Wind-blown Snow as a Water Resource
Research History
Research Methods - Measuring Small-scale Snowdrifts
Snowdrift cross sections are the usual objective of a model run. We probe
the drift with a metal ruler at stations along a tape laid on the drift,
cursing and shouting the measured depths into a small tape recorder that has
lots of foam over the microphone to block wind noise. Knee patches (moosehide
or otherwise) are essential for this work.
To study trapping efficiency, where frequent cross sections are needed, we
developed a technique that analyzes photographs of a "rake" to give
intermediate drift profiles (Schmidt and Jairell, 1994). Wind is from the left in the first photo, and from the
right in the second.
To Small-scale Models