The influence of the spatial distribution of snow on basin‐averaged snowmelt

Modeling Subgrid Variability of Snow Depth Using the Fokker‐Planck Equation Approach

“…This suggests that more than 60% of snow redistribution in the forested study area was caused by wind. These findings are consistent with other studies showing that redistribution factors were more important than the snowmelt factors in determining the spatial variability of snow depth (Anderton et al, ; Dunn & Colohan, ; Hartman et al, ; Luce et al, ).…”

On the role of spatial resolution on snow estimates using a process‐based snow model across a range of climatology and elevation

“…This led to the overestimation of radiation input, which in turn resulted in overestimation of solar radiation and consequently overestimation of snow melt during accumulation period (Chen, Su, Ma, Yang, & Wang, ; Hopkinson et al, ). Reduction of wind‐induced snow drifting was another reason for underestimation in SCA and SWE in nonforested regions, in agreement with previous works (Luce et al, , ). Wind‐induced snow drifting reduced because slopes were less steep in the 100‐m DEM and less slope breaks were, thus, detected relative to the 50‐m DEM (Deems et al, ).…”

“…Wind‐induced snow drifting reduced because slopes were less steep in the 100‐m DEM and less slope breaks were, thus, detected relative to the 50‐m DEM (Deems et al, ). In contrast with Luce et al (, ), who used a 30‐m resolution DEM, this work found that topography‐induced spatial variation of solar radiation is more important than spatial information of snow drifting in estimation of SCA and SWE at 50‐m resolution. Snow drifting can be as important as spatial variation in solar radiation for finer than 50‐m scale where slope substantially changes over small distances.…”

Influence of Slope‐Scale Snowmelt on Catchment Response Simulated With the Alpine3D Model

“…With a more realistic snowpack distribution, the melt season starts earlier and lasts longer, more coherent with observations. These results are also in agreement with previous studies (Luce et al, ; Warscher et al, ; Winstral et al, ) for which snow transport was considered. If we focus our attention on model performance (Table ), differences are relatively small, which raises the question whether the increasing complexity is worth the small added value.…”