Simulation of seasonal snow-cover distribution for glacierized sites on Sonnblick, Austria, with the Alpine3D model

Abstract

A detailed model of Alpine surface processes is used to simulate the amount of preferential deposition as well as redistribution of snow due to snowdrift for two alpine glaciers (Goldbergkees and Kleinfleißkees, Austrian Alps). The sequence of snow-cover modelling consists of the simulation of the wind field with a mesoscale atmospheric model, a three-dimensional finite-element drift module, an energy-balance module and a snowpack module. All modules with the exception of the wind-field model are integrated within the Alpine3D model frame. The drift module of Alpine3D distinguishes between saltation and suspension and is able to capture preferential deposition of snow precipitation and redistribution of previously deposited snow. Validation of the simulated snow depth is done using the spatially dense snow-probing dataset collected during a campaign in May 2003. Simulated snow depths agree with measurements during winter 2002/03 at locations with detailed snow-height monitoring, taking into account the high spatial variability of snow depth on the glacier. Moreover, comparison of snow accumulation from model results with detailed probing on 1 May 2003 for the total glacier area shows that Alpine3D is able to capture major patterns of spatial distribution of snow accumulation. For the first time, the Alpine3D approach of using high-resolution wind fields from a meteorological model and a physical description of snow transport could be validated for a very steep glacierized area and for a full accumulation season. The results show that drift is a dominant factor to be considered for detailed glacier mass balances. Another dominant factor not considered in this study may be snow redistribution due to avalanches.

Snowmelt response to simulated warming across a large elevation gradient, southern Sierra Nevada, California

“…Wind transport of snow is not considered in this model implementation. New-snow density and snow albedo parameterizations used in previous studies in the European Alps were found to work well in the Wolverton basin (Musselman et al, 2012a) and are used in the current study. Other land-cover parameters such as canopy height and leaf area index were specified according to land-cover classifications discussed in Sect.…”

“…It has been used in previous snow process studies (Bavay et al, 2009;Magnusson et al, 2011;Michlmayr et al, 2008;Mott et al, 2008) and projections of future snow or runoff (e.g., Bavay et al, 2009Bavay et al, , 2013Kobierska et al, 2011Kobierska et al, , 2013Marty et al, 2017). At the core of Alpine3D is the one-dimensional SNOW-PACK model (Bartelt and Lehning, 2002), which has been validated in alpine (e.g., Etchevers et al, 2004) and forested (e.g., Rutter et al, 2009) environments, including a previous study in the Wolverton basin using a subset of the forcing and verification data presented herein (Musselman et al, 2012a). At each model grid cell, mass and energy balance equations for vegetation, snow, and soil columns are solved with external forcing provided by the atmospheric variables described in Sect.…”

“…Model decisions and parameters were chosen based on their successful application in previous studies. The bottom (soil) boundary conditions were treated with a constant geothermal heat flux of 0.06 W m −2 applied at the base of a six-layer soil module (see Musselman et al, 2012a). In the case of vegetation cover, the surface-atmosphere boundary conditions were solved for in a single-layer canopy module (Musselman et al, 2012a).…”

Downscaled GCM projections of winter and summer mass balance for Central European glaciers (2000–2100) from ensemble simulations with ECHAM5‐MPIOM

“…In winter, glaciers accumulate precipitation as snow, which in the case of a positive mass balance, is transformed to firn and ice over time. Strong winds may cause significant amounts of snow drifts across or even away from the glacier (Mott et al, 2008). The ablation (mass loss) of the glacier during summer is predominately from snow and ice melt which is closely related to the incoming shortwave radiation balance at the glacier surface.…”

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

“…The fully distributed Alpine3D model is typically applied for detailed studies of small scale surface processes in alpine catchments where snow plays an important role (Lehning et al, 2006;Mott et al, 2008;Groot Zwaaftink et al, 2013). In alpine terrain, considering the length scales less than a few 100 m is important as on these scales, wind drifts determine the snow accumulation and local topography heavily influences the energy balance via the slope aspect, angle and local shading.…”