Comparison of two methods for remote measurement of snow depth

Hourly snow depth and snowpack temperatures were measured in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah over the winter of 1988-89. Measurements were retrieved remotely via a radio frequency link. A commercial acoustic sensor originally developed by Atmospheric Environment Service, Canada (Goodison, et al., 1988) was used for the snow depth measurements. A thermocouple (TC) string constructed to minimize heat transfer along the TC wires was used to measure temperatures in a profile at 10 cm spacings.The acoustic sensor performed well but disagreement with manual readings was often greater than the manufacturer's rated accuracy of +/-1 cm. New low density snow was sometimes underestimated. Snow depths estimated from the maximum daily temperature difference observed at a given height were generally within 1-2 TC spacings. The effects of heat conducted from the air to the TC junctions is evident in the measurements of the upper portion of the pack.