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In this “Tool Tip” edition we are going to present 3 lesser known features of the Snowpro Plus+ software.

Snowpro Plus+ has been used in the snow industry by ski hills, heli-ski operations, back country guides, highways ministries, researchers, recreational users and other snow professionals for over 15 years. During that time we have made many improvements and added many new features. This year we have added new shear tests and combined our software license and annual support option into a simplified subscription license that allows you to be always current with the latest features through the automatic update.

The CSAC definition of a snow profile is “A cross-section view of snow stratigraphy and associated physical parameters usually obtained from a snowpit”. This is what Snowpro Plus+ is best at doing which is producing snow profile graphs. However, Snowpro has a number of additional features that you might not know about and may be useful in your snow operation.

Free Trial Software

You can download a free full featured Snowpro Plus+ 15 day trial from our web site at http://www.snowproplus.com/demorequest.htm if you wish to try out some of these features.

These features include:

1. Cumulative Shear Stress or Cumulative Snow Load Plot Lines
2. Ram Profiles
3. Flags/Lemons

Cumulative Shear Stress or Cumulative Snow Load Plot Lines

Snowpro is capable of drawing a graphttp://www.snowproplus.com/demorequest.htmh line showing either the cumulative shear stress or cumulative snow load. 

Figure 1 - Showing Cumulative Shear Stress on left side

Figure 1 shows a sample of a shear stress plot line (left) with a snow temperature plot line (right). The calculations use the layer thickness, either the profile slope or individual layer slope and the density of each layer to derive the stress or load values. The SS or SL scale along the bottom of the graph shows the values and these are adjustable for units or scale range. The calculated values can be viewed by moving the cursor over top of the small squares on the plot line.

Snowpro have two slope options. The traditional calculation uses the profile slope (37 percent in this example). We have also included an experimental option to use the individual layer slope values. This is shown on the right side of Figure 1 but is not included in the calculations here. See the User Manual or Integrated Help for details on enabling layer slopes. It is unknown whether individual layer slope values give better values than the profile slope. Perhaps someone in the snow community would like to do further testing to determine this?

Figure 2 - Settings for Cumulation Shear Stress and Snow Load

To enable the cumulative plot line open up the Preferences General Tab (Figure 2) and check the “Shear Stress Show On Graph” check box. Select the Plot Type, Units, and Use Slope values.

Ram Profiles

Most people doing snowpit hardness tests use the “Hand Hardness” test since this is quick and easy. However, Snowpro Plus+ has a table that captures ram information from a Ram Profile (Ramsonde). The ram test is performed by driving a ram penetrometer into the snow pack by dropping a “hammer” weight onto the rod or tube. A series of measurements are obtained. These can be directly added to the Snowpro Ram table and the ram hardness is automatically calculated and shown on the graph.

Figure 3 - Ram Table Entry

Figure 3 shows the Ram table filled in. You enter the hammer weight, the combined hammer and rod weight in column 1, the number of blows in column 2, the fall height of the hammer in column 3, and the total penetration of the rod in column 4. The software calculates the change in penetration in column 5 and the hardness for each row in column 6 as well as the total hardness. Once the table is saved, the ram hardness is shown on the profile graph.

Flags/Lemons

In 2005 Bruce Jamieson and Jürg Schweizer in their paper titled “Using A Checklist To Assess Manual Snow Profiles” [1] identified three layer properties and three interface properties that would be tested against critical ranges and would be used to “flag” instabilities in the snow profile. This was implemented in Snowpro Plus+ and more details and references can be found on our web site at http://www.snowproplus.com/flags.htm.

Figure 4 - Flags Showing Unstable Interfaces

Figure 4 shows a sample of a profile showing the flags with 3 interfaces highlighted in red indicating possible instabilities. The interface criteria can be user configured as shown in the Preferences/Layer Flags dialog in Figure 5. 

