Snow Depth Sensor

The USH-8 Ultrasonic Snow Depth Sensor by SOMMER is ideal for the reliable measurement of snow-depth in extreme conditions. The sensor’s principle of measurement deals with the transit-time measurement of an ultrasonic pulse. The sensor transmits several energy-charged pulses to the snow cover and subsequently receives its reflected signals. Based upon the required transit time of the ultrasonic signals, the USH-8 sensor calculates the current snow depth. The processing time of the ultrasonic pulses here is enormously influenced by the air temperature. For this reason, the snow depth sensor also possesses integrated temperature compensation.

This takes into account the influence of the air temperature on the processing time of the ultrasonic signals, in the calculation of the snow depth. The calculation takes place in the sensor, so that the output signal provides the already converted snow depth.

USH-8 Specifications:

Snow Depth Measurement

Range of measurement: 0 to 8 m

Minimum distance to the maximum expected snow depth: 1 m

Accuracy: 0,1 % (FS)

Resolution 1 mm

Principle of measurement: Ultrasonic (Frequency 50 kHz; Angle of reflected beam 12°)

Integrated Compensation of the Air Temperature

Temperature sensor: Integrated air-temperature sensor in self-venting radiation shield

Range of measurement: -35 to 60 °C

Resolution: 0,1 °C

Non-linearity: ? 0,15 %

Interfaces

Analogue: Snow depth measurement

0/4 - 20 mA signal (configurable)

Resolution: 12 Bit

Max. load: 300 ?

Digital: Snow depth measurement; air temperature; quality flag

RS 232; serial interface

Protocol: Various ASCII formats

Citation proposal
(2014) . Snow Depth Sensor. https://geoportal.mountaingenius.org/geonetwork/srv/api/records/8004df2d-0107-4dfa-af22-b3aa53ecef6e

Simple

Date ( Publication ): 2014-09-02T19:08:00

Edition

Purpose

This sensor garamtees:

- precise measurement of snow-depth in extreme conditions

- additional air-temperature detection feature to measure snow-depth over a wide temperature range

- the powerful ultrasonic impulses emitted by this sensor deliver reliable readings even when there is a difficult reflection ratio, as is the case with fresh snow.

Status: On going

Point of contact

Ev-K2-CNR - ( )

Via San Bernardino 145 Bergamo BG 24126 Italy

+39 035 3230511

+39 035 3230551

Website: http://www.evk2cnr.org/

Maintenance and update frequency: As needed

Keywords ( Theme )

NEXTDATA

Keywords ( Theme )

NEXTDATA

Keywords ( Theme )

SHARE , monitoring network , station , snow level

Keywords ( Theme )

NEXTDATA

Keywords ( Theme )

SHARE , monitoring network , station , snow level

Keywords ( Theme )

NEXTDATA

Keywords ( Theme )

SHARE , monitoring network , station , snow level

Keywords ( Theme )

NEXTDATA

Keywords ( Theme )

SHARE , monitoring network , station , snow level

Use limitation: Data Sharing and Publication Policy at DISTRIBUTION SECTION

Access constraints: Intellectual property rights

Other constraints

Spatial representation type: Vector

Character set: UTF8

Topic category

Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere
Geoscientific information
Environment

Reference system identifier: EPSG / WGS 84 (EPSG:4326) / 7.4

Topology level: Geometry only

Geometric object type: Point

Geometric object count: 1

OnLine resource: SHARE Geonetwork
SHARE Geonetwork

OnLine resource: gn:share_station
Show geographic position

OnLine resource: View in Google Earth
View in Google Earth

OnLine resource: SHARE_DSPP_10042014.pdf
SHARE Data Sharing and Publication Policy

OnLine resource: Data_Request_Form.pdf
SHARE Meteorological Data Request Form

Hierarchy level: Series

Statement

The automatic weather stations (AWS) for monitor meteorological conditions are currently included in the SHARE network.

An automatic weather station (AWS) is defined as a “meteorological station at which observations are made and transmitted automatically” (WMO, 1992a).

In particular, in the framework of the SHARE project for all parameters, the data has been visually checked, looking for extremely and unusual low/high values and/or periods with constant values.