The development of a device to use snow acoustics to measure snowpack physical properties by Centre for Hydrology student Nicholas Kinar was featured in the January edition of Canadian Geographic.
The System for Acoustic Sensing of Snow, SAS2, was developed by Nicholas to investigate how snowpack density, depth, wetness, temperature and structure affect sound waves and how sound waves can be used to measure these properties without disturbing the snowpack. It is uniquely capable of measuring a wide range of snow properties in both cold and melting snowpacks of varying depth and has been configured in stationary and portable versions.
Nicholas is completing his PhD in the Dept of Geography & Planning under the supervision of Dr John Pomeroy, and has won several national and international awards for his research.