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An analysis of water flow in dry snow
Author(s) -
Colbeck S. C.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr012i003p00523
Subject(s) - snow , surface runoff , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , water flow , saturation (graph theory) , flow (mathematics) , water saturation , atmospheric sciences , porosity , meteorology , soil science , geology , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , geography , ecology , geometry , combinatorics , biology
The equations describing water movement in a dry snow cover are derived, and examples of flow through ripe, refrozen, and fresh snows are given. The grain size of snow has a large effect on the timing of water discharge. Water is retained by dry snow to raise its temperature and satisfy the irreducible water saturation. These requirements delay and reduce runoff following rain on dry snow.