Snow is an extremely complex granular material that evolves continually in its structure and physical properties in response to driving forces induced by heat and mass transfer and chemical processes that occur during phase changes. Knowledge of the resulting characteristics is essential to the design and development of systems and materiel that must operate in a snow environment.
Special emphasis is given to the processes that cause the spatial variability of snow cover.
The ability to spatially distribute point data will greatly increase the effectiveness of mobility models and infrared and millimeter-wave sensor performance estimates.