Simulation Of Blowing Snow In The Canadian Arctic Using A Double-Moment Model

We describe in this paper the development of a double-moment modelof blowing snow and its application to the Canadian Arctic. Wefirst outline the formulation of the numerical model, whichsolves a prognostic equation for both the blowing snow mixingratio and total particle numbers, both moments of particles thatare gamma-distributed. Under idealized simulations, the modelyields realistic evolutions of the blowing snow particledistributions, transport and sublimation rates as well as the thermodynamic fields at low computational costs. A parametrizationof the blowing snow sublimation rate is subsequently derived. The model and parametrization are then applied to a Canadian Arctictundra site prone to frequent blowing snow events. Over a period of210 days during the winter of 1996/1997, the near-surfacerelative humidity consistently approaches saturationwith respect to ice. These conditions limit snowpack erosion byblowing snow sublimation to ≈3 mm snow water equivalent (swe)with surface sublimation removing an additional 7 mm swe.We find that our results are highly sensitiveto the proper assimilation of the humidity measurements and the evolving thermodynamic fields in the atmospheric boundary layer during blowingsnow. These factors may explain the lower values of blowing snow sublimationreported in this paper than previously published for the region.