Investigating snow sinks on level sea ice in the Arctic

We examined snow sinks caused by snow and sea ice interactions (snow-ice formation and sub-parcel snow mass redistribution) on Arctic level ice. We coupled SnowModel-LG, a modeling system adapted for snow depth and density reconstruction over sea ice, with HIGHTSI, a 1-D thermodynamic sea ice model,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Merkouriadi, Ioanna, Jutila, Arttu, Liston, Glen, Preußer, Andreas
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:unknown
Published: Authorea, Inc. 2024
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.22541/essoar.171742651.11214271/v1
Description
Summary:We examined snow sinks caused by snow and sea ice interactions (snow-ice formation and sub-parcel snow mass redistribution) on Arctic level ice. We coupled SnowModel-LG, a modeling system adapted for snow depth and density reconstruction over sea ice, with HIGHTSI, a 1-D thermodynamic sea ice model, to create SMLG HS. Pan-Arctic model simulations spanned from 1 August 1980 through 31 July 2022. Evaluation of SMLG HS against snow depth, snow-ice, and sea ice thickness observations highlighted the importance of snow mass changes due to snow redistribution processes. The findings suggest that neglecting snow-ice formation and sub-parcel snow mass redistribution processes in models can lead to substantial overestimation of snow depth over level ice.