Figure 5 - Flags Setup Dialog

This tool makes it very easy for novices to recognize the unstable layers. However, as noted by Jamieson and Schweizer, “its value in making decisions about avalanche risk is unclear, especially for experienced avalanche practitioners.”

Special Offer

For our "Tool Tip" readers we are offering during February 2010 a “2 for 1” Snowpro Plus+ New and Renewal Subscription Licenses. We will also extend the annual subscription period on these to September 30, 2011. (Approx 18 months). The special offer order code is TTP01.
Click here to order.

[1] Jamieson, B. and J. Schweizer. 2005. Using a checklist to assess manual snow profiles. Avalanche News 72, Canadian Avalanche Association, Revelstoke, BC., 72-61. http://www.eng.ucalgary.ca/Civil/Avalanche/Papers/ChecklistProfiles.pdf

Future Tool Tip Topics Wanted

New Profile XML Save Format

Updated Grainforms to  ICSI 2009 Standards

Updated to Canadian Avalanche Association Dec 2007 OGRS Standard

Import/Export With Avert Online Snow Science Systems Web Software

Automatic Synchronization

New Layer Tests

Show Fist Hand Hardness and Dry Water Content Non-Standard Symbols Checkboxes

1. Click on Main Menu Preferences, Ram Layers Tab.
2. Click on Hand Hardness radio button to enable the 2 checkboxes
3. Click on “Show Fist Hardness as Dot” checkbox to display the symbol as a dot on the graph
   or   Clear checkbox to show the Fist Hardness symbol as blank.
4. Click on Save button

To Set the Dry Water Content Symbol To Show as Dot on Graph

1. Click on Main Menu Preferences, Ram Layers Tab.
2. Click on Hand Hardness radio button to enable the 2 checkboxes
3. Click on “Show Dry Water Content as Dot” checkbox to display the symbol as a dot on the graph
   or   Clear checkbox to show the Dry Water Content symbol as blank.
4. Click on Save button.

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1. Changing Hardness Modifiers
2. All About Layer Slopes
3. Label and Language Translating
4. System Text files (The Real Meaning)
5. Tips on Printing
6. Tips on Snow Temperatures
7. Tips on Ram Layers
8. Tips on Miscellaneous Items
9. Drag and Drop: Constructing a new profile quickly
10. High Quality Profile Export Graph (Bitmap or JPeg)
11. Pop Up Menu & Hiding Objects
12. Working with Layer and Shear Comments

Tip 1: Changing Ram Hardness Modifiers

A new feature of Snowpro Plus+ is plus and minus hand hardness modifiers. This lets you set the hardness to be about either one or two thirds between the standard hardness settings allowing a finer resolution on estimated hand hardness.

The modifiers are shown with the a small plus or minus symbol in the center bottom of the hand hardness icon in the snow layer as shown in. The width of the hardness bar in the left side of the graph will also indicate the end position either before or after the hardness scale I, K, P, 1F, 4F, or F.

Figure 1- Hardness Modifiers

Note:   The Fist modifiers do not include the minus and the Ice modifiers do not include the plus.

To Set the Hand Hardness Modifier for Layer, Symbol on the Graph, or Toolbar

1. Hold the keyboard Ctrl key down and click the left mouse button.
   The layer width and the hardness icon will change to reflect the current modified hand hardness value.
2. Repeat to toggle modifier between none, plus, or minus.

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Tip2: All About Layer Slopes

A little known feature of Snowpro Plus+ is Layer Slopes. Layer slopes are a small indicator placed on the very right side of the layer information. This was initially developed to support users in Europe who used this information in visually flag the layer slope at different layers within the snow profile.

Layer slopes allow you to display the slope of the measured snow layer on the graph.
The slope is plotted at the slope angle from the lower left of the layer in the slope column upwards to the right. The layer slope can be used in the plot lines for Shear Stress instead of the surface slope. This might give more accurate calculation of these lines and values in some cases. Layer slopes are optional and can be hidden. The numerical value of the slope can also be shown or hidden.

