Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations
The thermal conductivity of snow determines the temperature gradient, and by this, it has a direct effect on the rate of snow metamorphism. It is therefore a key property of snow. However, thermal conductivities measured with the transient needle probe and the steady-state, heat flux plate differ. I...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ddc7e31f5dd04a62bca22082955e410a 2023-05-15T18:32:29+02:00 Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations F. Riche M. Schneebeli 2013-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-217-2013 https://doaj.org/article/ddc7e31f5dd04a62bca22082955e410a EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/217/2013/tc-7-217-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-217-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/ddc7e31f5dd04a62bca22082955e410a The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 217-227 (2013) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-217-2013 2022-12-30T21:22:16Z The thermal conductivity of snow determines the temperature gradient, and by this, it has a direct effect on the rate of snow metamorphism. It is therefore a key property of snow. However, thermal conductivities measured with the transient needle probe and the steady-state, heat flux plate differ. In addition, the anisotropy of thermal conductivity plays an important role in the accuracy of thermal conductivity measurements. In this study, we investigated three independent methods to measure snow thermal conductivity and its anisotropy: a needle probe with a long heating time, a guarded heat flux plate, and direct numerical simulation at the microstructural level of the pore and ice structure. The three methods were applied to identical snow samples. We analyzed the consistency and the difference between these methods. As already shown in former studies, we observed a distinct difference between the anisotropy of thermal conductivity in small rounded grains and in depth hoar. Indeed, the anisotropy between vertical and horizontal thermal conductivity components ranges between 0.5–2. This can cause a difference in thermal conductivity measurements carried out with needle probes of up to –25 % to +25 % if the thermal conductivity is calculated only from a horizontally inserted needle probe. Based on our measurements and the comparison of the three methods studied here, the direct numerical simulation is the most reliable method, as the tensorial components of the thermal conductivity can be calculated and the corresponding microstructure is precisely known. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 7 1 217 227 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
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Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 F. Riche M. Schneebeli Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The thermal conductivity of snow determines the temperature gradient, and by this, it has a direct effect on the rate of snow metamorphism. It is therefore a key property of snow. However, thermal conductivities measured with the transient needle probe and the steady-state, heat flux plate differ. In addition, the anisotropy of thermal conductivity plays an important role in the accuracy of thermal conductivity measurements. In this study, we investigated three independent methods to measure snow thermal conductivity and its anisotropy: a needle probe with a long heating time, a guarded heat flux plate, and direct numerical simulation at the microstructural level of the pore and ice structure. The three methods were applied to identical snow samples. We analyzed the consistency and the difference between these methods. As already shown in former studies, we observed a distinct difference between the anisotropy of thermal conductivity in small rounded grains and in depth hoar. Indeed, the anisotropy between vertical and horizontal thermal conductivity components ranges between 0.5–2. This can cause a difference in thermal conductivity measurements carried out with needle probes of up to –25 % to +25 % if the thermal conductivity is calculated only from a horizontally inserted needle probe. Based on our measurements and the comparison of the three methods studied here, the direct numerical simulation is the most reliable method, as the tensorial components of the thermal conductivity can be calculated and the corresponding microstructure is precisely known. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
F. Riche M. Schneebeli |
author_facet |
F. Riche M. Schneebeli |
author_sort |
F. Riche |
title |
Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
title_short |
Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
title_full |
Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
title_fullStr |
Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
title_sort |
thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-217-2013 https://doaj.org/article/ddc7e31f5dd04a62bca22082955e410a |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 217-227 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/217/2013/tc-7-217-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-217-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/ddc7e31f5dd04a62bca22082955e410a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-217-2013 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
217 |
op_container_end_page |
227 |
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1766216608624148480 |