Physical Hydrology & Hydroclimatology ( Multiscale Hydrology)

1. Physical Hydrology & Hydroclimatology(Multiscale Hydrology) A science dealing with the properties, distribution and circulation of water. R. Balaji balajir@colorado.edu CVEN5333 http://civil.colorado.edu/~balajir/CVEN5333

2. Snow & Snomelt • Formation • Characteristics • Measurement • Distribution • Snomelt • Energy and mass balance • Snomelt Modeling Physical Hydrology, Dingman (Chapter 5, Appendix D) Hydrology, Bras (Chapter 6) Prof. Mark Serreze, CU Geography & Prof. Tarboton, USU Comet – MedEd http://www.comet.ucar.edu/class/hydromet/09_Oct13_1999/docs/cline/comet_snowhydro/index.htm Utah Energy Balance Model http://www.neng.usu.edu/cee/faculty/dtarb/snow/snow.html

4. Hydrologic Significance of Snow • ~ 67% of world’s fresh water found in snow and ice • Only 3% of permanent snow & ice is located outside the polar regions • ~ 60 years of earth annual ppt is locked up in snow and ice • ~ 50% of ice & snow outside the poles is in the Himalayas; also critical to Europe, Asia, S. Am., Western US • 90% of runoff in N. AZ, NM due to rain-on-snow events • ~80-85% of Colorado River Basin Runoff from snowmelt

7. Snow Crystal Formation A-Axis Growth C-Axis Growth Dendrite Needle Sectored Plate Prism (Column) Dendritic Sectored Plate

9. Snow Pack Characteristics

10. Snow Pack Characteristics • What is a Snow Pack? • Porous Medium • ice + air (+ liquid water) • Generally composed of layers of different types of snow • more or less homogeneous within one layer • Ice is in form of crystals and grains that are usually bonded together • forms a texture with some degree of strength

11. Snow Pack Characteristics • Primary physical characteristics of deposited snow Hardness Strength Water Equivalent Depth Grain Shape Temperature Density Grain Size Impurities Liquid Water Content Albedo

12. Snow Pack Characteristics • Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) • The height of water if a snow cover is completely melted, on a corresponding horizontal surface area. • Snow Depth x (Snow Density/Water Density)

13. Density of Snow Cover Snow Depth for One Inch Water Snow Type Density (kg/m3) Wild Snow 98” to 33” 10 to 30 Ordinary new snow immediately after falling in still air 50 to 65 20” to 15” 70 to 90 Settling Snow 14” to 11” 280 3.5” Average wind-toughened snow 350 2.8” Hard wind slab New firn snow 400 to 550 2.5” to 1.8” Advanced firn snow 550 to 650 1.8” to 1.5” Thawing firn snow 600 to 700 1.6” to 1.4”

14. Snow Pack Characteristics • Grain Shape • The “Smoking Gun” • One of the most tell-tale characteristics that allows inference of snow pack evolution • Morphological classification of snow grains • several have been developed

15. Snow Pack Characteristics • General Attributes of Grain Shape • Appearance: • solid, hollow, broken, abraded, partly melted, rounded, angular • Surface: • rounded facets, stepped or striated, rimed • Interconnections: • bonded, unbonded, bond size, clustered, number of bonds per grain, oriented texture, arranged in columns

16. Snow Grain Shapes Rime on Plate Crystal Early Rounding Faceted Growth Early Sintering (Bonding) Wind-Blown Grains Melt-Freeze with No Liquid Water Melt-Freeze with Liquid Water Faceted Layer Growth Hollow, Faceted Grain (Depth Hoar)

17. Electron Microscopyof Snow Crystals

18. Snow Pack Characteristics • Grain Size • The average size of the characteristic grains within a mass of snow • its greatest extension in mm Term Size (mm) Very Fine < 0.2 0.2 - 0.5 Fine Medium 0.5 - 1.0 Coarse 1.0 - 2.0 Very Coarse 2.0 - 5.0 Extreme > 5.0

19. Snow Pack Characteristics • Liquid Water Content • Wetness, Percentage by volume Term Remarks Approximate Range Usually T < 0oC, but can occur at any temperature up to 0oC. Little tendency for snow grains to stick together. Dry 0% T = 0oC. The water is not visible even at 10x magnification. Has a distinct tendency to stick together. Moist <3% T = 0oC. The water can be seen at 10x magnification by its miniscus between grains, but cannot be pressed out by squeezing snow (pendular regime). Wet 3-8% T = 0oC. The water can be pressed out by squeezing snow, but there is an appreciable amount of air (funicular regime). Very Wet 8-15% T = 0oC. The snow is flooded with water and contains a relatively small amount of air. Slush >15%

20. Snow Characteristics • Temperature • Two basic situations: • Variation in temperature between the top of the snow pack and the ground • Temperature Gradient • Largely determined by thickness of snow pack and the mean snow surface temperature • Base of snow pack is usually near 0oC • No temperature gradient • Isothermal

21. Snow Characteristics • Diurnal Temperature Gradients

25. Definitions and Terms • Snow: porous form of solid water of relatively low density. It is an aggregate of delicately skeletal ice crystals formed in the atmosphere through sublimation • There are many forms of ice crystals; more than 6,000 have been mapped and several classification schemes developed

26. Courtesy CRREL - http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/alaska-office/snoclass.html Snow Classification

27. Snow Measurement

30. Snow Measurement • Ground Observations • Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) • Snow Pillows • SNOTEL Sites (Western U.S.) • Snow Courses • Transects with snow depth and density • Snow Tubes/Cutters • measure volume and mass of snow cores • Snow Pits • Measure vertical profiles of SWE, and other snow pack variables.

