In-situ snow temperature monitoring at an Arctic tundra site: A comparison of manual and automatic measurements (scientific note)

The physical properties of snow in the Arctic play an important role for the surface energy balance and Arctic biota. By measuring snow temperatures, the physical condition of the snowpack can be monitored. Conventionally, snow scientists measure snow temperature vs. depth in snow pits. An alternative to those destructive and time-consuming measurements is automated temperature logging using permanently installed sensors. At an Arctic research site on Svalbard we did both, manual and automatic snow temperature measurements. The measurements were performed before and after the onset of melt in May and June 1998,when various snow properties change quickly. Our results show that in the lower part of the snowpack, both datasets deviate usually not more than ±0.2℃. In the upper part of the snow pack, measurements are often distorted by solar radiation, especially after the onset of melt, once the snow is more transparent due to metamorphosis. When measuring in snow pits, shadowing the surface can reduce this effect. A substantial advantage of the automatic measurements is the better temporal resolution and the non-destructiveness. On the other hand. from manual snow-pit measurements, multi-parameter datasets in combination with sampling on regional scales can be collected