Snow and Snow Cover — GEOS F694-UX1
CRN |
Course Dates |
Description |
Instructor |
Credits |
Notes |
Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75941 | 2021-08-23 to 2021-12-11 | Matthew Sturm | 3.00 | Graduate standing Snow cover properties condition the sub-nivean environment for plants, animals and winter biogeochemical processing, while the snow cover distribution and surface radiative properties affect energy balance and the climate. This course will examine the ramifications of these properties at local to regional scales, review the current state of the art for snow remote sensing and explore the role snow and snow cover play in the Arctic ecosystems and human society. Lectures and labs will emphasize description, interpretation and analysis of snow and snow in the environment, including precipitation processes, snow redistribution, energy balance, snow stratigraphy, slope stability and avalanches. Field trips provide opportunities to examine how a snow cover builds up through a sequence of weather events, track the internal grain-scale metamorphic processes that alter the snow layers (wet and dry metamorphism) and examine the resulting physical, mechanical and thermal characteristics of snow layers and snow covers. |