 5 cm, tracked the
settlement of internal layers (+-7 cm) and measured the amount of new snow (+-10 cm). Using external
snow height measurements, we determined the bulk density with a mean error of 4.3% compared to
manual measurements. Radar-derived snow water equivalent deviated from manual measurements by
5%. Furthermore, we tracked the location of the dry-to-wet transition in the snowpack until water
percolated to the ground. Based on the transition and an independent snow height measurement it was
possible to estimate the volumetric liquid water content and its temporal evolution. Even though we
need additional information to derive some of the snow properties, our results show that it is possible to
quantitatively derive snow properties with upGPR.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
Format:
application/pdf
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