Development of an instrument to measure density and moisture content of snow

Introduction Knowledge of snow parameters is important for climatology, meteorology, hydrology, flood prevention and hydropower industry. Liquid water in a snow pack shows a dominant effect on reflection, absorption and transmission of electromagnetic waves especially in microwave region. Liquid water in snow plays a major role in metamorphism, mechanics and hydrology of snow, and in soil engineering. Conventional techniques to measures snow density and moisture are very complex and time consuming. Complex dielectric constant of snow is a measure of its response to applied electromagnetic wave. This study presents design and development by CSIO Chandigarh, in association with SASE, a DRDO laboratory, of a microcontroller-based instrument to measure snow moisture and density.