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Dual‐probe heat pulse method for snow density and thermal properties measurement
Author(s) -
Liu G.,
Si B. C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl034897
Subject(s) - snow , thermal , remote sensing , pulse (music) , environmental science , materials science , atmospheric sciences , dual (grammatical number) , meteorology , optics , geology , physics , detector , art , literature
Measuring the density ( ρ ), thermal conductivity ( k ) and thermal diffusivity ( α ) of snow is important for modeling the energy and water balance of the earth's surface. The objective of this letter is to determine if the dual‐probe heat pulse (DPHP) method can be used to measure snow density as well as thermal properties k and α . DPHP experiments with 60‐s heat pulse duration and variable strength of q′ < 15 W m −1 were carried out on ice and various kinds of snow to avoid melting. There was a linear relationship between the DPHP measured snow density and that of gravimetrically measured density. With calibration, the DPHP method may be accurate for determining snow density.