Density cutter

A density cutter is a metal scoop of a known volume that is used with a scale to measure the weight of snow at different depths, or layers, within the snowpack. This device helps the SOS researchers estimate how dense, or tightly compacted, the snowpack is, which provides insight into how much water may be held within the snow at each layer.

Number deployed on SOS Project: 1

Make/model used on SOS Project: Snowmetrics

This video shows the process of building a snow pit from start to finish, and highlights the use of a density cutter (beginning at 35 seconds).