TY - JOUR
T1 - Sensitivity of turbulent fluxes to wind speed over snow surfaces in different climatic settings
AU - Dadic, Ruzica
AU - Mott, Rebecca
AU - Lehning, Michael
AU - Carenzo, Marco
AU - Anderson, Brian
AU - Mackintosh, Andrew
PY - 2013/5/1
Y1 - 2013/5/1
N2 - Local wind speed variations influence the energy and mass fluxes over snow through snow accumulation, sublimation of drifting and blowing snow, or variations in turbulent fluxes over static snow and ice surfaces. We use idealized model experiments to analyze the sensitivity of turbulent fluxes over static snow surfaces to variations in wind speed under different climatic conditions. We find that the sensitivity (change in the turbulent flux per change of unit wind speed) increases with increasing air temperature and relative humidity. The sensitivity of turbulent fluxes to wind speed is highest when the stability parameter ζ=1, which occurs at wind speeds typical for glacierized catchments (3-5ms-1), and exponentially decreases either side of that range. That peak in sensitivity is caused by atmospheric stability corrections in the model, and occurs independently of the flux-profile relationships we tested. Our results quantify the significant effect of local wind speed variations on turbulent fluxes over snow and ice and can be used to estimate potential model uncertainties in different climates, especially for the typical assumption in distributed hydrological models that the wind speed is spatially constant.
AB - Local wind speed variations influence the energy and mass fluxes over snow through snow accumulation, sublimation of drifting and blowing snow, or variations in turbulent fluxes over static snow and ice surfaces. We use idealized model experiments to analyze the sensitivity of turbulent fluxes over static snow surfaces to variations in wind speed under different climatic conditions. We find that the sensitivity (change in the turbulent flux per change of unit wind speed) increases with increasing air temperature and relative humidity. The sensitivity of turbulent fluxes to wind speed is highest when the stability parameter ζ=1, which occurs at wind speeds typical for glacierized catchments (3-5ms-1), and exponentially decreases either side of that range. That peak in sensitivity is caused by atmospheric stability corrections in the model, and occurs independently of the flux-profile relationships we tested. Our results quantify the significant effect of local wind speed variations on turbulent fluxes over snow and ice and can be used to estimate potential model uncertainties in different climates, especially for the typical assumption in distributed hydrological models that the wind speed is spatially constant.
KW - Energy balance
KW - Glacier mass balance
KW - Snow and Ice
KW - Turbulent uxes sensitivity
KW - Wind speed
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877143692&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.06.010
DO - 10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.06.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84877143692
SN - 0309-1708
VL - 55
SP - 178
EP - 189
JO - Advances in Water Resources
JF - Advances in Water Resources
ER -