Wind propagation to snow observed in laboratory

Abstract

Non-uniformity of a temperature field in a 30 cm deep artificial snow cover in a wind tunnel was produced by keeping a selected cross-section, perpendicular to the wind direction, at a temperature different to that in the cold room. Quasi-steady-state temperature distributions in the snow around this cross-section were observed with and without wind, and were significantly different. The difference was attributed to the influence of an air flux inside the snow cover, the mechanism of this influence is discussed. Several temperature conditions and wind speeds over the snow surface were studied. It was concluded that the wind produced the air flux in the pore space of snow, and the air-flux velocity increase with wind speed. The calculated values of the horizontal air-flux velocity in the pore space of snow were of the order of 10-2m s-1 and decreased with depth.