central Germany are 2030 cm, with midwinter

average snow densities of 0.250.30 g/cm3. A

good set of worst-case numbers for central Germa-

ny are a minimum snow density of 0.04 g/cm3 and

a maximum snow depth of 60 cm. [The minimum

snow density value is slightly lower than the low-

est value obtained in the field mobility tests at

CRREL, reported by Richmond (1993).]

One of the relatively few locations where snow-

fall and snow depth data are readily available is

Fulda (U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Dept. of Com-

merce 1992). The average January temperature at

Fulda was approximately 0.3C over the period of

record (19601990). This implies an estimated av-

erage maximum snow depth of 15.6 cm. The aver-

age of the recorded yearly snow depth maxima

over the same period of record was 12.3 cm, which

means that the algorithm is somewhat inaccurate

in this case, but still close enough to be useful for

initial mobility analysis purposes, in the absence

Figure 1. Average annual snowfall (cm), Hunfeld

of further information. Two important parameters

Quadrangle area. (After Causey and West 1990.)

have been left out of this simple algorithm: eleva-

The most obvious limitation of Bates and

tion and wind speed. Fulda's elevation (301 m) is

Bilello's approach is that Germany is not the U.S.

relatively high for central Germany (though obvi-

However, the German snowfall data do appear to

ously much lower than the more alpine locations

be similar to the U.S. data, and it seems safe to

to the south), as is its average wind speed (5 knots,

assume (in the absence of better data) that snow

or 2.6 m/s).

values are comparable in the two regions.