Intrinsic permeability of snow is an important parameter that regulates snow–atmosphere exchange. Current permeability measurements require specialized equipment for acquisition in the field and have increased variability with increasing snow heterogeneity. To facilitate a field-based, volume-averaged measure of permeability, we designed and assembled an acoustic permeameter. When using reticulated foam samples of known permeability, the mean relative error from known values was less than 20 %.