A Digital Computer Simulation of the Annual Snow and Soil Thermal Regimes at Barrow, Alaska.

An annual snow-soil simulator for Arctic tundra was developed using coupled models of surface equilibrium temperature and substrate thermal diffusion. Snow ripening, melt and accumulation are modeled in the simulator which is forced with daily weather data. The simulator predicts that a snow fence a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Outcalt,S. I., Goodwin,C., Weller,G., Brown,J.
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1975
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA007734
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA007734
Description
Summary:An annual snow-soil simulator for Arctic tundra was developed using coupled models of surface equilibrium temperature and substrate thermal diffusion. Snow ripening, melt and accumulation are modeled in the simulator which is forced with daily weather data. The simulator predicts that a snow fence array capable of producing drift deeper than 4.2 meters will initiate a permanent snowfield at Barrow, AK. Such a man-induced snowfield could serve as a reliable source of fresh water for Barrow and similar villages in the North Slope region of Alaska. Further analysis indicated that albedo reduction due to dust fall, snow removal, etc., is dominant over aerodynamic effects in producing the early spring meltout observed at Barrow Village.