Figure 3 - Snow Layer Surface Slope (right column)

The surface slope is the same slope as displayed in the Slope field shown in the upper left side of the graph. You can set the surface slope at either location and the other slope will be automatically adjusted.

To Show or Hide All Slope Numerical Values Using Preferences

The layer slope is drawn at the angle specified. You can also show the numerical slope value in the upper left corner of the layer slope field.

1. Click on Preferences, Snow Layers Tab.
   
   a)   To Show: Check Show Layers Slope Percents On Graph checkbox.
   b)   To Hide: Clear Show Layers Slope Percents On Graph checkbox.

Figure 4 - Enabling Snow Layers Slope Numerical Value In Preferences

  To Show or Hide Layer Slopes Using Graph  Properties Menu

The menu shown will depend on the current state of the slope lines.

If they are not shown the menu will display Show All Layer Slopes.
If the layer slopes are visible then the menu will display Hide All Layer Slopes.

1. Right-Click on the Graph to open up the Graph Properties Menu.
   
   a)  To Show: Click on Show All Layers Slopes.
   b) To Hide: Click on Hide All Layers Slopes.
   

Figure 5 - Enabling Snow Layers in Graph Menu

Note:   When the slope is hidden, the snow layer comments field is widened to display more text and the slope column is removed from the graph.

To Set the Layer Slope Using the Mouse

1.   Hold keyboard Shift key down.
2.   Place the mouse cursor in the slope column at the desired layer.
3.   Drag the mouse cursor up or down until the desired slope is set then release the mouse button. A dashed line will indicate the current slope position. 
4.   Repeat for each layer slope.

Note:   The slope value will be displayed on the status line at the bottom of the graph to assist in accurate setting.

Figure 6 - Setting Layer Slope With Mouse

To Set All Slopes to Same Value

1.   Set any single slope to the desired value using above technique.
2.   Hold keyboard Ctrl key and Click on the slope you want to copy to the remaining layers slope.

Note:   This does not change the surface slope

To Show or Hide an Individual Slope Numerical Value Using the Mouse

1.   Hold keyboard Alt key.
2.   Click on the slope you wish to show or hide the actual degrees next to the slope line.
3.   Repeat for each layer slope.

To Hide an Individual Slope Line

1.      Set the slope value to zero and the line will not be displayed.

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Tip 3: Label and Language Translating

Snowpro Plus+ was developed to support other languages than English. There are language translation files for Icelandic (islenka), French (francais), and Spanish (català)  and more in the works. While we do not directly support non English languages we do ship any languages translations that users have sent to us to be used by anyone in the user community. If you have localized a different language then feel free to submit this for inclusion in a future release.

The way translation works is there are two files ending in .slt and .sl2 which contain every English text label in the software (about 1200). There are two templates named trans.slt and trans.sl2 that can be used to create a new language translation file set. When you select a translation file set and enable translation then all English labels are replaced with the translate text.

Now this leads to an interesting idea! In English you can easily change the text on any label by translating this to a different English text label. For example if you don’t like the label “Air Temperature” you could perhaps call it “Outside Temperature”.

There are two ways to create translations. You can copy the two files trans.slt and trans.sl2 to different names such as english1.slt and english1.sl2 then edit the files with a ASCII text editor such as notepad and add the translated text. For the Air Temperature example above you would open file english1.slt and locate the section and label  and change it as follows:

[GRA:GRAPHLABEL] (Each section starts like this between square brackets)

Air Temperature=Outside Temperature  (left side is original text, right side is translated text)

You then save the file, start up Snowpro and enable translation on the Main Menu Translation Menu dialog and select “english1” as your language. You then exit the software and restart it and the label will now show as Outside Temperature.

Note: It is important not to put new labels on the right side of the equal sign that match labels already on the left side of the equal sign as you will get incorrect results.

The other way to do the translations is to enable the translations and turn on the learn mode. The software will then prompt you for each label that is not translated. It is necessary for you to select all Snowpro options and dialogue boxes in order to get all labels translated.

