An instrumented sample holder for time-lapse microtomography measurements of snow under advective airflow

Abstract

An instrumented sample holder was developed for time-lapse microtomography of snow samples to enable in situ nondestructive spatial and temporal measurements under controlled advective airflows, temperature gradients, and air humidities. The design was aided by computational fluid dynamics simulations to evaluate the airflow uniformity across the snow sample. Morphological and mass transport properties were evaluated during a 4-day test run. This instrument allows the experimental characterization of metamorphism of snow undergoing structural changes with time.