Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow
Abstract A dynamic zone of thermal disequilibrium is described which separates wet snow at 0 ° C from dry, sub-freezing snow. The dynamic zone tends to be eliminated by thermal equilibrium through freezing, but is sustained and propagated into the sub-freezing snow by water flow from the wet snow. T...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1990
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000009497 2024-03-03T08:46:00+00:00 Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow Tad Pfeffer, W. Illangasekare, Tissa H. Meier, Mark F. 1990 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009497 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009497 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 36, issue 123, page 238-246 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1990 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009497 2024-02-08T08:36:10Z Abstract A dynamic zone of thermal disequilibrium is described which separates wet snow at 0 ° C from dry, sub-freezing snow. The dynamic zone tends to be eliminated by thermal equilibrium through freezing, but is sustained and propagated into the sub-freezing snow by water flow from the wet snow. The width of the dynamic zone is controlled by the rate of water inflow, and by the rate of freezing of water on to sub-freezing ice grains, which is in turn controlled by the ice/water geometry. Two ice/water geometries are investigated: isolated ice spheres and capillary tubes of ice into which water is pulled by capillary suction. The rate of freezing of water is calculated for the two models for various initial dimensions and temperatures. Equilibrium times are short (typically about 0.5 s), but depend on the assumed geometry, which is poorly constrained by existing data. Equilibration times and freeze-on mass fluxes are calculated for a variety of general conditions. These results can be used in numerical models of wetting-front propagation into cold snow. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 36 123 238 246 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Tad Pfeffer, W. Illangasekare, Tissa H. Meier, Mark F. Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract A dynamic zone of thermal disequilibrium is described which separates wet snow at 0 ° C from dry, sub-freezing snow. The dynamic zone tends to be eliminated by thermal equilibrium through freezing, but is sustained and propagated into the sub-freezing snow by water flow from the wet snow. The width of the dynamic zone is controlled by the rate of water inflow, and by the rate of freezing of water on to sub-freezing ice grains, which is in turn controlled by the ice/water geometry. Two ice/water geometries are investigated: isolated ice spheres and capillary tubes of ice into which water is pulled by capillary suction. The rate of freezing of water is calculated for the two models for various initial dimensions and temperatures. Equilibrium times are short (typically about 0.5 s), but depend on the assumed geometry, which is poorly constrained by existing data. Equilibration times and freeze-on mass fluxes are calculated for a variety of general conditions. These results can be used in numerical models of wetting-front propagation into cold snow. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tad Pfeffer, W. Illangasekare, Tissa H. Meier, Mark F. |
author_facet |
Tad Pfeffer, W. Illangasekare, Tissa H. Meier, Mark F. |
author_sort |
Tad Pfeffer, W. |
title |
Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow |
title_short |
Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow |
title_full |
Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow |
title_fullStr |
Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Analysis and Modeling of Melt-Water Refreezing in Dry Snow |
title_sort |
analysis and modeling of melt-water refreezing in dry snow |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1990 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009497 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009497 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 36, issue 123, page 238-246 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009497 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
36 |
container_issue |
123 |
container_start_page |
238 |
op_container_end_page |
246 |
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1792501789127344128 |