The full details of language translations are detailed in the User Manual in “Appendix B - Language and Label Translation” and this is viewable in the User Manual on the Help Menu.

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Tip 4: System Text Files (The Real Meaning)

Snowpro Plus+ uses a number of text files to contain values which are in the drop down selection boxes. You can modify these using an ASCII text editor such as notepad.

The files are located in the  folder where you installed the software.

Note: It is important to not add blank lines, change the order or length of the labels significantly as this may overwrite other text on the profile screen.

 If you would like a specific topic covered in future tips then contact us at info@gasman.com with your request.

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Tip 5: Print Sizing

• You can create smaller graphs by setting the print margins larger as the graph will scale itself to fit within the defined page size. The print margins units are based on the percentage of the current selected printer. You can scale the graph by selecting various left, right, top, and bottom margins in the preferences dialog Print/Export tab. (The graph will scale to fit this if you select the "Print/Export Scaled to 1 Page" by right clicking the mouse over the graph to get the pop up menu.

Figure 1- Preferences Print Margin Settings

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Tip 6: Snow Temperatures

1. The snow temperatures graph points can be dragged from the toolbar to create new points
2. The snow temperature point and lines colour can be set by right clicking on Tool Box icons and selecting new colours
3. The current height and temperature of a snow temperature point can be viewed by placing the tip of the cursor over the temperature point
4. Any snow temperature point can be dragged to a new location on the graph with exception that they can not be moved to any height where a snow temperature point already exists
5. A snow temperature point can be deleted by dragging the point from the graph and dropping it on the Trash Can on the Tool Box

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Tip 7: Ram Layers

1. The ram layer can be dragged from the toolbar to create new layers (for ram hardness only)
2. The ram layer can be moved by left clicking on layer and while holding the mouse button down, drag to new position or drop on top of other ram layer which will swap the layers
3. The ram layer can be sized by holding shift+left mouse button and dragging to new size
4. Ram layers can be hidden (and then re-displayed) by right clicking on layer or graph and selecting hide option.
5. The ram layers colour can be set by right clicking on Tool Box icon and selecting new colours
6. The current thickness and density of a ram layer can be viewed by placing the tip of the cursor over the layer
7. Any ram layer can be dragged to a new location on the graph with exception that they can not be moved to any height above the surface of the snow pack. All layers will draw from surface top towards bottom of pack.
8. When a new ram layer is dragged from the Tool Box, it is positioned at the bottom of the other layers but can be dragged to a new position
9. The default ram layer thickness is set in the Preferences Dialog Ram Tab
10. A ram layer can be deleted by dragging the point from the graph and dropping it on the Trash Can on the Tool Box
11. The ram layer dialog allows you to specify which fields to copy and whether density calculations should be done. You can set the default for this for new profiles on the Preferences dialog Ram Tab

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Tip 8: Miscellaneous

1. The Tool Box can be opened by selecting menu option View, Tool Box
   You can also set the Tool Box to automatically appear upon startup by setting Open Tool Box upon startup in the Preferences dialog General Tab
2. All windows can be sized and dragged to any location using standard window methods
   most windows size and locations will be remembered if you set Save Windows State in Preferences dialog screen
3. The right mouse (Property button) allows you to hide or move the bottom button bar, copy/cut/paste from the clipboard, and perform many other hide or unhide options on objects on the graph

Figure 2- Right Click Graph for Properties Menu

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Tip 9: Drag and Drop: Constructing a new profile quickly

(Note we had a mistake in our original size layer tip below.

A profile can be constructed by entering data into the tables for snow temperatures, layers, etc. (Use View menu option to open the different tables) You can also use the drag and drop feature to quickly build a profile.

Some definitions: To “Click” means to put the mouse cursor over an object and press the left mouse key down. To “Drag” means to click on the object, hold the left mouse key down and then to move the object to the desired location. To “Drop” means to release the left mouse key with the object at the desired location.

