Depth hoar growth

Climate change will modify kr values in complex ways. Warming will limit depth hoar formation, increasing kj More frequent melting events in temperate climates will form ice layers with high kr values. In contrast, the growth of shrubs on the tundra will limit the effect of wind, transforming windpacks into depth hoar of much lower values. 

The water vapor flux seems to affect significantly the growth rate of depth hoar snow. It seemed that water vapor transportation also caused a density change in snow. The initial and final density of each layer is illustrated in Figure 6. Before and after the experiment, the lost mass was only 0.5 %. The density of layer I (warmest) decreased. 

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