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Automated Snow Sensor Experiment. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WFO GRAND RAPIDS MI. Overview In 2003, Nolan Doesken (Colorado State Climatologist) was granted funding from Headquarters, to perform testing of snow sensors.
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Automated Snow Sensor Experiment NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WFO GRAND RAPIDS MI Overview In 2003, Nolan Doesken (Colorado State Climatologist) was granted funding from Headquarters, to perform testing of snow sensors. Also in 2003, the Grand Rapids Weather Forecast Office and a few other NWS field offices purchased automated snow sensors, due to the need for improvement of snowfall readings. In 2004, a partnership developed between NWS field offices and Colorado State University, with respect to an increase in the number of offices performing testing.
Automated Snow Sensor Experiment NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WFO GRAND RAPIDS MI • Two snow fences surround the sensor: • -first fence is 10' radius from sensor • -second fence is 20' radius from sensor • 2) Digital sensor output brought into a Linux Box • Depth and Temperature readings are parsed and stored in a MYSQL database every 5-minutes using an algorithm to minimize outliers • 4) HTML PHP pages have been written to query database and allow visual access to data or graphical output Inner Ring 10' from sensor Outer Ring 20' from sensor
Ultrasonic Depth Sensor with temperature probe The Judd Communications ultrasonic depth sensor is an inexpensive solution for remotely measuring snow depth. The sensor works by measuring the time required for an ultrasonic pulse to travel to and from a target surface.
Benefits of automated Snow Sensor... • - Use in storm verification • - Provides snowfall data in remote locations • - Provides snowfall data around the clock (24-hrs) • - Allows for the analysis of melting and compaction rates • Provides snowfall rates for Short Term Forecasting (NOW’s) • Provides enhanced service to customers
Example of a 7-day graphical output Freezing Line
January 7, 2004event... Looking north from east side... Looking north from west side... Snow Sensor Frost depth gauge Soil temperature sensor
Automated Snow Sensor Data... January 7, 2004 Time (UTC) – Date Temp (°C) Temp (°F) Depth(Inch) ? False Reports
January 28, 2004Blizzard Event… Looking north from east side... Looking north from west side... Uniform distribution of snow inside inner circle...
Automated Snow Sensor Data... January 26 - 28, 2004 Time (UTC) – Date Temp (°C) Temp (°F) Depth (Inch) Light snow collapsing...
Internal Software Capabilities Forecaster User Interface
Internal Software Capabilities Manual snow observation entry This manual snowfall report form is merged with the snow sensor database to allow direct comparison between manual and automated sensor readings.
Internal Software Capabilities Archive Retrieval GUI
Future Enhancements... 1) Improve algorithms to handle false reports and snow collapses during events 2) Introduce additional snow sensors to enhance sensitivity : -Lake Effect Snow -Low Water Equivalent Snow 3) Increase outer fence for drifting pattern : -this would decrease likelihood of turbulent eddies in atmosphere over snow sensor 4) Introduce Wind Sensors to study eddy patterns over wind fence
Automated Snow Sensor Experiment For additional information check out our website at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grr/snowsensor or contact: David Beachler MIT WFO GRR david.beachler@noaa.gov
