Snow weight - snow pillow
Parameter to be measured:
snow water equivalent
Method:
Snow pillow with pressure sensor
The working principle of the snow pillow is based on the measuring of the hydrostatic pressure caused by the layer of snow. The snow on top of the snow pillow is detected by a pressure transmitter connected to the system, which converts the data into an analog signal corresponding to the water-content equivalent of the snow covering. The additional detection of snow-depth by the USH-8 ultrasonic snow-depth sensor permits automatic calculation of the average density of the layer of snow. Especially in regions with huge amount of snow it is recommend to use a snow pillow with large dimensions (e.g. from company Sommer with size 3 x 3m) to pillow prevent any bridging that might occur within the snow covering and cause an effect on the measurement readings.
Equipment:
Snow Pillow: for example Sommer Mess-Systemtechnik
Antifreeze solution: ethylene glycol from Sigma-Aldrich (about 1000€). But other solutions may be cheaper or less toxic.
Logger: DL2E Data Logger from DeltaT
Advantages:
- Continous measurements
Disadvantages:
- Expensive
- Effort during installation
- Antifreeze solution is hazardous to waters
Problems/Questions:
Links
Projects that used the above equipment
- http://brandenburg.geoecology.uni-potsdam.de/projekte/opaque/measurement.php#snow
- HYGRA – The effect of water storage variations on in-situ gravity measurements and their use for hydrology
Other related web sites
- http://www.sommer.at/
- http://www.delta-t.co.uk/
- http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/river_forecast/aspdescr.htm
- http://snobear.colorado.edu/Markw/SnowHydro/Measuring_Snow/snow_measuring.html