snow science (amber group 7a)
TRANSCRIPT
Background Information
Snow Grain InformationGrain types are rounds, facets, depth hoar and melt freeze crust.
Rounds and melt freeze crust both bond well together making the snow more stabile.
Facets and depth hoar do not blend together well making the snow less stabile and vulnerable to avalanches.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Background Info continued...
Avalanche Causes
Triggers start an avalanches.
Anchors stop avalanches.
Avalanches are effected by weather, terrain, and snowpack.
Monday, March 9, 2009
What does density mean?
Density is a measurement of mass and volume.
Density can be found in snow by calculating mass divided by volume.
Dense snow is snow that is thickly packed and bonded together well.
Density is measured in g/cm cubed.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Avalanche Safety
On average 6 people die in Colorado each year because of avalanches.
It is important to understand dangers of avalanches and what can affect them.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Hypothesis
Yes the density will effect stability.
Because we think the more dense the snow is the more it can withstand making it more stabile (rounds or melt freeze crust are the most dense of snow grains).
We think this because the dense snow will bond together and be more stabile.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Materials used in our project
popsicle sticks-labeling layers
measuring stick-measuring the height of the snow pit
shovel-compresion and sheer tests
Saw-cutting out chunks for stability tests
Ruler-measuring the height of the snow pit
Tube-calculating density
Spatula-for leveling out the snow in the tube
Squares of felt-looking at the grain type of the snow
Magnifying glass-looking at the grain
Pencil and paper-recording dataMonday, March 9, 2009
Procedure
Dig 3 pits in 3 different places
Control variables
Find layers
Measure density
Do stability tests
Find temperatureMonday, March 9, 2009
Variables That We Can Control
Aspect-north facing
Height of pit-between 66-101cm.
Elevation-10100 ft. to 10800 ft.
Slope-between 22 degrees and 25 degrees
location-coniferous,shady areas
Monday, March 9, 2009
Data Analysis
EnergyQ0-The snow had no failure and was very safe
Q1-A very clean break in the snow which is unsafe for avalanches!
Q2-A combination of a very clean, unsafe break and a safe, “caky” break
Q3-A very safe break where all the snow doesn’t pop out, it resists and falls out like a piece of cake
Monday, March 9, 2009
Data Anaysis Continued
Sally Barber 1:20 PM- compression=Q0 and sheer=Q2
Peru Creek 10:45 AM- compression=Q0 and sheer=Q0
Peru Creek 12:25 PM- compression=Q2 and sheer=Q0
Monday, March 9, 2009
ConclusionDensity of snow does not affect the stability of the snowpack.
The snowpack will still break under pressure no matter what the density is.
Snowpack will still withstand no matter what the density is.
Monday, March 9, 2009
ErrorsWe only dug three pits, so it would have been better to have more data to work with.
We could have had the same people perform the same tests, because different people have different ways of hitting the snowpack in the stability tests, therefore affecting the tests.
We could have controlled the height of the pits more
Monday, March 9, 2009