A PORTABLE CAPACITANCE SNOW SOUNDING INSTRUMENT

We describe a penetration field-portable capacitance instrument capabl e of recording profiles of dielectric permittivity through a relativel y dry snow pack. It consists of a wedged capacitance tip mounted at th e end of a penetration pole. By appropriate placement of its reference , guard and sensor conductive surfaces, the capacitor sheds horizontal electric field lines resolving horizontal snow layers of 2.5-mm thick ness. A prototype of the probe was tested at the mountain resort of Al ta near Salt Lake City, Utah. There, it recorded the real and imaginar y parts of the dielectric constant through a typical winter snow pack. Using independent calibrations, measurements of the dielectric modulu s provided an accurate profile of density later confirmed by the excav ation of a detailed snow cover profile. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.