Nordic Hydrology, 32 (I), 2001, 1 - 12 N o part may be reproduced by any process without complete reference Snow Distribution at a High Arctic Site at Svalbard Oddbjarrn Brulandl, Knut Sand2, and h u n d Killingtveitl 1Norwegian Univ. of Science and Tech., N-7491 Trondheim 2Univ. Courses on Svalbard, N-9170 Longyearbyen, Norway In the Arctic regions snow cover has a major influence on the environment both in a hydrological and ecological context. Due to strong winds and open terrain the snow is heavily redistributed and the snow depth is quite variable. This has a significant influence on the duration of the melting season, on the possibilities of greenhouse gas exchange, the plant growing season and therefore the arctic ter- restrial fauna. The aim of this study is to describe the snow depth variability by detailed measurement of snow distribution in a 3 km2 site near to ~ ~ - A l e s u n d at 79" north of Svalbard and to link this to topography and climate at the location. The measurements were carried out in a grid of 100 m by 100 m cells using the SIR-2 Georadar from Geophysical Survey System Inc. (GSSI). Differential GPS was used to create a detailed Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and the snow depth data were correlated to topographic data. The aver- age snowdepth in the area was about 70 cm with a standard deviation of 40 cm. Statistical distribution and spatial correlation for the snow depths were found. The method was found acceptable for snow distribution mapping. The main ob- servation was the major accumulation in the west facing slopes due to easterly winds that are dominant in this area. Introduction As long as a thick layer of snow covers the surface of the arctic tundra the tempera- ture of soil underlaid by permafrost is kept well below OoC and the processes within the active layer are retarded. During the period of snowmelt the snow cover gets Downloaded from http://iwaponline.com/hr/article-pdf/32/1/1/5422/1.pdf by guest on 18 August 2022