Some Results of the Investigations
of the Physical Properties of Snow in the Mountain Regions
Leonid Kanaev1
Investigations of the physical properties of snow cover began at the end of the 1950s, and now vast
amounts of information presenting a definite interest have been compiled. A great part of these
investigations is devoted to the determination of the snow strength characteristics in the prospecting
pits. These observations were being conducted on the stationary platforms (in the snow avalanche
stations) and were used for determination of the snow cover stability while determining avalanche
vanishing time.
During the first years of these observations, analyzing such parameters as temporary shear and rup-
ture strength was revealed that made the use of the obtained data in the analysis difficult. Accord-
ingly, apart from the differential estimates of the snow bed stability, experiments on the study of
snow acoustic characteristics and their correlations with bed strength on the mountainside have been
carried out during some winter seasons. The results of these experiments raised our hopes, giving the
integral of the snow cover stability on a great part of the area. It was established that, depending on
snow stressed state, intensity of snow acoustic emission can define a decrease rate of snow cover
stability that is illustrated by reduction rate of snow depth strength as a rule on its weaker level.
Besides the given estimates during some winter seasons, the experimental data of the snow sliding
and sedimentation have been obtained. The snow cover temperature observations form a large scope
of the work; more informative are the observations conducted by the thermostationary plants. These
observations have made it possible to draw a number of the important conclusions, the most consid-
erable of which are the following:
1. Temperature measurement in the beds is good to work on by means of the multidimensional
statistic analysis using density, depth of the thermometer setting, and so on.
2. Temperature investigations allow a conclusion about the predominant type of the snow metamor-
phism (recrystalization) in the conditions of Uzbekistan. Sedimentation is a type of metamorphism.
Constructive metamorphism snows only in definite years (on the average once in 812 years) and to
a great extent has a local character.
The information gained from studying such snow properties as sedimentation and sliding makes it
possible to solve the different problems, not only in the regional aspect, but also generalizing the
results of the studying of snow physical properties.
1 Central Asian Research Hydrometeorological Institute (SANIGMI), Republic of Uzbekistan, 700052, Tash-
kent, K. Makhsumov st., 72
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