Continuous observations of water-equivalent of snow-depth by cosmic-ray snow gauge

Abstract

During the period from December 1977 to May 1978, continuous observations of water-equivalents of snow depths using cosmic-ray snow gauges were carried out at three locations : Mt. Iwakisan, Takada and Mt. Arimine. It is shown that day-to-day variations of water-equivalent thus obtained are in good agreement with those measured by conventional instruments such as a snow sampler or a gamma-ray snow gauge. Discussions are given of the snow melting rate and the snow density, and it is suggested that this new snow gauge may attain an importance equivalent to that of the snow sampler method.