If you have set your right mouse button in Windows Control Panel to be the primary button then reverse the left and right buttons in the descriptions)

When dragging an object the mouse cursor will change to one of the forms in Figure 1 . You can tell when you can drop an object when it matches the bottom symbol.

Figure 1 - Drag and Drop Cursors

Try this to create a quick profile:

1. Start the Snowpro Plus+ software and create a new profile (Menu File, New)

2. Enter the Snowpack Height (HS) in cm.

3. Make sure you can see the Tools pallet in Figure 2 (Press F2 key to toggle on/off)

Figure 2 – Tool Pallet

4. To create a layer: Click onto a water content icon (Figure 2: 2^nd row) and drag it over to the profile graph and drop it in the column to the right of the snow depth/height numbers. (if row 2 is not visible click on the icon on 1^st row, 3^rd from left) The first layer becomes the surface layer.

5. Repeat this again for each layer. These will default at 10 cm. intervals.

6. To Size a layer: Hold the Shift key and click on the water content icon on the graph and move the mouse up or down to size the layer. The size is displayed at the bottom of the graph

7. To add a Grain Type: Click on the grain type icon (Figure 1: 1^st row, 4^th icon from left) to open the grain type dialog and drag the desired grain type to the column under the F on the right side of the profile. (See Figure 3)

Figure 3 – 2 Grain Types on Surface Layer

8. Other objects: The grain diameter and comments can be entered by clicking on the place holder on the layer and then entering the value. The Hand Hardness can be dragged to the column “R”.

9. To add a Snow Temperature: Click on the snow temperature icon (Figure 2: 1^st row, left most icon) with your mouse and drag it to the left side of the snow and drop it at the intersection of the depth (or height) and temperature.

10. To delete an object: drag it and drop it on the garbage can on the Tools pallet (Figure 2: 1^st row, right icon)

Any objects added to the profile can be moved by simply clicking on the object and dragging it to the new location then dropping it.

Most objects can be moved around on the graph and with swap automatically with similar types if dropped on the other icon.

A tool tip which contains information about the object and what options are available will show up if you put the mouse cursor over the object. (Make sure that “Snow Field Hints” is checked in the Preferences General tab)

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Tip 10: High Quality Profile Export Graph (Bitmap or JPeg)

Snowpro can export the graphs to either a windows bitmap (.bmp) or JPeg (.jpg) file.

JPegs are a lot smaller in file size. You can control the quality of the JPeg file by changing the “JPeg Quality” value on the Print/Export Preferences tab from about 65-100 (below 65 gives a grainy graph) to a higher value. If you set it to 100 you get a very good image but the file size is larger. (See Figure 4) We have found 65 to usually be a best trade off between quality and file size but your graphs may be a bit different.

Figure 4 – Export Graph Settings

Larger export image width and height sizes give a better representation as more pixels are used when rendering the graph. For example a graph set to 2000 by 3000 pixels will have smoother lines and graphics on it than one at 200 by 300. Try experimenting with different values. Bitmaps are very good quality but typically are 10 times larger in file size than JPegs.

Tip 11: Pop Up Menu – Hiding Objects

Often when constructing a profile there will so much information that it is difficult to place new objects on the graph (using drag and drop). You can hide specific classes of items when constructing the graph by right clicking your mouse over the goct05-tip01raph and selecting the hide or show options. Then reshow the column before printing the profile.

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Tip 12: Working with Layer and Shear Comments

On very thin layers you may find that the comments overlap each other.

You can easily move these or even hide them by holding the Ctrl key down and clicking on the comment with the left mouse key. Each time you click will move the comment to a new position. Hold Alt key down and click on the comment to hide. This works for either types of comments. You can also position or hide these individually on the table entry screens (Press F4 key for layers, F6 for shears dialogs)

You can hold the Alt key and click on the water content icon in the layer row and this will redisplay the comment for that layer.

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