Abstract
Abstract. Grounded in situ, or invasive, cosmic ray neutron sensors (CRNSs) may allow for continuous, unattended measurements of snow water equivalent (SWE) over complete winter seasons and allow for measurements that are representative of spatially variable Arctic snow covers, but few studies have tested these types of sensors or considered their applicability at remote sites in the Arctic. During the winters of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 we tested a grounded in situ CRNS system at two locations in Canada: a cold, low- to high-SWE environment in the Canadian Arctic and at a warm, low-SWE landscape in southern Ontario that allowed easier access for validation purposes. Five CRNS units were applied in a transect to obtain continuous data for a single significant snow feature; CRNS-moderated neutron counts were compared to manual snow survey SWE values obtained during both winter seasons. The data indicate that grounded in situ CRNS instruments appear able to continuously measure SWE with sufficient accuracy utilizing both a linear regression and nonlinear formulation. These sensors can provide important SWE data for testing snow and hydrological models, water resource management applications, and the validation of remote sensing applications.
Highlights
The Arctic tundra snow cover is typified by low snow depth and low snow water equivalent (SWE) when averaged over areas of a few square kilometers but extreme spatial variability in depth and SWE over distances of less than 10 m (Sturm et al, 2010, 2001; Rees et al, 2014)
The Elora dataset was tested according to Eq (4) and additional linear regression, whereas the Trail Valley Creek research observatory (TVC) dataset SWE was derived utilizing Eq (4) only because the deeper snowpack there means the linearity between SWE and neutron counts no longer holds
The N0-calibration function (Eqs. 4 and 5) is commonly utilized due to the nonlinearity of the cosmic ray attenuation method, the manufacturer notes that a linear approximation may have potential to be effectively utilized for a grounded in situ cosmic ray neutron sensors (CRNSs) up to 150 mm of SWE
Summary
The Arctic tundra snow cover is typified by low snow depth and low snow water equivalent (SWE) when averaged over areas of a few square kilometers but extreme spatial variability in depth and SWE over distances of less than 10 m (Sturm et al, 2010, 2001; Rees et al, 2014). Deep drifts are small in area, they often contain a large portion of the total landscape SWE (Gray et al, 1974; Marsh and Woo, 1981; Gray et al, 1989; Marsh and Pomeroy, 1996; Sturm et al, 2001) This spatially variable snow cover exerts important controls on many aspects of the tundra environment, including soil and permafrost temperature, permafrost processes such as ice wedge cracking, streamflow hydrology, lake level, and wildlife habitat for example. Monitoring this snow cover remains extremely challenging (Kinar and Pomeroy, 2015)
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