Characteristics of snowfalls and snowpacks and an overview of snow and ice research in Japan during the past 50 years
1989 Volume 98 Issue 5 Pages 671-687
Details
1989 Volume 98 Issue 5 Pages 671-687
It is an unavoidable situation, many big cities and towns are located in the heavy snow. fall areas of Japan.
A typical cloud pattern over the sea of Japan which will produce a heavy snowfall is shown with the resulting observed snowfall.
Variations of the snowpack depth on the ground are shown in space and time. Return periods for the maximum snow depth are shown for five points in Japan. Differences in the depth and stratum of snowpacks at five places in Japan are also shown. The differences of the snow strata and the daily changes are shown from the north to the south for four places in Japan.
A survey of snow and ice research in Japan during the past 50 years was carried out along with the activities of the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice. It was revealed from the survey that a wide range of research works on snow and ice have been carried out in the past 50 years. They included artifical snow crystal growth studies, observation of snow crystals in the atmosphere, physical studies of snowpacks, snow accretion on wires and riming studies, mechanical properties of snow and ice, dislocation studies of ice, sea ice studies, frost heaving studies, how to remove or how to prevent snow from railways, runways, roads, roof etc., searches of the best cloth in winters, how plants survive the cold, etc. These scientific or enginnering research works are recorded in “Seppyo”(Japanese Journal of the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice), “Teionkagaku”(Japanese J. issued from the Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University) or other journals which are printed from their own research institutes.
The number of the papers which were presented in the annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice increased rather dramatically around 1969. Recently the number is approximately 180, because the number of presentations at the annual meeting is limited by the lack of presentation time.
Finally, a view of future research works, both in fundamental and applied problems on snow and ice and H2O is presented.
