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Measuring weather
Snowfall accumulation is often measured manually. Since snow depth can vary significantly over a small area due to drifting of the snow and land that is not consistently flat, observers measure snow depth with measuring sticks in areas, which appear to be representative of the surrounding area. They make about 10 measurements, and report the average depth. In the event of new snow falling on top of old snow, boards are placed on top of the previous snowfall after that snow event has ended. Snow accumulating on that surface is reported as new snowfall.
CoCoRaHS is a great
example of regular people making and reporting observations. It is a group of
volunteers that form a high-density network of precipitation measurements at
home. To the right, each tiny blue dot represents a CoCoRaHS volunteer. That's
a lot of observations!
Next page
->
in situ, upper air measurements
Links and resources
Snowfall accumulation is often measured manually. Since snow depth can vary significantly over a small area due to drifting of the snow and land that is not consistently flat, observers measure snow depth with measuring sticks in areas, which appear to be representative of the surrounding area. They make about 10 measurements, and report the average depth. In the event of new snow falling on top of old snow, boards are placed on top of the previous snowfall after that snow event has ended. Snow accumulating on that surface is reported as new snowfall.
CoCoRaHS is a great
example of regular people making and reporting observations. It is a group of
volunteers that form a high-density network of precipitation measurements at
home. To the right, each tiny blue dot represents a CoCoRaHS volunteer. That's
a lot of observations!
Next page
->
in situ, upper air measurementsLinks and resources
