Experimental Snow Sensors
The Marquette Office of the National Weather Service is participating in the automated snow sensor project. In the course of this project, graphs of the snow measurements are created. This page shares these graphs with the public. Please note that due to the developmental nature of this project and the fact that the sensors are not located in the same location that the official measurements are taken, it is unlikely that these graphs will match up with the official snow depth reported for each day. We are currently collecting data from three Snow Sensors installed in a field next to the office.
The Snow Sensor probes are mounted above a standard snow board. The sensors sends ultrasonic pulses downward and listens for the echo. As the distance between the sensor and the snow surface decreases, the time it takes for the echo to return also decreases. By measuring the time between the pulse and its return echo, the distance between the sensor and the snow surface can be calculated. High winds can affect the readings and the graphs will occasionally show a large vertical spike, these spikes are usually caused by high winds.
The sensor head also contains a temperature probe, allowing temperature data to be recorded concurrently with the snow depth.
Every five minutes, the system's PC obtains a reading of both snow depth and air temperature from the Snow Sensor probes. These values are then recorded in a MySQL database. Once an hour, a routine runs that updates the graphical data view provided on this web page.
Because this is an experimental project to explore the effectiveness of automated snow sensors in the National Weather Service, it is necessary to occasionally verify that what the sensors are reporting reflects actual snow depth. To simplify this "sanity checking" process, the mounting posts for the Snow Sensor probes have been marked at six inch intervals. The current actual snow depth can be easily eyeballed at a distance, so as to not disturb the snow pack around the probe.
Reading the Graph
The white area indicates the amount of snow the sensor detected, averaged for the three sensors, measured in inches and plotted against the scale on the left edge of the graph. The red line indicates the temperature the sensor detected, measured in degrees Celsius and plotted against the scale on the right edge of the graph. When the temperature scale includes 0° Celsius, a yellow "Freeze Line" will appear marking the freezing point of water.
The time of each reading is plotted against the scale on the bottom of the graph.
GRAPH CREATION WILL BE RESUMED WITH THE FIRST SNOWFALL OF 2008/2009
Select Available Graphs by Date
2008-04-23
2008-04-18
2008-04-17
2008-04-16
2008-04-15
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