Sodankylä manual snow survey program

Abstract

The manual snow survey program of the Arctic Research Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI-ARC) consists of numerous observations of natural seasonal taiga snowpack in Sodankylä, northern Finland. The easily accessible measurement areas represent the typical forest and soil types in the boreal forest zone. Systematic snow measurements began in 1909 with snow depth (HS) and snow water equivalent (SWE). In 2006 the manual snow survey program expanded to cover snow macro- and microstructure from regular snow pits at several sites using both traditional and novel measurement techniques. Present-day snow pit measurements include observations of HS, SWE, temperature, density, stratigraphy, grain size, specific surface area (SSA) and liquid water content (LWC). Regular snow pit measurements are performed weekly during the snow season. Extensive time series of manual snow measurements are important for the monitoring of temporal and spatial changes in seasonal snowpack. This snow survey program is an excellent base for the future research of snow properties.