Brief communication: Improved measurement of ice layer density in seasonal snowpacks

The microstructure and density of ice layers in snowpacks is poorly quantified. Here we present a new field method for measuring the density of ice layers caused by melt or rain-on-snow events. The method was used on 87 ice layer samples taken from natural and artificial ice layers in the Canadian A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: Watts, Tom, Rutter, Nick, Toose, Peter, Derksen, Chris, Sandells, Melody, Woodward, John
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
Subjects:
article
Verlagsveröffentlichung
Arctic
The Cryosphere
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2069-2016
https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00043327
https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00042947/tc-10-2069-2016.pdf
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2069/2016/tc-10-2069-2016.pdf
Description
Summary:The microstructure and density of ice layers in snowpacks is poorly quantified. Here we present a new field method for measuring the density of ice layers caused by melt or rain-on-snow events. The method was used on 87 ice layer samples taken from natural and artificial ice layers in the Canadian Arctic and mid-latitudes. Mean measured ice layer density was 909 ± 28 kg m−3 with a standard deviation of 23 kg m−3, significantly higher than values typically used in the literature.

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