Snow pillow
A snow pillow is a device for measuring snowpack, especially for automated reporting stations such as SNOTEL.
![](../I/m/SNOTEL_site_454.jpg)
The snow pillow measures the water equivalent of the snow pack based on hydrostatic pressure created by overlying snow.[1]. Any discrepancy due to bridging is minimized by the large dimension of the pillow, typically 9 square metres (11 sq yd).
Another application for snow pillows is to estimate the snow weight on a roof to warn of potential for roof collapse.
Snow pillows were developed in the early 1960s.[2]
Set-up
Large dimensions (e.g. size 3 × 3m) of the pillow prevent any bridging that might occur from having an effect on the measurement readings. For snow pressure measurement on roofs using a smaller snow pillow (e.g. 1 × 1m) is the better choice, because of the weight of the filling of the snow pillow.
See also
References
- "Snow Pillow". Glossary of Meteorology. American Meteorological Society. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
- R.T. Beaumont, Soil Conservation Service, Portland, Oregon (October 1965). "Mt. Hood Pressure Pillow Snow Gage". American Meteorology Society. Retrieved 2007-09-10.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)