Mitigating snowdrift at the elevated SANAE IV research station in Antarctica: CFD simulation and field application

The elevated and aerodynamically streamlined South African Antarctic research base SANAE IV, in Queen Maud Land, off the Fimbul ice-shelf in Antarctica, exhibits unique wind driven snow drift formations. The longitudinal snowdrifts that form behind the interconnecting links that join the elevated research buildings are approximately 4 m high, 15 m wide and 60 m long are annually removed during a costly, weeklong operation. The paper shows the results of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modeling and simulations, developed specifically to study the phenomena and offer insight in the Aeolian processes as well as likely effectiveness of potential remedial measures. The numerical model uses standard multiphase CFD modeling techniques to resolve both the coupled wind and suspended snow velocity and mixture distribution. The snow drift model determines erosion or accumulation rates at the snow surface through simplified mass conservation of suspended and saltating snow at the boundary cells. The CFD simulations performed were able to reproduce the observed drift formations and were subsequently used evaluate the effectiveness of a three mitigation measures. The simulations suggested that a set of strategically placed baffle plates would reduce the drift formations significantly. This mitigation scenario was confirmed through field testing with drifts reduced from 4m deep to 0.5m deep. The paper illustrates that the snowdrift modeling were successful to predict the drifts and help devise a simple but effective snowdrift remediation strategy.