651-1504-00L  Snowcover: Physics and Modelling

SemesterFrühjahrssemester 2013
DozierendeM. Schneebeli, H. Löwe
Periodizitätjährlich wiederkehrende Veranstaltung
LehrspracheEnglisch


KurzbeschreibungThe course provides an introduction to the relevant processes and physics required for key cryospheric applications covering snow and firn metamorphism, snow mechanics, wind transport of snow and energy and mass fluxes in the snowcover. The topics are relevant for glaciology, hydrology, atmospheric science, polar climatology and remote sensing.
LernzielThe lecture teaches the physical properties of snow and students learn about processes in and above the snow cover and the significance of snow as a seasonal or permanent land surface.
In particular, the basic properties of snow on macroscopic and microscopic scales are treated as required for a quantitative understanding of phenomena in various disciplines of cryospheric science.
The students understand the processes that lead to the build-up of a stratified snow cover and learn about processes such as metamorphism, densification, heat and mass transfer and their relevance for the transformation of snow and firn.

The students get to know traditional and advanced experimental methods to characterize the snowpack and learn about basic theoretical concepts to describe the processes associated with snow. Possibilities and limitations of current experimental and theoretical concepts are pointed out by discussing current research questions in the field.
InhaltThe topics of the lectures are
- Characteristics and properties of snow
- Basic ice physics, snow mechanics and constitutive laws
- Measurement methods
- Energy- and mass fluxes in snow
- Recrystallization, snow microstructure and metamorphism
- Energy- and mass fluxes at the snow surface
- Wind transport of snow and influence of topography
- Electromagnetic (in particular optical) snow properties
- Snow as a sediment
- Artificial snow
- Modeling of snow
SkriptThe lecture presentation slides, key research articles, own write-ups of key material and selected chapters from the book “Snow and Climate” by Armstrong and Brun are used.
Voraussetzungen / BesonderesA field excursion in Davos is offered: Monday, April 15 2013 (Sechseleuten). During the excursion you will learn traditional and modern methods to characterize and measure the snowpack, and evaluate the data. We also visit the cold labs at SLF Davos