Quantitative Snowfall Distribution Acquisition System with High Spatiotemporal Resolution Using Existing Snowfall Sensors

• Published in: SOLA Vol. 16; pp. 271 - 276
• Main Authors: Yamashita, Katsuya, Yamaguchi, Satoru, Saito, Takayuki, Yamakura, Yuya, Kanda, Eiichiro, Nakai, Sento, Motoyoshi, Hiroki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Meteorological Society of Japan 2020
• ISSN: 1349-6476; 1349-6476
• DOI: 10.2151/sola.2020-045

A system with existing snowfall sensors, which is used to control the operation of the sprinkler snow removal system, was developed to acquire data that can be used to generate snowfall distribution with high spatiotemporal resolution. This had advantages such as low installation and management costs, as well as flexibility with respect to the configuration of its observation points. The results confirmed that this system, developed for experimental purposes in Nagaoka City (Niigata Prefecture), made it possible to generate the snowfall amount distribution as well as the precipitation rate within a 25 km × 30 km area at 10-min intervals based on in-situ measurements conducted at 16 ground-based points. A comparison of the system with other observation systems confirmed that it could detect detailed spatial snowfall variations, which could not be achieved using existing the ground-based observation networks, and provide sufficient observation accuracy for winter road management. Since many snowfall sensors are installed on the Sea of Japan side of mainland of Japan, this system has the potential for extensive application in the snowy areas of Japan characterized by heavy snowfall at temperatures of approximately 0°C.