SNOW FORKS
[Adapted from Snow Fork: A portable instrument for measuring the properties of snow, "http://personal.inet.fi/business/toikka/ToikkaOy/snowfork.htm"] Snow forks are explicitly designed for field use. They are designed to operate in extreme conditions, ranging from rainy weather to as low as 40 °C below zero. The sensor is a steel fork used as a microwave resonator. Snow forks measure electrical parameters: resonant frequency, attenuation and 3-dB bandwidth. The measuring results are used to calculate accurately the complex dielectric constant of snow. Further, the liquid water content and density of snow are calculated using semi-empirical equations. All data will be shown immediately on the display and can be stored in a solid-state memory. Measurements made by a snow fork are reliable because: * there is no sampling * the fork does not compress the snow pack * the measurement is easily repeatable * the instrument can be checked by calibration measurement in the air.
Electrical Meters