On vehicle mobility in snow-covered terrain — 1. Problem development and requirements for analysis

The problem of evaluation and prediction of vehicle mobility on snow-covered terrain needs to be studied not on the basis of application of direct technology transfer from vehicle mobility on soil, but on the basis of new perspectives on material (snowpack) properties and response performance. The complexities of snow identification and classification, arising from local environmental control and thermodynamic history, render analogies between snow and soil inapplicable. In addition, it is significant to note that in snow trafficability considerations, the first pass is the worst pass.