Regional characteristics of snow cover by multipoint snow pit observations conducted during the heavy snowfall of 2005/2006 winter in Japan

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  • KAWASHIMA Katsuhisa
    Research Center for Natural Hazards and Disaster Recovery, Niigata University
  • IZUMI Kaoru
    Research Center for Natural Hazards and Disaster Recovery, Niigata University
  • IYOBE Tsutomu
    Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu
  • ABE Osamu
    Shinjo Branch, Snow and Ice Research Center, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention
  • KOSUGI Kenji
    Shinjo Branch, Snow and Ice Research Center, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention
  • YAMAGUCHI Satoru
    Snow and Ice Research Center, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention
  • TAKEUCHI Yukari
    Tohkamachi Experimental Station, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
  • KAWADA Kunio
    Center for Far Eastern Studies, Toyama University
  • TAKEI Iwao
    Center of Development for Education, Hokuriku University

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Other Title
  • 広域一斉積雪断面観測による平成１８年豪雪における積雪の地域特性の研究
  • コウイキ イッセイ セキセツ ダンメン カンソク ニ ヨル ヘイセイ 18ネン ゴウセツ ニ オケル セキセツ ノ チイキ トクセイ ノ ケンキュウ

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to clarify the regional characteristics of snow cover during the winter monsoon season of 2006 when many regions in Japan witnessed record snowfall, which was officially named “Heisei 18 Heavy Snowfall”. Pit-wall observations of snow cover were carried out at the beginning and end of February 2006, at 46 and 26 sites, respectively. Consequently, the major difference in snow characteristics from region to region was found to manifest in the degree of melt-freeze metamorphism. That is, the ratio of granular snow thickness to the total snow depth had a tendency to increase with a decrease in the latitude and altitude. The mean snow density tended to be greater at lower latitudes, irrespective of the altitude. Although the mean snow hardness increased with a decrease in the latitude at the beginning of February, this trend disappeared at the end of February. By comparing the Ram hardness data at Tohkamachi obtained in this study with those accumulated since the 1980s, the mean Ram hardness in February 2006 was observed to be the highest in the past 20 years. The remarkable rise in snow hardness in the mountainous regions of Niigata Prefecture is believed to be one of the most noticeable features of snow cover in the winter of extraordinarily heavy snowfall.

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