A microstructural perspective on snow physics

Séminaire de Henning Loewe (WSL, Davos), Jeudi 4 Octobre 2018 a 15h en salle Lliboutry, Bâtiment de Glaciologie

A microstructural perspective on snow physics

Séminaire de Henning Loewe (WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, Davos)

Contemporary questions in cryospheric sciences often rely on constraining the impact of snow by utilizing measurements and models for different physical processes.
The physics of snow thereby manifests itself in different material properties that describe e.g. the electromagnetic, thermal, dielectric, mechanical or flow behavior of snow. And as a matter of fact, any material property is intrinsically tied to the microstructure of the porous material.
In this talk I will give an overview about recent and ongoing work on snow microstructure conducted in our group, comprising results from (tomography) experiments, simulations, field campaigns, and theory.
I will focus on breadth rather than depth when addressing various examples in the context of microwaves, mechanics and metamorphism to illustrate the background of my collaborations with IGE and CEN.