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The permeability of a melting snow cover
Author(s) -
Colbeck S. C.,
Anderson Eric A.
Publication year - 1982
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/wr018i004p00904
Subject(s) - snow , snow cover , meltwater , lysimeter , permeability (electromagnetism) , saturation (graph theory) , soil science , geology , snow field , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , soil water , chemistry , mathematics , biochemistry , combinatorics , membrane
Data from snow lysimeters in California and Vermont are used to find the saturated permeability of a melting snow cover in the range of 10–40 × 10 −10 m 2 depending on snow density. The unsaturated permeability increases as about the third power of liquid saturation. The gravity flow theory is shown to be an accurate representation of meltwater drainage from snow covers in two diverse areas even though the snow covers are treated as homogeneous units. The variation of saturated permeability with snow density occurs about as predicted by Shimizu's formula for dry snow, although ice layers decrease the permeability somewhat.