3-D image-based numerical computations of snow permeability: Links to specific surface area, density, and microstructural anisotropy

Abstract

We used three-dimensional (3-D) images of snow microstructure to carry out numerical estimations of the full tensor of the intrinsic permeability of snow (K). This study was performed on 35 snow samples, spanning a wide range of seasonal snow types. For several snow samples, a significant anisotropy of permeability was detected and is consistent with that observed for the effective thermal conductivity obtained from the same samples. The anisotropy coefficient, defined as the ratio of the vertical over the horizontal components of K, ranges from 0.74 for a sample of decomposing precipitation particles collected in the field to 1.66 for a depth hoar specimen. Because the permeabi. © 2012 Author(s).