The release of water from forest snowpacks during winter

Harold F. Haupt

Treesearch

The release of water from forest snowpacks during winter

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Harold F. Haupt

Year:

1972

Type:

Research Paper

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Res. Pap. INT-RP-114. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 17 p.

Download (PDF 1.60 MB)

Download (PDF 1.60 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/49033.pdf

Abstract

In the northern Rocky Mountains, in Idaho, data collected during three winters demonstrate why there is always less snow beneath the canopy of a cedar-hemlock forest than in the adjacent small openings. The author presents as evidence the differential release of water, which originates in the canopy as throughfall-drip, thus accounting for part of the deficiency in snow water equivalent beneath the canopy by April 1. Such informative data were made possible by a new instrument designed to collect waterflow from the snowpack.

Keywords

snowpacks, winter, waterflow, canopy

Citation

Haupt, Harold F. 1972. The release of water from forest snowpacks during winter. Res. Pap. INT-RP-114. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 17 p.