US-12624943-B2 - Piling snow depth measurement system

US12624943B2US 12624943 B2US12624943 B2US 12624943B2US-12624943-B2

Abstract

Each of heat quantity measurement apparatuses 20 a to 20 c includes a snow receiving plate 22 configured that falling snow piles up thereon, a heater device 25 configured to heat the snow receiving plate until a temperature of the snow receiving plate 22 becomes predetermined target temperature exceeding 0 degrees Celsius, and a heat flux density measurement apparatus ( 24 a to 24 d ) configured to measure heat flux density transmitted from below to the snow receiving plate 22 . A piling snow depth measurement apparatus 14 measures a piling snow depth of snow piling up at a first location 13 . A control apparatus 15 computes a quantity of heat spent to melt the snow falling on the snow receiving plate 22 , and estimates a piling snow depth at second locations 12 a to 12 d , based on the computed quantity of heat and the piling snow depth measured by the piling snow depth measurement apparatus 14.

Inventors

Tadayuki Yamada

Assignees

Yamada Giken Co., Ltd

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221121
Priority Date: 20211122

Claims (6)

1 . A piling snow depth measurement system, comprising: at least two heat quantity measurement apparatuses; a piling snow depth measurement apparatus; and a control apparatus, wherein each of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses includes: a snow receiving plate configured that falling snow piles up thereon; a heater device configured to heat the snow receiving plate until temperature of the snow receiving plate becomes a predetermined target temperature exceeding 0 degrees Celsius; and a heat flux density measurement apparatus configured to measure heat flux density transmitted from below to the snow receiving plate, wherein a first heat quantity measurement apparatus of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses is installed within a first location, wherein a second heat quantity measurement apparatus of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses is installed within a second location, wherein the piling snow depth measurement apparatus measures a piling snow depth of snow piling up at the first location, wherein the control apparatus computes a quantity of heat spent to melt snow falling on the snow receiving plate for each of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses, based on energy consumed by the heater device and a heat flux density measured by the heat flux density measurement apparatus, and wherein the control apparatus estimates a piling snow depth at the second location, based on the computed quantity of heat and the piling snow depth measured by the piling snow depth measurement apparatus.
2 . The piling snow depth measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the snow receiving plate is embedded in a ground so as to be at a height substantially the same as that of a ground surface therearound.
3 . The piling snow depth measurement system of claim 1 , further comprising a third heat quantity measurement apparatus and a fourth heat quantity measurement apparatus, wherein the snow receiving plate of the third heat quantity measurement apparatus is installed within the first location, wherein the snow receiving plate of the third fourth heat quantity measurement apparatus is installed in the second location, and wherein the control apparatuses of the third and fourth heat quantity measurement apparatuses control the heater device until temperatures of the snow receiving plates become a second target temperature different from the target temperature of the first and second heat quantity measurement apparatus.
4 . The piling snow depth measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the second location is within a runway of an airport, and wherein the first location is within the airport but other than a runway.
5 . The piling snow depth measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the control apparatus computes, as the quantity of heat spent to melt the snow falling on the snow receiving plate, a total sum of a quantity of heat from energy consumed by the heater device within a predetermined period of time, and a quantity of heat transmitted from the heat flux density measured by the heat flux density measurement apparatus to the snow receiving plate within the predetermined period of time.
6 . The piling snow depth measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the control apparatus computes, as an increment Δh 2 of the piling snow depth at the second location for a predetermined period of time, Δh 1 ·Q 2 /Q 1 based on the quantity of heat Q 1 computed for the first heat quantity measurement apparatus, an increment Δh 1 of the piling snow depth measured by the piling snow depth measurement apparatus for the predetermined period, and the quantity of heat Q 2 computed for the second heat quantity measurement apparatus.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a system for measuring piling snow depth. BACKGROUND ART Patent Document 1 discloses a road surface sensor including a non-contact piling snow depth measurement instrument. Patent Document 2 discloses to supply electric power to an electric heating element so as to maintain a surface temperature of a snow receiving board at −0 degrees Celsius, and to find out a quantity of heat for melting snow from the supplied electrical energy. Patent Document 3 discloses to supply electric power to an electric heating element so as to maintain a surface temperature of a simulated road surface material at a predetermined temperature, and compute a quantity of heat naturally supplied from the roadbed, based on the supplied electrical energy and a temperature of an actual road surface. PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Literature [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-069699 A[Patent Document 2] JP H08-27713 A[Patent Document 3] JP 2006-083633 A SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem Snow piling up on a runway of an airfield hinders airplanes from taking off and landing on. For this reason, snow removal begins when piling snow depth exceeds a predetermined threshold value, e.g., 5 cm. Since the non-contact piling snow depth measurement instrument disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires to install equipment above the ground, it can be installed only in a location away from the runway in order to prevent it from coming into contact with airplanes traveling on the runway. The technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 enables to find out the energy to be supplied to the electric heating element for melting snow. However, the energy consumed at the electric heating element is not equal to the heat of fusion of the piling snow, because of the influence of geothermal heat, solar radiation, radiative cooling, or others. Even if the heat of fusion of the piling snow is known, what can be found out from it is mass of the piling snow. Density of the piling snow differs depending on weather or others. Thus, the volume of the piling snow cannot be found out without knowing the density of the piling snow. Therefore, the piling snow depth cannot be found out. Solution to Problem A piling snow depth measurement system includes at least two heat quantity measurement apparatuses, a piling snow depth measurement apparatus, and a control apparatus. Each of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses includes a snow receiving plate configured that falling snow piles up thereon, a heater device configured to heat the snow receiving plate until a temperature of the snow receiving plate becomes a predetermined target temperature exceeding 0 degrees Celsius, and a heat flux density measurement apparatus configured to measure heat flux density transmitted from below to the snow receiving plate. A first heat quantity measurement apparatus of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses is installed within a first location. A second heat quantity measurement apparatus of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses is installed within a second location. The piling snow depth measurement apparatus measures a piling snow depth of snow piling up at the first location. The control apparatus computes a quantity of heat spent to melt snow falling on the snow receiving plate, for each of the heat quantity measurement apparatuses, based on energy consumed by the heater device and a heat flux density measured by the heat flux density measurement apparatus. The control apparatus estimates a piling snow depth at the second location, based on the computed quantity of heat and the piling snow depth measured by the piling snow depth measurement apparatus. Advantageous Effects of the Invention The piling snow depth measurement system enables accurate measurement of the piling snow depth at the second location without installing any equipment above the ground within the second location. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a piling snow depth measurement system; FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a heat quantity measurement apparatus; FIG. 3 is a III-III cross-sectional view showing the heat quantity measurement apparatus; FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view showing the heat quantity measurement apparatus; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view showing the heat quantity measurement apparatus, in an installed state; FIG. 6 is a side view showing an example of an observation apparatus; and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a piling snow depth estimation process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, a piling snow depth measurement system 10 will be described. The piling snow depth measurement system 10 is installed, e.g., within an airport 90, and measures a piling snow depth at a location where no equipment can be disposed above the ground, e.g., a runway 91. The piling snow depth measurement system 10 includes, e.g., a number of heat quantity measurement apparatuses 20a