The physics and mechanics of snow as a material

Abstract : Snow is a porous. permeable aggregate of ice grains. The grains can be predominantly single crystals or close groupings of several crystals. The pores are filled with air and water vapor. In wet snow the grains are coated with liquid water. The characteristic property of snow is its inherent thermodynamic instability. Consequently most of the interesting physical parameters inevitably change with time. This process of change is called snow metamorphism.