Journal of the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice

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The intrinsic permeability (permeability) of various types of snow samples was computed by multiplying the air permeability by the viscosity of the samples. The air permeability was measured using a double-cylinder permeameter, and the viscosity was calculated using Sutherland’s equation. Then, the mean grain size (Dg) and mean pore size (dp) were measured using the run-length method. These samples were collected at several sites in Hokkaido Prefecture and at one site in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, over three winters. All the snow samples were dry and had densities (ρs) ranging from 91 to 492 kg m-3 ; permeabilities, from 2.2×10 -10 to 209.2×10 -10 m2 ; Dg, from 0.03 to 0.89 mm; and dp, from 0.28 to 2.26 mm. The prediction formula for permeability was derived using and ρs for all the snow samples as follows: k=1.706 Dg2 e-0.0131ρs The permeability derived using the prediction formula is more sensitive to Dg than to ρs. Additionally, the tortuosity of snow-ratio of the length of the curve of tube to the distance between the ends of it was estimated using Dg the capillary tube model. However, we were unable to obtain reasonable values of the tortuosity. In the future, the objective is to measure the true tortuosity of snow.

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