Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt
Abstract The energy budget of a snow or ice surface is determined by atmospheric variables like solar and atmospheric long-wave radiation, air temperature, and humidity; the transfer of energy from the free atmosphere to the surface depends on the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer, where v...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1987
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002214300000530x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002214300000530X |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s002214300000530x 2024-09-15T18:15:37+00:00 Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt Kuhn, M. 1987 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002214300000530x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002214300000530X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 33, issue 113, page 24-26 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 1987 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s002214300000530x 2024-08-14T04:03:23Z Abstract The energy budget of a snow or ice surface is determined by atmospheric variables like solar and atmospheric long-wave radiation, air temperature, and humidity; the transfer of energy from the free atmosphere to the surface depends on the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer, where vertical profiles of wind speed and temperature determine stability, and on surface conditions like surface temperature (and thus surface humidity), roughness, and albedo. This paper investigates the conditions exactly at the onset or the end of melting using air temperature, humidity, and as the radiation term the sum of global and reflected short-wave plus downward long-wave radiation. For the turbulent exchange in the boundary layer, examples are computed with a transfer coefficient of 18.5 W m −2 K −1 which corresponds to the average over the ablation period on an Alpine glacier. Ways to estimate the transfer coefficient for various degrees of stability are indicated in the Appendix. It appears from such calculations that snow may melt at air temperatures as low as –10 ° C and may stay frozen at +10 ° C. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 33 113 24 26 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
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English |
description |
Abstract The energy budget of a snow or ice surface is determined by atmospheric variables like solar and atmospheric long-wave radiation, air temperature, and humidity; the transfer of energy from the free atmosphere to the surface depends on the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer, where vertical profiles of wind speed and temperature determine stability, and on surface conditions like surface temperature (and thus surface humidity), roughness, and albedo. This paper investigates the conditions exactly at the onset or the end of melting using air temperature, humidity, and as the radiation term the sum of global and reflected short-wave plus downward long-wave radiation. For the turbulent exchange in the boundary layer, examples are computed with a transfer coefficient of 18.5 W m −2 K −1 which corresponds to the average over the ablation period on an Alpine glacier. Ways to estimate the transfer coefficient for various degrees of stability are indicated in the Appendix. It appears from such calculations that snow may melt at air temperatures as low as –10 ° C and may stay frozen at +10 ° C. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kuhn, M. |
spellingShingle |
Kuhn, M. Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt |
author_facet |
Kuhn, M. |
author_sort |
Kuhn, M. |
title |
Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt |
title_short |
Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt |
title_full |
Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt |
title_fullStr |
Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt |
title_full_unstemmed |
Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt |
title_sort |
micro-meteorological conditions for snow melt |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1987 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002214300000530x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002214300000530X |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 33, issue 113, page 24-26 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s002214300000530x |
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Journal of Glaciology |
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33 |
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113 |
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24 |
op_container_end_page |
26 |
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1810453481964699648 |