The actual amount of precipitation is generally underestimated in the case of snowfall. Meteorologists are working on methods that are already in use to measure precipitation more accurately.
Meteorologist Kay Helfricht investigated the accuracy of precipitation measurements during snowfall in a project funded by the Weiss Science Foundation and coordinated by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. He was able to show a way to correct systematic errors at automatic measuring stations.
Precipitation that falls on the ground in liquid form can be measured with relatively high accuracy. As soon as it turns to snowfall, however, various difficulties arise. For mountain regions, the amount of snow is an important piece of information. It serves to estimate the danger of avalanches, to plan road clearance or to determine meltwater quantities that have a major influence on hydro-electric power generation. Determining snow quantities involves a variety of measures such as manual measurements by human snow observers or fully automated measuring stations, and each of these comes with different benefits and disadvantages. In areas exposed to strong winds, automated measurements of precipitation and snow depth are sometimes unreliable. Manual measurements are usually performed only once a day. The Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) operates automated snow depth measurement stations throughout Austria.
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