Deep snow measurements suggested using cosmic radiation

Abstract

The attenuation of highly penetrating cosmic radiation shows promise as a means of measuring the water equivalent of snow cover. The attenuation of cosmic radiation by water is sufficient to make the method practicable, especially for deep snow. As an example, statistical counting errors in a two‐detector setup (using 10 cm by 10 cm Nal(Tl) scintillation detectors, one above the snow and one beneath the snow) would produce a water equivalent measurement accuracy of better than 1% in measuring 100 cm of water with a 24‐hour measurement time.

Snow accumulation, distribution, melt, and runoff

“…For extremely deep snow, a cosmic ray detector can be placed at ground level to indicate the snow's water equivalent, by measuring the reduction of cosmic flux by the snow [Bissell and Burson, 1974]. In this method, which has been tested in the USSR, the measurement error is relatively insensitive to water equivalent and thus becomes relatively small in deeper snow.…”