Modelled and satellite‐derived surface albedo of lake ice – Part I: evaluation of the albedo parameterization scheme of the Canadian Lake Ice Model

• Published in: Hydrological Processes
• Main Authors: Svacina, N. A., Duguay, C. R., Brown, L. C.
• Other Authors: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2014
• Subjects: Churchill
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10253; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhyp.10253; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.10253

Abstract Accurate simulations of freshwater lake ice are integral for the study of climatic variability in northern environments. Surface albedo, a component often parameterized in lake ice models, has been shown to affect the timing of ice break‐up during the melt season. In situ snow and ice albedo measurements were taken over a partially snow‐covered freshwater lake near Churchill, Manitoba for the evaluation of the albedo parameterization of the Canadian Lake Ice Model (CLIMo) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) albedo products (MOD10A1/MYD10A1 and MCD43A3). The albedo simulations using CLIMo were performed with and without snow integrated into the model and evaluated against in situ albedo measurements recorded over clear ice, snow ice and snow‐covered ice. The simulated snow albedo from CLIMo for the entire ice growth season evaluated against snow albedo observations had a root mean square error of 0.07, a mean absolute error of 0.06, and a mean bias error (MBE) of −0.01. With snow removed from CLIMo, the albedo parameterization overestimated albedo values measured in the field over snow‐free clear ice and snow ice with MBE values of 0.13 and 0.10, respectively. These findings suggest that CLIMo's bare ice albedo parameterization needs to be revised to account for albedo differences between ice types. The evaluation of the MODIS albedo products with in situ snow and ice albedo observations and the comparison of these satellite products with CLIMo's albedo parameterization during the melt period, when in situ radiation measurement stations needed to be removed from the lake‐ice surface, are addressed in paper Part II (this issue). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.