Creep experiments and numerical simulations of very light artificial snowpacks

Abstract

This paper reports on the measurement of the viscosity coefficient of very light artificial snow with a density of < 100 kg m3. The temperature dependency on the viscosity coefficients of the snow was also obtained, and these results were applied to the problem of snow creep. General comparison between experimental and computed results shows good agreement, but differences between the two creep flows along the slope indicate that low-density snow near the freezing point should be considered as an orthotropic material.