Have you ever wondered how deep snow can get in the mountains? How about on top of glaciers? After all, glaciers only exist because they get enough snow falling on them in the winter. Some scientists have been measuring snow for many years using probes to feel for the bottom of the snow (a lot like a tent pole and a tape measure), and stakes to see how high the snow reaches against them. Snow density must also be recorded and multiplied by the depths to get the mass of snow. Of course, scientists want these measurements to be as accurate as possible. But by looking at past results, we can try and see if there are better ways to take snow measurements. By using statistics, we can find out where are the most representative places to probe snow, and then work out snow masses.
Some glaciers have a long dataset for many years, and show changes in mass balance; that is, the mass of snow landing on a glacier minus the mass of glacial ice that is lost in a year. Knowing the changing mass of glaciers can be used to understand global climate changes, so getting accurate results is very important. Not only that, but the hydropower industry is also keen to know how much snow there is per year, so they know how much energy they can produce from it.
So now you know about improving snow measurements and why it’s useful, but why is this important for you? Well, glaciers are often used as a sensitive indicator of climate change, which has the potential to affect us all, from low lying areas, to mountain areas. Freshwater is also a vital resource that we use every day, and is expected to become more important in the future; surely it’s important that measurements of how much there is are accurate. So the next time it’s snowing, have a think about how deep it’s getting, and how knowing that accurately has big implications.
– Alex, Oslo University, Norway