Development of new snow observation methods in severe climatic and topographic conditions: elucidation of snow melting processes

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14824
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Rural environmental engineering/Planning
• Research Institution: Ishikawa Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: FUJIHARA Yoichi 石川県立大学, 生物資源環境学部, 准教授 (10414038)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 積雪 / 融雪 / 森林 / 山岳 / 気候変動 / 観測 / 水資源 / モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Methods to observe snow accumulation and melting are developed for use in places where snow observation data are difficult to collect, for example, in mountainous and forested areas where few observation studies have been performed. First, the snow temperature profile method is used using small temperature loggers, and improvements are made for increasing the method's practicality. Moreover, a new device is developed to judge the precipitation phase (rain or snow) using sound. Finally, snow depth is measured at numerous points in a forested area, and the relation between snow depth, topographic conditions (elevation and slope direction), and forest conditions (canopy) is investigated.

Free Research Field

水文学　水資源学