zhou_2004.htm
Bulletin of Glaciological Research 21 (2004)
23-30
©Japanese Society of Snow and Ice
An estimate of spatial ratios for preferential water flow in a melting snowpack
Shiqiao ZHOU1, Hideki NARITA2, Keisuke SUZUKI3 and Masayoshi NAKAWO2
1 College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081 China
2 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 602-0878 Japan
3 Department of Environmental Sciences, Shinshu University, Matsumoto 390-8621 Japan
Abstract
Observations were made on the diurnal variations of discharge solute concentrations of a melting snowpack. The eluted solute amount, from the pack in one day in the late melt season, accounts for less than 23% of the total amount in the waters held in the pack before discharge increasing in the day. Based on the preferential flow model, this ratio can be interpreted into spatial ratios of the preferential flow. It is estimated that the spatial ratio of the preferential flow channels to the whole pore volume of the snowpack is below 32%, which includes 13% for the main channels and 19% for the non-main channels.
