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Amount of Soil Ice Predicted from Weather Observations

Cary, J.W. (1982) Amount of Soil Ice Predicted from Weather Observations. Agricultural Meteorology. 27(82):35-43.

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Abstract

An equation has been developed that gives the net daily heat flux across the soil
surface in the winter. The equation is based on the Fourier heat flow relation using the
thermal gradients and conductivity at the soil surface. Input requires the daily maximum /
minimum air temperatures, solar radiation and snow depth. The cumulative daily soil heat
flux was used to estimate the amount of ice in the soil. Several years of data from weather
stations near Lafayette, Indiana, and Twin Falls, Idaho, were used to test this approach.
Given a site constant that accounts for soil type and cover conditions, it appears that the
presence or absence of soil ice can generally be correctly predicted at least 70% of the
time over a period of years that includes both warm and cold extremes.

Item Type: Article
NWISRL Publication Number: 0495
Subjects: Soil
Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User: Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2010 21:52
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2017 22:34
Item ID: 391
URI: https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/391