Transport rate of drifting snow and the mean wind speed profile

Transport rates, measured by weighing snow blown into a filter fabric trap, were greater over hard snow or ice than for the same wind speed over soft, fresh snow surfaces. Analysis of wind speed profiles from nine blizzards showed that friction between moving particles and the surface was less, and particle speeds were greater over hard surfaces. Transport rates at a given wind speed increased rapidly as aerodynamic roughness decreased in the rough-smooth transition region. Bagnold's theory for bed load transport provided a useful framework for the analysis.