This research study compares snow accumulation and snow melt rates in five forest stands in the
Rover Creek watershed that are at different stages of regrowth after being logged. Snow accumulation and snow melt processes vary based on the canopy cover in each stand. The snow water equivalent, which is the depth of water in a snowpack was used to compare the snow accumulation in each site. The researcher found that a stand who had been logged recently who supported trees with an average height of two meters, could accumulate more than twice as much snow as a fully mature stand with trees averaging 25 meters in height. Although the total accumulation in the younger stand was much more, the ablation rate in the mature and younger stands were similar. The ablation rate is the rate at which snow dissipates from a site by process of snow melt and evaporation. The mature stand and the most open stands had very little range in the maximum and mean ablation rate. Contrary to other studies of similar scope, the solar radiation did not greatly influence the ablation rate: rather, the temperature was the main factor in driving snow melt.
