Water vapor transport in snowpacks ...
This thesis is an in-depth treatment of water vapor transport in snowpacks and its impacts on snow structure. The aim is to better understand this transport process and to lay the basis for a model representation in physics-based multi-layer snow models. Overall the process should improve the repres...
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| Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Lausanne, EPFL
2022
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5075/epfl-thesis-9659 https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/187218 |
| Summary: | This thesis is an in-depth treatment of water vapor transport in snowpacks and its impacts on snow structure. The aim is to better understand this transport process and to lay the basis for a model representation in physics-based multi-layer snow models. Overall the process should improve the representation of the impact of snow in diverse environments from mountains, ice sheets to sea ice. The vertical diffusion of water vapor in the snow cover is investigated first by solving a one-dimensional transient diffusion equation in the SNOWPACK model. The implications on the snow layering of this vertical diffusive flux are analyzed for four different regions: Alpine, Subarctic, Arctic, and Antarctic sea ice. The largest impact of diffusion is observed in snow on sea ice in the Weddell Sea and the shallow Arctic snowpack. The simulations show significant density reductions at the base of the snow cover upon inclusion of diffusive water vapor transport. Diffusion may in some snow covers have a small effect and it ... |
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