Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations
Drifting and blowing snow are important features in polar and high mountain regions. They control the surface mass balance in windy conditions and influence sublimation of snow and ice surfaces. Despite their importance, model representations in weather and climate assessments have high uncertaintie...
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Copernicus Publications
2024
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ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00072428 2024-04-21T08:12:42+00:00 Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations Melo, Daniela Brito Sigmund, Armin Lehning, Michael 2024-03 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1287-2024 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072428 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070642/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/1287/2024/tc-18-1287-2024.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-18-1287-2024 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072428 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070642/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/1287/2024/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2024 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1287-2024 2024-03-26T15:13:22Z Drifting and blowing snow are important features in polar and high mountain regions. They control the surface mass balance in windy conditions and influence sublimation of snow and ice surfaces. Despite their importance, model representations in weather and climate assessments have high uncertainties because the associated physical processes are complex and highly variable in space and time. This contribution investigates the saltation system, which is the lower boundary condition for drifting and blowing snow models. Using a combination of (previous) measurements and new physics-based modeling with large-eddy simulation (LES), we show that the prevailing parameterizations that describe the saltation system in atmospheric models are based on contradictory assumptions: while some scaling laws are typical of a saltation system dominated by aerodynamic entrainment, others represent a saltation system controlled by splash. We show that both regimes can exist, depending on the friction velocity. Contrary to sand saltation, aerodynamic entrainment of surface particles is not negligible. It is important at low wind speeds, leading to a saltation height and near-surface particle velocity which increase with the friction velocity. In a splash-dominated saltation regime at higher friction velocities, the saltation height and near-surface particle velocity become invariant with the friction velocity and closer to what is observed with sand. These findings are accompanied by a detailed description of the theoretical, experimental and numerical arguments behind snow saltation parameterizations. This work offers a comprehensive understanding of the snow saltation system and its scaling laws, useful for both modelers and experimentalists. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA The Cryosphere 18 3 1287 1313 |
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Open Polar |
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Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA |
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ftnonlinearchiv |
language |
English |
topic |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
spellingShingle |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung Melo, Daniela Brito Sigmund, Armin Lehning, Michael Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
topic_facet |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
Drifting and blowing snow are important features in polar and high mountain regions. They control the surface mass balance in windy conditions and influence sublimation of snow and ice surfaces. Despite their importance, model representations in weather and climate assessments have high uncertainties because the associated physical processes are complex and highly variable in space and time. This contribution investigates the saltation system, which is the lower boundary condition for drifting and blowing snow models. Using a combination of (previous) measurements and new physics-based modeling with large-eddy simulation (LES), we show that the prevailing parameterizations that describe the saltation system in atmospheric models are based on contradictory assumptions: while some scaling laws are typical of a saltation system dominated by aerodynamic entrainment, others represent a saltation system controlled by splash. We show that both regimes can exist, depending on the friction velocity. Contrary to sand saltation, aerodynamic entrainment of surface particles is not negligible. It is important at low wind speeds, leading to a saltation height and near-surface particle velocity which increase with the friction velocity. In a splash-dominated saltation regime at higher friction velocities, the saltation height and near-surface particle velocity become invariant with the friction velocity and closer to what is observed with sand. These findings are accompanied by a detailed description of the theoretical, experimental and numerical arguments behind snow saltation parameterizations. This work offers a comprehensive understanding of the snow saltation system and its scaling laws, useful for both modelers and experimentalists. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Melo, Daniela Brito Sigmund, Armin Lehning, Michael |
author_facet |
Melo, Daniela Brito Sigmund, Armin Lehning, Michael |
author_sort |
Melo, Daniela Brito |
title |
Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
title_short |
Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
title_full |
Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
title_fullStr |
Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
title_sort |
understanding snow saltation parameterizations: lessons from theory, experiments and numerical simulations |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1287-2024 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072428 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070642/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/1287/2024/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf |
genre |
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-18-1287-2024 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072428 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070642/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/1287/2024/tc-18-1287-2024.pdf |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1287-2024 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
1287 |
op_container_end_page |
1313 |
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