Experimental investigation of optical snow properties

Abstract

The authors have developed an experimental device in a cold laboratory with the purpose of measuring optical parameters of natural snow depending on grain-size, impurity content and density. Snow samples were prepared from homogeneous layers in order to measure the radiative properties of clearly identified snow types. The first part of this paper describes the working assumptions and the experimental device. In the second part, experiment results are described and discussed. We have compared albedo measurements of different natural snow types with theoretical values derived from physical optics, based on Mie scattering. The albedo evolution of three different snow types submitted to temperature-gradient metamorphism is analyzed.