Melting of seasonal snow cover and its influence on soil temperature conditions of shallow layer

In order to clarify the melting of seasonal snow cover and its influence on shallow layer soil temperature conditions, the authors studied the process of seasonal snow cover melting, and its influence on temperature conditions of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 cm soil layers based on the data from the field test in the northeast of China. Main findings of authors’ study were as follows: The rate of seasonal snow cover melting was closely related to temperature changes, but there was no significant difference of daily snow cover melting among different snow covers; The soil temperature amplitude at snow covered area was significantly less than that at the area without snow, and the time both of soil temperature respond to air temperature and the thawing delayed with the increasing of snow depth; The energy exchange between soil and atmosphere had been cut off due to the seasonal snow cover, this caused the depth which was directly influenced by air temperature reduced, and in this project, 49 cm-depth snow covered area reduced 10 cm, but 80 cm-depth snow covered area reduced 25 cm, thus indicated that the influence of seasonal snow cover on soil temperature had an enhancive effect along with the snow deposit; When the snow cover melting finished, soil temperature conditions restored gradually to the level where it had not been covered by snow, and the more shallow of soil depth, the faster it restored. The results provide a further understand of the study of the water-heat exchange, and also have some useful value of research on consideration of problems related to agrology, agricultural irrigation, and so on.