An overview of methods for snow stratigraphy studies

Abstract

Seasonal snow cover is composed of several snow layers, which have different physical properties like density, porosity, tortuosity etc. The stratigraphy of snow describes the physical properties and behavior of these layers. Snow can be categorized into different types having different properties. Snow can be granular, fluffy, dry or wet. One of the properties of snow that can be determined from snow stratigraphy studies is the amount of water it contains; this is known as Snow Water Equivalent (SWE). Snow stratigraphy is useful in several applications like accurate assessment of water availability from snow melt, estimation of snow-pack strength etc. The knowledge of snow-pack strength can be useful for the prediction of avalanche sensitive regions. There are several techniques available for snow stratigraphy studies and the measurement of SWE. Most of these techniques are invasive and time consuming in nature. Researchers are working on promising non-invasive acoustic techniques along with signal processing methods for the snow stratigraphy studies. Several snow stratigraphy techniques along with their merits and demerits are discussed and, in particular, non-invasive acoustic techniques and their associated signal processing methods are presented.