Articles | Volume 18, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3633-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3633-2024
Research article
 | 
16 Aug 2024
Research article |  | 16 Aug 2024

Wind tunnel experiments to quantify the effect of aeolian snow transport on the surface snow microstructure

Benjamin Walter, Hagen Weigel, Sonja Wahl, and Henning Löwe

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Cited articles

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Short summary
The topmost layer of a snowpack forms the interface to the atmosphere and is critical for the reflectance of solar radiation and avalanche formation. The effect of wind on the surface snow microstructure during precipitation events is poorly understood and quantified. We performed controlled lab experiments in a ring wind tunnel to systematically quantify the snow microstructure for different wind speeds, temperatures and precipitation intensities and to identify the relevant processes.