Patent ID: 6313645
Filing Date: 2001-11-06
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method for determining the volumetric proportion of liquid water and the density of snow, including the following method steps:a) installing a probe consisting of at least three electrical conductors which are disposed parallel to, and at different distances from, one another before a snow fall or in an established snow cover,b) applying to two of the conductors an electromagnetic signal with a frequency of which the dielectricity coefficient of the water and the ice are known and determining the dielectricity coefficient of the snow, with an unavoidable air gap around the probe, from the transmission behavior of the electromagnetic signal,c) repeating the determination of the dielectricity coefficient wherein the penetration depth of the measuring field of the probe is different from the first measurement by selecting a different conductor spacing,d) calculating from the two measurements the real dielectricity coefficient, which is not influenced by the gap, by using probe-specific calibration data,e) repeating the method steps b), c), and d) with another measuring frequency for which the dielectricity coefficient of the water and the ice is known, but of which at least one has a value different from before, andf) calculating the volumetric parts of the snow that is of the water, ice and air from the real dielectricity coefficient using the law of mass conservation.