Mark W. Williams

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research

Department of Geography

SYLLABUS: SNOW HYDROLOGY (Geog 4321/5321) Spring 2005

Instuctor: Mark Williams

Teaching Assistant: Craig Anderson

• E-mail: cranders@snobear.colorado.edu
• Office hours: WF 11-1
• Room: Guggenheim Rm 312
• Phone: 303.492.3728 or 303.735.6339

Students should take this course who are interested in the various processes related to snow in mid-latitude and polar areas. Students will learn the physics and chemistry that underlie processes such as snow metamporphism, and apply this knowledge to real situations, including calculation of basin storage of water, runoff rates, acid snow, avalanche dynamics, and most important of all, the physics of skiing. The course will cover snow formation in the atmosphere, snow accumulation and distribution, snow metamorphism, avalanche dynamics, snowmelt and runoff, remote sensing of snow properties, and case studies in the Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and China. Prerequisites for Snow Hydrology are a physical geography course or equivalent, and a parametric statistics course. Students who do not have this background may be accepted into the course but will have to obtain the necessary remedial work on their own.

The course is primarily lectures, supplemented with slides, videos, and other media. The emphasis of the course will be on material presented in class. Regular attendance is therefore suggested, since much of the material presented in class is not covered in the text or in supplemental material.

Exams will emphasize understanding, quantitative analysis, and critical thinking, that is the ability to apply knowledge in a new context. The exam format will consist of quantitative problems, short answer, and essay questions. Homework assignments are a large component of your grade; no credit will be given for late homework.

GRADING

**GRADUATE STUDENTS**. All graduate students are required to write a paper for submittal as a conference talk or journal publication. Please see me after class.

The first laboratory meets the week of Jan 24.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you qualify for testing accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. (303-492-8671, Willard 322, www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices). Similarly, if you have problems with the field portion of the class, please contact me about accomodations unique to your personal situation.

STUDENTS WITH RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS

Please notify me of potential conflicts with religious schedules as early in the semester as possible so that there is adequate time to make necessary arrangements.

HONOR CODE

The University has recently adopted a student Honor Code. Information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/

TEXTBOOKS

REQUIRED: The Avalanche Handbook, by David McClung and Peter Schaerer

SUGGESTED READINGS include: (limited copies available at the CU-Bookstore).

• The Physics of Skiing, D. Lind and S. P. Sanders.
• The Handbook of Snow, D. N. Gray and D. H. Male, Pergamon Press. Excellent.
• The Avalanche Book, by Betsy Armstrong and Know Williams.
• Glaciers of North America, by Sue A. Ferguson. Out-of-print; you can get this on Amazon.com.