Development of a Relation between Return Period Values of Annual Maximum Snow Load and Snow Depth and Its Implication in Structural Reliability for Northeastern China

This study proposes a new relationship between the return period values of the annual maximum ground snow depth and the ground snow load for northeastern China. The proposed relationship is based on a statistical evaluation of the ground snow depth data and concurrent snow water equivalent data from many meteorological stations in the considered region. Such a relationship is the first of its kind for the considered region and could be used for different return periods. Reliability analysis for structures designed based on the newly developed relation is evaluated in the context of structural design code calibration. The estimated reliability is compared with that obtained based on the currently applicable structural design code for the region. The results indicate that the use of the proposed relation could lead to enhanced reliability consistency, while the use of the current code approach could be inadequate for some sites within the regions because of the spatially varying uncertainty in climate conditions.