31. Snow Measurement Grain Size Temperature Hardness Stratigraphy Depth Density Chemistry

33. Snow survey • Snow tube field survey • Depth of snow • Length of core • Weight of empty tube • Weight of tube + core • Water content • (tube + core) - tube • Density • WC / snow depth Courtesy http://www.gi.alaska.edu/alison/ALISON_measures.html

34. Snow Survey –Manual Approach • http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/factpub/sect_4a.html • Filling out the sheet: Examples: WE = (125 – 67) = 58 (122 – 67) = 55 Examples: density = 58/151 = 0.38 55/162 = 0.34

35. Brooklyn Lake SNOTEL site - http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov Snow Survey - SNOTEL

36. Where do I Get Data? • http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/ - online source for SNOTEL data • Example

40. Other ways to measure snow • Ultrasonic Snow Depth Sensor • Inexpensive • Remote sensing instrument • Rain/Snow Station Standpipe • 12” standpipe • Above snow depth • Glycol in top; tipping bucket in the bottom http://www.rickly.com/

41. Snow Measurement • Airborne Snow Survey Program • Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) estimated from attenuation of naturally occurring terrestrial gamma radiation. • Typical flight line is 16 km long, measuring a ground swath 3000 m wide. • Measures average SWE over area of ~5 km2 • 1800 flight lines throughout coterminous U.S. • Two twin-engine aircraft fly ~900 lines/year.

42. Snow Measurement • Airborne Snow Survey Program

43. Snow Measurement • Airborne Snow Survey Program

44. Snow Measurement • Airborne SWE Measurement Theory • Airborne SWE measurements are made using the following relationship: Where: C and C0 = Uncollided terrestrial gamma count rates over snow and dry, snow-free soil, M and M0 = Percent soil moisture over snow and dry, snow-free soil, A = Radiation attenuation coefficient in water, (cm2/g)

45. Snow Measurement • Airborne SWE: Accuracy and Bias Airborne measurements include ice and standing water that ground measurements generally miss. RMS Agricultural Areas: 0.81 cm RMS Forested Areas: 2.31 cm

46. Airborne Snow Survey Products

47. Airborne Snow Survey Products .B GAMMA 990120 /SAIRF/SWIRF :TO ------ Service Hydrologist (Please give HARDCOPY to SH) :FROM ---- Tom Carroll, (612) 361-6610 ext 225, Minneapolis, Minnesota :Visit our web page at www.nohrsc.nws.gov :SUBJECT - AIRBORNE SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT DATA 990120222453 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Total No. of flight lines sent = 10 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- :Line Survey %SC SWE SWE %SM Est Fall %SM Pilot :No. Date (in) (35%) (M) Typ Date (F) Remarks :======================================================================= MI113 DY990120 / 100 / 1.8 : 1.2, 25 SE 0 , 25 OLD CRUSTY SNOW MI114 DY990120 / 100 / 2.3 : 1.7, 25 SE 0 , 25 MI115 DY990120 / 100 / 0.8 : 0.3, 25 SE 0 , 25 TOWN LINE RVR FRZ MI116 DY990120 / 100 / 0.7 : 0.2, 25 SE 0 , 25 HOUGHTON LAKE FROZEN MI117 DY990120 / 100 / 1.8 : 1.3, 25 SE 0 , 25 MI118 DY990120 / 100 / 1.6 : 1.0, 25 SE 0 , 25 MI121 DY990120 / 100 / 1.6 : 1.0, 25 SE 0 , 25 MUSKEGON RVR OPEN 90 MI123 DY990120 / 100 / 1.8 : 1.3, 25 SE 0 , 25 MI124 DY990120 / 100 / 1.9 : 1.4, 25 SE 0 , 25 TWIN RVR PRTLY OPN MI138 DY990120 / 100 / 3.1 : 2.6, 25 SE 0 , 25 .END Conditions on the ground observed over the survey area were of complete snow cover with frozen lakes and many frozen rivers. Partially open rivers are noted in the survey line comments. NNNN

48. Satellite Hydrology Program Snow Measurement AVHRR and GOES Imaging Channels

49. Snow Measurement • Remote Sensing of Snow Cover (NOAA 16)

50. Snow Measurement • NOAA-15 1.6 Micron Channel