This study links two models, one that simulates changes in snow microstructure and one that recovers microstructure properties from measurements of snow reflectance. An energy and mass transfer model, SNTHERM.89, was used to calculate snow grain growth. Grain-sizes from the model and measurements of grain bond areas provided estimates of the surface-to-volume ratio of the bulk snow, which were ...

A land surface model (LSM), minimal advanced treatments of surface interaction and runoff (MATSIRO), has been developed for climate studies at the global and regional scales. The canopy has a single layer, whose albedo and bulk coefficients are evaluated on the basis of a multilayer canopy model. The fluxes are calculated from the energy balance at the ground and canopy surfaces in snow-free an...

We analyze the parameterization of sub-grid scale variability in snow accumulation and melt models from a physical perspective considering the causes of the variability and the effect on snowpack energy exchange. The source of temporal changes in spatial variance of snow water equivalent is the covariance between snow water equivalent and the accumulation or melt rate at each point. Variability...

Mean snow cover duration was derived for the entire continent of Europe based on the MODIS daily snow cover products MOD10A1 and MYD10A1 for the period from 2000 to 2011. Dates of snow cover start and snow cover melt were also estimated. Polar darkness north of ~62°N and extensive cloud coverage affected the daily snow cover, preventing a direct derivation of the desired parameters. Combining s...

Trends in the duration or extent of snow cover are expected to feedback to temperature trends. We analyzed trends in dates of onset and termination of snow cover in relation to temperature over the past 27 years (1980–2006) from over 636 meteorological stations in the Northern Hemisphere. Different trends in snow duration are observed over North America and Eurasia. Over North America, the term...

This article presents an overview of results from the 1980–1992 survey of snow loads and densities on roofs in deep snow areas of British Columbia with particular emphasis on results from an extensive survey at the ski village on Mt. Washington, Vancouver Island, where the 30-year return ground snow load is 21 kPa. The article makes recommendations for the design of buildings in deep snow areas...

Cyanobacteria and lichens living under sandstone surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys require snow for moisture. Snow accumulated beyond a thin layer, however, is counterproductive, interfering with rock insolation, snow melting, and photosynthetic access to light. With this in mind, the facts that rock slope and direction control colonization, and that climate change results in regional extinct...

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Snowmelt metrics Depletion curves Western hemlock-true fir ecotone Generalized least squares regression Trend power analysis PDO/ENSO Pacific Northwest Snow cover pattern and persistence have important implications for planetary energy balance, climate sensitivity to forcings, and vegetation structure, function, and composition. Variability in snow cover within m...

Seasonal snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is the largest component of the terrestrial cryosphere and plays a major role in the climate system through strong positive feedbacks related to albedo. The snow-albedo feedback is invoked as an important cause for the polar amplification of ongoing and projected climate change, and its parameterization across models is an important source of uncer...

What are the effects of snow fence variables on wind patterns, and geometry and volume of snow collected in drifts? This question arose from a need to capture winter’s blowing snow to improve water supply during a drought and to protect critical areas from blowing snow. Last year, during the first phase of this project, various powders were tested to find which would closely replicate snow in a...