Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow
Water vapor transport in dry snowpacks plays a significant role for snow metamorphism and the mass and energy balance of snowpacks. The molecular diffusion of water vapor in the interstitial pores is usually considered to be the main or only transport mechanism, and current detailed snow physics mod...
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ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00055413 2023-05-15T18:32:32+02:00 Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow Fourteau, Kévin Domine, Florent Hagenmuller, Pascal 2021-01 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00055413 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00055064/tc-15-389-2021.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/389/2021/tc-15-389-2021.pdf eng eng Copernicus Publications The Cryosphere -- ˜Theœ Cryosphere -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2393169 -- http://www.the-cryosphere.net/ -- 1994-0424 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00055413 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00055064/tc-15-389-2021.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/389/2021/tc-15-389-2021.pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2021 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021 2022-02-08T22:34:34Z Water vapor transport in dry snowpacks plays a significant role for snow metamorphism and the mass and energy balance of snowpacks. The molecular diffusion of water vapor in the interstitial pores is usually considered to be the main or only transport mechanism, and current detailed snow physics models therefore rely on the knowledge of the effective diffusion coefficient of water vapor in snow. Numerous previous studies have concluded that water vapor diffusion in snow is enhanced relative to that in air. Various field observations also indicate that for vapor transport in snow to be explained by diffusion alone, the effective diffusion coefficient should be larger than that in air. Here we show using theory and numerical simulations of idealized and measured snow microstructures that, although sublimation and deposition of water vapor onto snow crystal surfaces do enhance microscopic diffusion in the pore space, this effect is more than countered by the restriction of diffusion space due to ice. The interaction of water vapor with the ice results in water vapor diffusing more than inert molecules in snow but still less than in free air, regardless of the value of the sticking coefficient of water molecules on ice. Our results imply that processes other than diffusion play a predominant role in water vapor transport in dry snowpacks. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA The Cryosphere 15 1 389 406 |
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article Verlagsveröffentlichung Fourteau, Kévin Domine, Florent Hagenmuller, Pascal Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
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article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
Water vapor transport in dry snowpacks plays a significant role for snow metamorphism and the mass and energy balance of snowpacks. The molecular diffusion of water vapor in the interstitial pores is usually considered to be the main or only transport mechanism, and current detailed snow physics models therefore rely on the knowledge of the effective diffusion coefficient of water vapor in snow. Numerous previous studies have concluded that water vapor diffusion in snow is enhanced relative to that in air. Various field observations also indicate that for vapor transport in snow to be explained by diffusion alone, the effective diffusion coefficient should be larger than that in air. Here we show using theory and numerical simulations of idealized and measured snow microstructures that, although sublimation and deposition of water vapor onto snow crystal surfaces do enhance microscopic diffusion in the pore space, this effect is more than countered by the restriction of diffusion space due to ice. The interaction of water vapor with the ice results in water vapor diffusing more than inert molecules in snow but still less than in free air, regardless of the value of the sticking coefficient of water molecules on ice. Our results imply that processes other than diffusion play a predominant role in water vapor transport in dry snowpacks. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fourteau, Kévin Domine, Florent Hagenmuller, Pascal |
author_facet |
Fourteau, Kévin Domine, Florent Hagenmuller, Pascal |
author_sort |
Fourteau, Kévin |
title |
Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
title_short |
Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
title_full |
Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
title_fullStr |
Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
title_sort |
macroscopic water vapor diffusion is not enhanced in snow |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00055413 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00055064/tc-15-389-2021.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/389/2021/tc-15-389-2021.pdf |
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The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_relation |
The Cryosphere -- ˜Theœ Cryosphere -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2393169 -- http://www.the-cryosphere.net/ -- 1994-0424 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00055413 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00055064/tc-15-389-2021.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/389/2021/tc-15-389-2021.pdf |
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021 |
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