Application of the Alpine 3D model for glacier mass balance and glacier runoff studies at Goldbergkees, Austria

Michlmayr, Gernot; Lehning, Michael; Koboltschnig, Gernot; Holzmann, H.; Zappa, Massimiliano; Mott, Rebecca; Schöner, Wolfgang

doi:10.1002/hyp.7102

Cited by 76 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Point-based EISModel calculations at the weather stations were run, using four temperature series: (i) measured data, (ii) calculated temperature from Careser Diga via the standard ambient lapse rate (−6.5 • C km −1 ), (iii) calculated temperature according to the S&M method, and (iv) calculated temperature according to the G&B method. Option (ii) is commonly used in the absence of temperature data from glaciers (e.g., Michlmayr et al, 2008;Nolin et al, 2010).…”

Section: Mass Balance Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air temperature variability over three glaciers in the Ortles–Cevedale (Italian Alps): effects of glacier fragmentation, comparison of calculation methods, and impacts on mass balance modeling

et al. 2015

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Abstract.Glacier mass balance models rely on accurate spatial calculation of input data, in particular air temperature. Lower temperatures (the so-called glacier cooling effect) and lower temperature variability (the so-called glacier damping effect) generally occur over glaciers compared to ambient conditions. These effects, which depend on the geometric characteristics of glaciers and display a high spatial and temporal variability, have been mostly investigated on medium to large glaciers so far, while observations on smaller ice bodies ( < 0.5 km 2 ) are scarce. Using a data set from eight on-glacier and four off-glacier weather stations, collected in the summers of 2010 and 2011, we analyzed the air temperature variability and wind regime over three different glaciers in the Ortles-Cevedale. The magnitude of the cooling effect and the occurrence of katabatic boundary layer (KBL) processes showed remarkable differences among the three ice bodies, suggesting the likely existence of important reinforcing mechanisms during glacier decay and fragmentation. The methods proposed by Greuell and Böhm (1998) and Shea and Moore (2010) for calculating on-glacier temperature from off-glacier data did not fully reproduce our observations. Among them, the more physically based procedure of Greuell and Böhm (1998) provided the best overall results where the KBL prevails, but it was not effective elsewhere (i.e., on smaller ice bodies and close to the glacier margins). The accuracy of air temperature estimations strongly impacted the results from a mass balance model which was applied to the three investigated glaciers. Most importantly, even small temperature deviations caused distortions in parameter calibration, thus compromising the model generalizability.

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Section: Mass Balance Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air temperature variability over three glaciers in the Ortles–Cevedale (Italian Alps): effects of glacier fragmentation, comparison of calculation methods, and impacts on mass balance modeling

et al. 2015

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“…Note that roughness lengths for momentum z 0 , heat z H and moisture z Q are approximated to be equal. Considering the snow-covered surface we used a modified version of the stability correction functions of Stearns and Weidner (1994) to correct the heat exchange coefficient for stability, ψ(z/L), as described in Michlmayr et al (2008).…”

Section: Numerical Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a detailed description of the stability correction function used in Alpine3D, see Michlmayr et al (2008). The model can be run with a correction for atmospheric stability or without stability correction assuming the local atmosphere to be neutrally stratified.…”

Section: R Mott Et Al: Micrometeoroloical Processes Driving Snow Abmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The albedo function takes into account meteorological factors (air temperature, relative humidity, incoming shortwave radiation, wind velocity), an aging factor and the modeled current state of the snow surface (density, volumetric content, grain properties). For a detailed description of the albedo function, see Lehning et al (2002) and Michlmayr et al (2008).…”

Section: R Mott Et Al: Micrometeoroloical Processes Driving Snow Abmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Micrometeorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment

Mott¹,

Egli²,

Grünewald³

et al. 2011

The Cryosphere

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Abstract. Mountain snow covers typically become patchy over the course of a melting season. The snow pattern during melt is mainly governed by the end of winter snow depth distribution and the local energy balance. The objective of this study is to investigate micro-meteorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment. For this purpose we combine a meteorological boundary-layer model (Advanced Regional Prediction System) with a fully distributed energy balance model (Alpine3D). Turbulent fluxes above melting snow are further investigated by using data from eddy-correlation systems. We compare modeled snow ablation to measured ablation rates as obtained from a series of Terrestrial Laser Scanning campaigns covering a complete ablation season. The measured ablation rates indicate that the advection of sensible heat causes locally increased ablation rates at the upwind edges of the snow patches. The effect, however, appears to be active over rather short distances of about 4-6 m. Measurements suggest that mean wind velocities of about 5 m s −1 are required for advective heat transport to increase snow ablation over a long fetch distance of about 20 m. Neglecting this effect, the model is able to capture the mean ablation rates for early ablation periods but strongly overestimates snow ablation once the fraction of snow coverage is below a critical value of approximately 0.6. While radiation dominates snow ablation early in the season, the turbulent flux contribution becomes important late in the season. Simulation results indicate that the air temperatures appear to overestimate the local air temperature above snow patches once the snow coverage is low. Measured turbulent fluxes support these findings by suggesting a stable internal boundary layer close to the snow surface causing a strong decrease of the sensible heat flux towards the snow cover.Correspondence to: R. Mott (mott@slf.ch) Thus, the existence of a stable internal boundary layer above a patchy snow cover exerts a dominant control on the timing and magnitude of snow ablation for patchy snow covers.

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“…To run simulations for the Dischma catchment, the Alpine3D model system is used, which describes surface processes in complex terrain by performing distributed SNOWPACK simulations (Lehning et al, 2006). For describing the high spatial variability in incoming and outgoing long-and short-wave radiation, including shadowing effects and the surface reflections of short-wave radiation, a detailed energy balance module is available (Michlmayr et al, 2008). An additional module considers drifting snow Mott et al, 2010), including sublimation processes (Groot Zwaaftink et al, 2013).…”

Section: Simulation Set-upmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating the influence of snow surface processes on soil moisture dynamics and streamflow generation in an alpine catchment

Wever

Comola

Bavay³

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The assessment of flood risks in alpine, snowcovered catchments requires an understanding of the linkage between the snow cover, soil and discharge in the stream network. Here, we apply the comprehensive, distributed model Alpine3D to investigate the role of soil moisture in the predisposition of the Dischma catchment in Switzerland to high flows from rainfall and snowmelt. The recently updated soil module of the physics-based multilayer snow cover model SNOWPACK, which solves the surface energy and mass balance in Alpine3D, is verified against soil moisture measurements at seven sites and various depths inside and in close proximity to the Dischma catchment. Measurements and simulations in such terrain are difficult and consequently, soil moisture was simulated with varying degrees of success. Differences between simulated and measured soil moisture mainly arise from an overestimation of soil freezing and an absence of a groundwater description in the Alpine3D model. Both were found to have an influence in the soil moisture measurements. Using the Alpine3D simulation as the surface scheme for a spatially explicit hydrologic response model using a travel time distribution approach for interflow and baseflow, streamflow simulations were performed for the discharge from the catchment. The streamflow simulations provided a closer agreement with observed streamflow when driving the hydrologic response model with soil water fluxes at 30 cm depth in the Alpine3D model. Performance decreased when using the 2 cm soil water flux, thereby mostly ignoring soil processes. This illustrates that the role of soil moisture is important to take into account when understanding the relationship between both snowpack runoff and rainfall and catchment discharge in high alpine terrain. However, using the soil water flux at 60 cm depth to drive the hydrologic response model also decreased its performance, indicating that an optimal soil depth to include in surface simulations exists and that the runoff dynamics are controlled by only a shallow soil layer. Runoff coefficients (i.e. ratio of rainfall over discharge) based on measurements for high rainfall and snowmelt events were found to be dependent on the simulated initial soil moisture state at the onset of an event, further illustrating the important role of soil moisture for the hydrological processes in the catchment. The runoff coefficients using simulated discharge were found to reproduce this dependency, which shows that the Alpine3D model framework can be successfully applied to assess the predisposition of the catchment to flood risks from both snowmelt and rainfall events.

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Application of the Alpine 3D model for glacier mass balance and glacier runoff studies at Goldbergkees, Austria

Cited by 76 publications

References 28 publications

Air temperature variability over three glaciers in the Ortles–Cevedale (Italian Alps): effects of glacier fragmentation, comparison of calculation methods, and impacts on mass balance modeling

Air temperature variability over three glaciers in the Ortles–Cevedale (Italian Alps): effects of glacier fragmentation, comparison of calculation methods, and impacts on mass balance modeling

Micrometeorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment

Simulating the influence of snow surface processes on soil moisture dynamics and streamflow generation in an alpine catchment

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