Evaporation of snow crystals and snowflakes (abstract)

Experiments to evaporate natural snow crystals and snowflakes under a polarization microscope were carried out at Sapporo in 1987. Evaporation of snow crystals and snowflakes occurred preferentially at pointed ends and shapes of evaporating crystals were similar to their growth forms although their pointed ends had rather rounded surfaces. However, the following two kinds of phenomena were also observed when dendrites, rimed plates and irregular poly-crystals were evaporated at -3∿-