Continuous Snow Temperature Monitoring for the Idaho Highway 21 Avalanche Program

Predicting metamorphism within seasonal snowpacks is critical for avalanche forecasting and runoff timing as it relates to water supply management. Snowpack temperature gradients play a key role in snow metamorphism, and their magnitude controls how snow strength changes; therefore, they are of interest to avalanche forecasters. Before major melt, the snowpack must warm to isothermal conditions at 0° C. Measuring this transition from warming to the ripening phase could help improve our current models for runoff timing. Measuring snowpack temperature gradients is currently a non-automated process that requires disturbance of the snow profile, and only gives a snapshot in time of the temperature conditions. Here the authors demonstrate an automated method to monitor in situ snowpack temperature using a thermocouple array, co-located with the Banner Summit SNOTEL site in central Idaho. Showing the location and duration of critical temperature gradients helps avalanche forecasters detect warning signs related to possible facet formation. During the 2019 winter, the authors observed large temperature gradients in the bottom 20cm of the snowpack, with the gradient falling below critical (< 0.1° C/cm) by early January. Critical gradients were observed near the surface throughout the winter, and temperatures were within ±0.06° C of the melting point when the snowpack became isothermal in the spring. The authors anticipate this dataset will inform snowpack energy balance models and aid in the prediction of avalanche hazards and runoff timing.

• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/73047
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Cover title: Continuous Snowpack Temperature Monitoring for the Idaho State Highway 21 Avalanche Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Boise State University, Boise

  Department of Geosciences
  Boise, ID  United States 

  Idaho Transportation Department

  Highways Construction and Operations
  Boise, ID  United States  83707

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Youngblood, Peter
  • Marshall, Hans-Peter
  • 0000-0002-4852-5637
• Publication Date: 2021-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 33p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Avalanches; Data collection; Sensors; Snow; Temperature measurement; Thermocouples
• Geographic Terms: Idaho
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01904781
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-ID-21-276
• Contract Numbers: BSU-18-04
• Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 17 2024 4:40PM