6.1.4 Snow profiles

The primary goal of measuring a snowpack in the context of avalanches is to assess the stability of the layers. The measurement of all of the layer qualities is called a snow profile.

A hypothetical full snow profile, showing the temperature and hardness data

The snow profile is created by recording the following characteristics for each layer:

  • Degree of wetness
  • Density and snow water equivalent
  • Depth
  • Hardness
  • Snow grain size and type (including whether bonding exists)
  • Temperature gradient
  • Shear quality

We'll examine these characteristics in more detail on the following pages.