1. Snow pH Variance in Association with Conifer Proximity
By Johnathan Xu, Devin Schinski, Noah Willis, Max Fairon

2. Research Question and Claims:
How does tree species and proximity of the sample sites to the tree base effect the snows pH and its ability to melt?
Shortened to just study pH and melting, not species.
Claims:
The closer the sample site is to the tree, the lower sample shall have a lower pH (more acidic) and a slower melting rate.
Trees are acidic and would alter snow pH
The presence of H3O+ ions will probably cause a slower melting rate than purer H2O.
Desired Evidence:
Snow samples from different trees, at consistent depths and distances from the tree.
Research Question and Claims:
Why H3O might increase or cause water to melt slower

3. Materials pH Meter (OHAUS): measures pH values in snow samples
Ziplock bags: contains snow samples
Tape Measure: measures the distance between each sample extraction site
Shovel: digs out samples
Probe: for extracting samples from depth
Pot: used to melt snow samples
Brand of PH meter

4. Methods Find appropriate conifer trees for data collection
Measure out and dig 3 holes at 4ft, 8ft and 12ft from the tree trunk.
Dig each hole 3 feet deep and take a labeled sample from each at 1.5 and 3 feet deep from the surface
Melt snow in bag using hot water in a pot
Measure and record pH
Create a solution of 100 grams of tap water
Create a solution of 80 g tap water mixed with 20 g lemon juice
Freeze both solutions overnight
Melt both solutions at the same time at room temperature, observe the speed at which each solution melts
Infer how this would transfer to snow with varying pH

7. Data Tree Sample pH Control Meadow pH Tree 4, 1.5 4, 3 8, 1.5 8, 3
12, 1.5
12, 3 #1
7.0
7.3
7.1
6.3
6.6
6.4 #2 6
5.9
6.2
5.8 #3
5.7
5.5 #4
6.7
6.5
6.1 #5
6.0
Control Meadow pH
Meadow pH
0, 1.5
0, 3 #1
5.4
5.8 #2 6

8. Statistical Tests (T-test)

9. Bar Graph Significance of a difference between 4ft and 8ft: p=0.0537

10. Reasoning
The p value from samples from 4 feet and 12 feet compared was less than 0.05.
This significance indicated a trend of declining pH over the measured intervals.
The branches of the fir trees studied were around feet in length.
There is almost no significant difference between 8 and 12 feet
Using this information, we can reason that tree canopy had a direct effect on snow pH

11. Conclusion and Future Research
From our experiment, we can conclude that snow pH has an inverse relationship to tree proximity. This can be connected to the ability of tree branches to shield the area closest to their trunks from acidic needle runoff.
Our secondary experiment also showed that a solution of lower pH melted slower than a neutral solution of water. We can then infer that snow of a lower pH would also melt slower than snow of a more neutral pH.
Further research would be required to test if pH did have a significant effect on snow melt rate.
We would also perform more data collection on a variety of tree species to reinforce our current data.
pH 6 vs pH 7