Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling
Evaluating and improving snow models and outflow predictions for hydrological applications is hindered by the lack of continuous data on bulk volumetric liquid water content (θw) and storage capacity of the melting snowpack. The combination of upward looking ground-penetrating radar and conventional...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003593 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 |
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ftinfoscience:oai:infoscience.tind.io:215079 2023-05-15T16:41:07+02:00 Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling Wever, Nander Heilig, A. Mitterer, C. Schmid, L. Schweizer, J. Marshall, H. -P. Eisen, O. 2016-01-18T16:35:31Z https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003593 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 unknown Washington, Amer Geophysical Union doi:10.1002/2015JF003593 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 Text 2016 ftinfoscience https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003593 2023-02-13T22:31:33Z Evaluating and improving snow models and outflow predictions for hydrological applications is hindered by the lack of continuous data on bulk volumetric liquid water content (θw) and storage capacity of the melting snowpack. The combination of upward looking ground-penetrating radar and conventional snow height sensors enable continuous, nondestructive determinations of θw in natural snow covers from first surficial wetting until shortly before melt out. We analyze diurnal and seasonal cycles of θw for 4 years in a flat study site and for three melt seasons on slopes and evaluate model simulations for two different water transport schemes in the snow cover model SNOWPACK. Observed maximum increases in θw during a day are below 1.7 vol % (90th percentile) at the flat site. Concerning seasonal characteristics of θw, less than 10% of recorded data exceed 5 vol % at the flat site and 3.5 vol % at slopes. Both water transport schemes in SNOWPACK underestimate maximum θw at the flat site systematically for all observed melt seasons, while simulated θw maxima on slopes are accurate. Implementing observed changes in θw per day in outflow predictions increases model performance toward higher agreement with lysimeter measurements. Hence, continuously monitoring θw improves our understanding of liquid water percolation and retention in snow, which is highly relevant for several aspects of the cryosphere such as avalanche formation, catchment hydrology, and ice sheet mass balances. Text Ice Sheet EPFL Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne) Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 120 10 2139 2154 |
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EPFL Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne) |
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description |
Evaluating and improving snow models and outflow predictions for hydrological applications is hindered by the lack of continuous data on bulk volumetric liquid water content (θw) and storage capacity of the melting snowpack. The combination of upward looking ground-penetrating radar and conventional snow height sensors enable continuous, nondestructive determinations of θw in natural snow covers from first surficial wetting until shortly before melt out. We analyze diurnal and seasonal cycles of θw for 4 years in a flat study site and for three melt seasons on slopes and evaluate model simulations for two different water transport schemes in the snow cover model SNOWPACK. Observed maximum increases in θw during a day are below 1.7 vol % (90th percentile) at the flat site. Concerning seasonal characteristics of θw, less than 10% of recorded data exceed 5 vol % at the flat site and 3.5 vol % at slopes. Both water transport schemes in SNOWPACK underestimate maximum θw at the flat site systematically for all observed melt seasons, while simulated θw maxima on slopes are accurate. Implementing observed changes in θw per day in outflow predictions increases model performance toward higher agreement with lysimeter measurements. Hence, continuously monitoring θw improves our understanding of liquid water percolation and retention in snow, which is highly relevant for several aspects of the cryosphere such as avalanche formation, catchment hydrology, and ice sheet mass balances. |
format |
Text |
author |
Wever, Nander Heilig, A. Mitterer, C. Schmid, L. Schweizer, J. Marshall, H. -P. Eisen, O. |
spellingShingle |
Wever, Nander Heilig, A. Mitterer, C. Schmid, L. Schweizer, J. Marshall, H. -P. Eisen, O. Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling |
author_facet |
Wever, Nander Heilig, A. Mitterer, C. Schmid, L. Schweizer, J. Marshall, H. -P. Eisen, O. |
author_sort |
Wever, Nander |
title |
Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling |
title_short |
Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling |
title_full |
Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—Measurements and modeling |
title_sort |
seasonal and diurnal cycles of liquid water in snow—measurements and modeling |
publisher |
Washington, Amer Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003593 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 |
genre |
Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet |
op_source |
http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1002/2015JF003593 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/215079 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003593 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
container_volume |
120 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
2139 |
op_container_end_page |
2154 |
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1766031552072908800 |