and avalanche safety is the most important one. The snow
depth and wind information are the two most important
parameters to decide the risks for avalanche.”
Sommer says these are driving factors behind his com-pany’s
sensor development which has led to the creation
of maintenance-free snow depth measurement. Sommer
Messtechnik has developed a continuous measurement de-vice
for determining water level and snow depth. It measures
the transit time of an ultrasonic signal between a variable
surface and a sensor, and translates it to a level or distance.
An integrated processor analyzes the detected signal for tem-perature
COVER FEATURE
and filters out precipitation reflections within the
measurement path.
“Basically, you can set the sensor up in a windy site and
the sensor will measure the snow height,” said Sommer. “The
problem is that there may not be much snow throughout the
season and it can change quite often and fast.”
He recommends the snow measurement location be in a
wind-protected, flat and undisturbed site since that will pro-vide
the best measurement results. Resort operators have a
strong understanding of their area and will know best where
to set up the sensors.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF IAN ZINNER
snowopsmag.com | SnowOps 13
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