DAILY OBSERVATION OF SNOWDRIFTS AROUND A MODEL CUBE

An investigation of the snowdrifts around a model cube in a field observation was conducted in January and February 1998 in Sapporo, Japan. The cube, which was made from plywood sheets, 1.0 m on each edge, was set on a false floor. The observation duration of each run was one day. The results show that the snowdrifts with the largest depths were windward of the cube, followed by large snowdrifts on each side and leeward of the cube. The strong erosion areas were observed to be nearly surrounding the cube. It was found that when the wind speed exceeded approximately 4 m/s, the wind scoop, which was a combination of areas with a high snow deposit and those without, formed. This wind speed corresponded to the threshold friction velocity of 0.15-0.20 m/s, which agrees with those found in previous studies.