Sam Colbeck
Mondays 12:00 – 2:00 PM
January 9 through February 13, 2006
D.O.C. House
Snow cover is the source of water for much of the world including the western US. Hydrological forecasting is critical for both flooding and seasonal planting. Understanding the snow’s highly variable nature is critical to maximizing water use while minimizing flood damage.
The seasonal snow cover is an ever-changing medium of ice, water and air. Its development over the winter and its physical properties will be described along with the release of avalanches, the physics of glide and the role of the snow cover in the water cycle. The standard tools for doing snow measurements will be shown and students can take weekly measurements as the snow cover evolves over the winter. The evolution of different layers with different crystal types will be explained in terms of basic physics using concepts like temperature profiles, density and grain size. The mechanism that accounts for the low frictions of snow and ice will be explained and illustrated with temperature measurements while gliding.
SAM COLBECK has graduate degrees in both engineering and science, has taught both disciplines at the graduate level, and has worked at both. He spent nearly fifty years as a climber and skier and has been involved in snow and ice research for forty years. He has published in twenty-five technical journals, edited five journals, has been President of the International Glaciological Society, and has received six awards for his research. The physics of the seasonal snow cover is his greatest interest.
