Physical Properties of the Snow Cover in the Ft. Greely Area, Alaska
Abstract
The Fort Greely area in the interior of Alaska is especially interesting because it has such a wide variety of snow types. It contains the low density snow, consisting mostly of depth hoar, which is typical of wind sheltered valleys. It also has hard windpacked snow in unforested places because of the prevalence of strong winds from Isabell Pass in the Alaska Range. The snow structure evolves through the winter in different ways, depending on exposure to wind and to temperature gradients in the snow. The effect of snow structure on vehicle traffic is extremely variable from place to place. This is documented by measurements of density, temperature, and ram hardness together with 21 photographs and 9 line drawings.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0749245
Entities
People
- Carl S. Benson
Organizations
- Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory