On the suitability of the Thorpe-Mason model for Calculating
Sublimation of Saltating Snow

Sharma, V.; Comola, Francesco; Lehning, Michael

doi:10.5194/tc-2018-33

Cited by 10 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…For example, model resolution has an impact on the simulated sublimations rates since crests where high sublimations rates are simulated have a smaller spatial extent at finer resolution . In addition, recent works by Huang and Shi (2017) and Sharma et al (2018) have suggested that blowing snow models should not neglect sublimation in the saltation layer which can lead to an underestimation of the importance of blowing snow sublimation by the models.…”

Section: Snow Sublimation: Mass Loss and Atmospheric Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Seasonal Snow Cover Dynamics: Review on Wind-Driven Coupling Processes

2018

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The temporal evolution of seasonal snow cover and its spatial variability in environments such as mountains, prairies or polar regions is strongly influenced by the interactions between the atmospheric boundary layer and the snow cover. Wind-driven coupling processes affect both mass and energy fluxes at the snow surface with consequences on snow hydrology, avalanche hazard, and ecosystem development. This paper proposes a review on these processes and combines the more recent findings obtained from observations and modeling. The spatial variability of snow accumulation across multiple scales can be associated to wind-driven processes ranging from orographic precipitation at large scale to preferential-deposition of snowfall and wind-induced transport of snow on the ground at smaller scales. An overview of models of varying complexity developed to simulate these processes is proposed in this paper. Snow ablation is also affected by wind-driven processes. Over continuous snow covers, turbulent fluxes of latent and sensible heat, as well as blowing snow sublimation, modify the mass, and energy balance of the snowpack and their representation in numerical models is associated with many uncertainties. As soon as the snow cover becomes patchy in spring local heat advection induces the development of stable internal boundary layers changing heat exchange toward the snow. Overall, wind-driven processes play a key role in all the different stages of the evolution of seasonal snow. Improvements in process understanding particularly at the mountain-ridge and the slope scale, and processes representations in models at scales up to the mountain range scale, will be the basis for improved short-term forecast and climate projections in snow-covered regions.

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Section: Snow Sublimation: Mass Loss and Atmospheric Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Seasonal Snow Cover Dynamics: Review on Wind-Driven Coupling Processes

2018

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“…Dery and Yau, 1999]. Recent model simulations by Sharma et al [2018] and Dai and Huang [2014] have shed light on the importance of temperature and wind speed fluctuations at the timescales of the sweep and ejection processes highlighted here. The comparison of the Sharma et al [2018] large-eddy-simulation-driven sublimation model with the widely used steady-state model of Thorpe and Mason [1966] revealed that transient sublimation rates approached the steady-state model only after time periods ranging from 10 -2 to 10 s, depending on particle diameter and ventilation rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The mean temperatures varied from -7 C during the previous three days to +3 C during the night of Jan 21. This resulted in a much larger difference between air and snow surface temperatures, and provided an interesting comparison of conditions that are critical for snow sublimation at short timescales [Sharma et al, 2018].…”

Section: Fieldworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Investigations of snow sublimation from a numerical modeling approach have recently provided new insights into non-steady state aspects of sublimation [Dai and Huang, 2014;Li et al, 2017;Sharma et al, 2018] and the efficacy of the nearlyuniversally used Thorpe and Mason [1966] model [see Schmidt, 1972] at high temporal and spatial resolution [Sharma et al, 2018]. Little research has been conducted to better understand the energy available for snow sublimation from entrainment or advection processes in natural atmospheric turbulence or the influence that resultant air temperature fluctuations may exert on sublimation rates.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Dry-Air Entrainment and Advection during Alpine Blowing Snow Events

Aksamit¹,

Pomeroy²

2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Blowing snow transport has considerable impact on the hydrological cycle in alpine regions both through the redistribution of the seasonal snowpack and through sublimation back into the atmosphere. Alpine energy and mass balances are typically modelled with time-averaged approximations of sensible and latent heat fluxes. This oversimplifies non-stationary turbulent mixing in complex terrain and may overlook important exchange processes for hydrometeorological prediction. To determine if warm and dry air advection during blowing snow events from atmospheric sweep and ejection motions can provide such exchange mechanisms, they were investigated at an alpine site in the Canadian Rockies and found to supply substantial sensible heat to blowing snow flows. These motions were responsible for temperature fluctuations of up to 1 °C, a considerable change for energy balance estimation. A simple scaling relation was derived that related the frequency of turbulent sweeps and ejections to the event magnitude. This allows the first parameterization of entrained or advected energy for time-averaged representations of blowing snow sublimation and suggests that advection can strongly reduce thermodynamic feedbacks between blowing snow sublimation and the near-surface atmosphere. The recurrence model modeled described provides a significant step towards a more physically-based blowing snow sublimation model. Additionally, calculations of return frequencies and event durations provide a field-measurement context for recent findings of non-stationarity impacts on sublimation rates.

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“…For example, large eddy simulation (LES) models could be used to simulate accumulation areas under variable wind conditions, and high resolution snowpack models (e.g., Lehning et al, 2002;Wever et al, 2015) could be applied to assess quantity and timing of water draining though a wet pile of machine-made snow. Finally, numerical models of drifting snow that account for thermodynamic effects of sublimating snow particles while traveling through the air (e.g., Thorpe and Mason, 1966;Dery et al, 1998;Wever et al, 2009;Groot Zwaaftink et al, 2013;Sharma et al, 2018) could be adapted to model physical processes during snowmaking. Such physical processes involved, their implications, dimensions, and interdependencies could be systematically analyzed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Losses During Technical Snow Production: Results From Field Experiments

Grünewald¹,

Wolfsperger²

2019

Front. Earth Sci.

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Alpine as well as Nordic skiing tourism strongly depend on the production of machinemade snow for the timely opening of the winter season. However, it is likely that sublimation, evaporation, wind drift, and the discharge of unfrozen water to the ground will result in the loss of significant parts of the water used. The relation between these water losses and the ambient meteorological conditions is poorly understood. We present results from a series of 12 detailed snow-making field tests performed in a ski resort near Davos, Switzerland. Water inflows, measured at the snow machine, are related to the mass of snow deposited on the ground. Snow amounts are calculated from accumulated volumes, measured with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and manually sampled snow densities. Additionally, samples of liquid water contents (LWCs) of the produced snow are presented. We find that 7 to 35 ± 7% (mean 21%) of the consumed water was lost during snow-making and that the loss is strongly related to the ambient meteorological conditions. Linear regression analysis shows that water losses increase with air temperature (TA). Combining our data with observations from earlier field measurements shows similar correlations.

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On the suitability of the Thorpe-Mason model for Calculating Sublimation of Saltating Snow

Cited by 10 publications

References 13 publications

The Seasonal Snow Cover Dynamics: Review on Wind-Driven Coupling Processes

The Seasonal Snow Cover Dynamics: Review on Wind-Driven Coupling Processes

Dry-Air Entrainment and Advection during Alpine Blowing Snow Events

Water Losses During Technical Snow Production: Results From Field Experiments

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