A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer

Drifting snowstorms are an important aeolian process that reshape alpine glaciers and polar ice shelves, and they may also affect the climate system and hydrological cycle since flying snow particles exchange considerable mass and energy with air flow. Prior studies have rarely considered full-scale...

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Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: Wang, Zhengshi, Jia, Shuming
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/3841/2018/
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spelling ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc70087 2023-05-15T16:41:59+02:00 A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer Wang, Zhengshi Jia, Shuming 2018-12-10 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/3841/2018/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/3841/2018/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018 2020-07-20T16:23:01Z Drifting snowstorms are an important aeolian process that reshape alpine glaciers and polar ice shelves, and they may also affect the climate system and hydrological cycle since flying snow particles exchange considerable mass and energy with air flow. Prior studies have rarely considered full-scale drifting snowstorms in the turbulent boundary layer; thus, the transportation feature of snow flow higher in the air and its contribution are largely unknown. In this study, a large-eddy simulation is combined with a subgrid-scale velocity model to simulate the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer, and a Lagrangian particle tracking method is adopted to track the trajectories of snow particles. A drifting snowstorm that is hundreds of meters in depth and exhibits obvious spatial structures is produced. The snow transport flux profile at high altitude, previously not observed, is quite different from that near the surface; thus, the extrapolated transport flux profile may largely underestimate the total transport flux. At the same time, the development of a drifting snowstorm involves three typical stages, rapid growth, gentle growth, and equilibrium, in which large-scale updrafts and subgrid-scale fluctuating velocities basically dominate the first and second stages, respectively. This research provides an effective way to gain an insight into natural drifting snowstorms. Text Ice Shelves Copernicus Publications: E-Journals The Cryosphere 12 12 3841 3851
institution Open Polar
collection Copernicus Publications: E-Journals
op_collection_id ftcopernicus
language English
description Drifting snowstorms are an important aeolian process that reshape alpine glaciers and polar ice shelves, and they may also affect the climate system and hydrological cycle since flying snow particles exchange considerable mass and energy with air flow. Prior studies have rarely considered full-scale drifting snowstorms in the turbulent boundary layer; thus, the transportation feature of snow flow higher in the air and its contribution are largely unknown. In this study, a large-eddy simulation is combined with a subgrid-scale velocity model to simulate the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer, and a Lagrangian particle tracking method is adopted to track the trajectories of snow particles. A drifting snowstorm that is hundreds of meters in depth and exhibits obvious spatial structures is produced. The snow transport flux profile at high altitude, previously not observed, is quite different from that near the surface; thus, the extrapolated transport flux profile may largely underestimate the total transport flux. At the same time, the development of a drifting snowstorm involves three typical stages, rapid growth, gentle growth, and equilibrium, in which large-scale updrafts and subgrid-scale fluctuating velocities basically dominate the first and second stages, respectively. This research provides an effective way to gain an insight into natural drifting snowstorms.
format Text
author Wang, Zhengshi
Jia, Shuming
spellingShingle Wang, Zhengshi
Jia, Shuming
A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
author_facet Wang, Zhengshi
Jia, Shuming
author_sort Wang, Zhengshi
title A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
title_short A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
title_full A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
title_fullStr A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
title_full_unstemmed A simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
title_sort simulation of a large-scale drifting snowstorm in the turbulent boundary layer
publishDate 2018
url https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/3841/2018/
genre Ice Shelves
genre_facet Ice Shelves
op_source eISSN: 1994-0424
op_relation doi:10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/3841/2018/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3841-2018
container_title The Cryosphere
container_volume 12
container_issue 12
container_start_page 3841
op_container_end_page 3851
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