OVERCOLLECTION OF SOLID PRECIPITATION
BY A STANDARD PRECIPITATION GAGE,
NIWOT RIDGE, COLORADO

Tim Bardsley and Mark W. Williams

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and
Department of Geography, CB 450,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Figure 1.
Belfort precipitation recording gage with wind fence at the Saddle site, elevation 3,500 m. Previous attempts to verify solid precipitation measurements by the Belfort gage with snowboards failed because of the strong winds characteristic of the Saddle area of Niwot Ridge, as evidenced by the snowboard plastered to the wind fence. Measurements of wet chemistry concentration and loading are collected as part of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP). The NADP measurements include a wet deposition collector that is located about 10 meters from the Belfort precipitation collector on Niwot Ridge and which has a moisture sensor that opens the lid of the collector during precipitation events and closes the lid when there is no precipitation.