Verification of snow-pillow measures through snow stratigraphy profiles for the determination of the Snow Water Equivalent in Valgrosina (northern Italy)
Altro
Data di Pubblicazione:
2023
Citazione:
Verification of snow-pillow measures through snow stratigraphy profiles for the determination of the Snow Water Equivalent in Valgrosina (northern Italy) / C.A.S. Camera, A. Citrini, A. Morcioni, C. Casarotto, G.P. Beretta. ((Intervento presentato al 6. convegno Flowpath: National Meeting on Hydrogeology tenutosi a St. Julian's, Malta nel 2023.
Abstract:
Snow plays a crucial role in the Alpine environment, since many diverse human activities, directly on
indirectly, deeply rely on it. Estimating the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is particularly important to
determine water resources available through snowmelt. The overall objective of this study is to estimate
the spatial-temporal evolution of the Snow Water Equivalent in Valgrosina, a tributary valley of
Valtellina, which is exploited for hydropower production by A2A S.p.A. Specific objectives include: i)
the verification of snow density measures at two meteorological stations equipped with snow-pillow;
ii) the correlation of snow density and snow height manual, discontinuous, point measures with
morphological characteristics and continuous data; iii) the development of a procedure to derive spatial
maps of SWE.
During the winter season 2022-2023, four field campaigns were organized for measuring snow
properties. The campaigned were carried out one per month, from December to March, to consider the
evolution of the snow cover with the season. During each campaign, a snow stratigraphy profile was
executed close to each of the two meteorological stations equipped with snow-pillow. Each profile was
characterized in terms of snow height, temperature at 5-cm intervals, snow penetration resistance, snow
density and number of layers. Each layer was described in terms of humidity, average grain size and
form, and hardness (hand test). Comparisons between continuous station data and profiles were made
to verify the similarity of density measures and relate possible inconsistencies to specific layer
properties. Snow depth and snow density manual measures were performed at other locations in the
valley, characterized by different elevation, slope and aspect in comparison to the stations and the
complete profiles. An exploratory analysis was carried out to correlate continuous measures to point
measures through morphometric variables.
Preliminary results show a high spatial variability of snow height and a tendency of snow-pillow to
underestimate snow density and SWE (between 37% and 55%) in comparison to profiles. This
underestimation is variable according to snow layer thickness and hardness. For reliable correlations, a
second group of campaigns will be carried out next winter, selecting measuring points a-priori based on morphometric characteristics. The possibility to introduce indirect spatial measures through
geophysical instrumentation will be explored too.
Tipologia IRIS:
14 - Intervento a convegno non pubblicato
Keywords:
water resources; snow density; field measures; Alpine environment
Elenco autori:
C.A.S. Camera, A. Citrini, A. Morcioni, C. Casarotto, G.P. Beretta
Link alla scheda completa:
Link al Full Text: