Instruments and Methods: Sampling Characteristics of Neutron Probe Measurements in a Mountain Snow Pack

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Cooper, Charles F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1966
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000019304; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000019304

Abstract Advantages of neutron moisture probes over standard snow sampling tubes include integration of water content over a greater horizontal extent, easier measurement of snow layering, and possible increase in accuracy through elimination of the need to extract a full core. However, the neutron probe is better suited for evaluation of water content changes with time at a fixed location, as in soil moisture studies, than for measurement of the total water content of a variable snow pack. Field tests in the mountains of Idaho, U.S.A., showed statistically significant differences among mean snow densities determined by a neutron probe in closely spaced holes at a single sampling station. Within-station variance was about the same as with a conventional snow tube. There were significant differences in density for a given depth from hole to hole, but statistical interactions make it difficult to interpret these differences. There was a poor correlation between measurements made in the same hole with a neutron probe and with a snow sampling tube.