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Hot Plate Sensor at GCPEx

Close-up of the hot-plate sensor
Image Caption
The Hot Plate sensor provides a measure of the density of the snowflakes by forcing the top and bottom of the plates to be the same (hot) temperature. As snow (or rain) falls on the plate, they cool it.

The sensor reacts by applying voltage to maintain the equal temperatures. The voltage is then converted to Watts (a measure of the power taken to evaporate the precipitation). This power is divided by the heat needed to evaporate one gram of water, thus providing the total grams of water falling on the hot plate. Photo taken 7 February 2012.

GCPEx Ground Instruments

Multiple GCPEx ground instruments at the CARE site.
Image Caption
Three GCPEx precipitation sensors with the Environment Canada building in the background, taken 7 February 2012.

Note the low snow amounts on the ground. Sensors left to right are: ADMIRARI (radiometer; U. Bonn), D3R (radar; NASA), DPR (radar; U. Koln). [This dual-precipitation radar (DRR) is not the same as to be on the GPM spacecraft.] 

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Falling Snowflakes Seen by the Snow Video Imager

Black and white image of snowflakes from the Snow Video imager
Image Caption
This image of falling snowflakes was taken by the Snow Video Imager (SVI) at one of the auxiliary ground sites at GCPEx, the Steamshow Fairgrounds.

The SVI is set up about a foot off the ground and the snowflakes are falling from top to bottom through the frame. They can bee seen here in different three-dimensional orientations at 5x magnification.

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