| The energy balance at the snow surface results in substantial diurnal temperature fluctuations within the top portion of the snowpack. These temperature fluctuations, which vary both spatially and over time, can have important effects on snowpack stability.; During the winters of 2005 and 2006, field data for a near-surface warming study were collected on a knoll located in the Columbia Mountains of British Columbia. Performance of the Swiss computer model SNOWPACK was compared against field measurements of near-surface snow temperatures.; A semi-empirical warming model was developed from the field dataset for use by avalanche forecasters. The semi-empirical model, which predicts the magnitude of near-surface daytime warming, requires only readily available input parameters like slope, aspect, expected cloud cover and number of days since snowfall. Warming model results can be displayed graphically for different slope and aspect combinations to illustrate variations in daytime warming over terrain. |
