A model of the planetary boundary layer over a snow surface

A model of the planetary boundary layer over a snow surface has been developed. It contains the vertical heat exchange processes due to radiation, conduction, and atmospheric turbulence. Parametrization of the boundary layer is based on similarity functions developed by Hoffert and Sud (1976), which involve a dimensionless variable, ζ, dependent on boundary-layer height and a localized Monin-Obukhov length. The model also contains the atmospheric surface layer and the snowpack itself, where snowmelt and snow evaporation are calculated. The results indicate a strong dependence of surface temperatures, especially at night, on the bursts of turbulence which result from the frictional damping of surface-layer winds during periods of high stability, as described by Businger (1973). The model also shows the cooling and drying effect of the snow on the atmosphere, which may be the mechanism for air mass transformation in sub-Arctic regions.     

A case study of warm air advection over a melting snow surface

When relatively warm, moist air moves over a snow surface, sensible heat and moisture are extracted from its lower layers and used to melt the snow. The depth of the cooled layer depends on horizontal wind speeds and the presence of high vertical wind shear. The mechanism for air mass modification appears to be turbulent mixing.     

不同分辨率对淮河流域连续暴雨过程影响的中尺度模拟试验

利用中尺度模式WRF对2016年6月30日—7月1日华中地区一次暴雨过程进行数值模拟试验,探讨不同分辨率和云微物理方案对降水的影响,结果表明：（1）模拟雨带与实况基本一致,但模拟暴雨范围偏小;总雨区模拟对分辨率更为敏感,大暴雨区模拟对分辨率和云微物理方案均很敏感;采用不同分辨率时,降水模拟能力受云微物理过程与积云参数化共同影响。TS评分显示,12 km分辨率和Lin微物理方案组合对特大暴雨模拟效果最好。（2）不同云微物理方案模拟各水凝物粒子发展和演变主要取决于其本身特点。Lin方案多云冰和霰、少雪;Thompson方案多雪,几乎不含云冰和霰;Morrison方案3种冰相粒子分布较为均匀,Lin方案模拟冰相粒子含量被低估,而Thompson方案和Morrison方案模拟冰相粒子含量被高估。（3）不同方案模拟上升气流强弱将影响水凝物粒子分布,在系统成熟期,Lin方案模拟上升气流直立,中高层向后出流弱,冰相粒子集中;Thompson方案和Morrison方案模拟倾斜上升气流在中高层向后出流强,大量冰相粒子被带出而不能形成有效降水。

     

Atmospheric turbulent fluxes over snow

On March 26, 1971, eddy fluxes of momentum, sensible heat and water vapour were measured over Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, U.S.A., which was covered by an extensive snowfall. An evaporation rate of about 0.7mm day^–1 (2.2 mW cm^–2) was detected. Wind speeds were light and the atmosphere near the surface was highly stable. In these conditions, the average sensible heat transfer and Reynolds stress were -0.9 mW cm^–2 and 0.10 dyn cm^–2, respectively. Comparison with measured gradients of wind speed, temperature and humidity yield a drag coefficient of about 0.54 × 10^–3, and bulk transfer coefficients for sensible and latent heat of 0.41 × 10^–3 and 0.78 × 10^–3, respectively, applied to 10-m data. When corrected for the effect of atmospheric stability, these three coefficients become (in the same order) 1.2 × 10^–3, 0.9 × 10^–3 and 2.5 × 10^–3. The errors in these estimates are such that the drag coefficient is not significantly different from that corresponding to an aerodynamically smooth surface, while the heat coefficients are similar to those normally applied over liquid water surfaces.     

Measurement of snow surface emissivity

Measurements of the snow surface emissivity for infrared radiation have been made with an infrared radiation thermometer. The mean value of the emissivity is estimated at = 0.970 ± 0.008.     

Stability dependence of the drag and bulk transfer coefficients over a coastal sea surface

Bulk transfer coefficients were evaluated from eddy correlation flux measurements on a fixed pier during onshore winds. The mean values are C _D = 1.69 × 10^-3, C _H = 2.58 × 10^-3 and C _E = 1.51 × 10^-3. The drag coefficient, C _D, gradually increases with wind speed but C _H and C _E are independent of wind speed. According to theory and empirical formulas based on experimental results over flat grassland, the transfer coefficients should gradually increase with increasing instability. This is confirmed experimentally in the stable region in our case. However, the drag coefficient appears to decrease with increasing instability, which is against the theoretical result. A stability dependence is not clearly observed for C _H or C _E.     

A theory for the scalar roughness and the scalar transfer coefficients over snow and sea ice

Although the bulk aerodynamic transfer coefficients for sensible (C _H ) and latent (C _E ) heat over snow and sea ice surfaces are necessary for accurately modeling the surface energy budget, they have been measured rarely. This paper, therefore, presents a theoretical model that predicts neutral-stability values of C _H and C _E as functions of the wind speed and a surface roughness parameter. The crux of the model is establishing the interfacial sublayer profiles of the scalars, temperature and water vapor, over aerodynamically smooth and rough surfaces on the basis of a surface-renewal model in which turbulent eddies continually scour the surface, transferring scalar contaminants across the interface by molecular diffusion. Matching these interfacial sublayer profiles with the semi-logarithmic inertial sublayer profiles yields the roughness lengths for temperature and water vapor. When coupled with a model for the drag coefficient over snow and sea ice based on actual measurements, these roughness lengths lead to the transfer coefficients. C _E is always a few percent larger than CH. Both decrease monotonically with increasing wind speed for speeds above 1 m s^–1, and both increase at all wind speeds as the surface gets rougher. Both, nevertheless, are almost always between 1.0 × 10^–3 and 1.5 × 10^–3.     

Interaction between wind and snow surface

The horizontal and vertical wind velocity fluctuations were measured using two sonic anemometers at a height of 135 cm above a snow surface under a transverse snow wave-forming condition. A snow-wave was formed when the wind at a height of 1 m blew at a speed of more than 7 m s^–1 after an approximate accumulation of from 10 to 20 cm of new snow on a snowfield. For example, when a snow-wave had a wavelength of 10 m and a wave height of 15 to 20 cm, the measured horizontal and vertical velocity components showed that they had a frequency peak of 0.7 Hz in coherence and co-spectrum corresponding to this wavelength. The results suggest that wind turbulence and snow-wave formation interact with each other.     

中国西北干旱区戈壁下垫面夏季的热力输送

以敦煌戈壁站2004年6月和2008年8月的常规观测和超声观测为例,分析了西北干旱区戈壁下垫面夏季热力输送的一般过程及特征。首先评价了湍流通量的观测质量以及仪器观测的地表能量通量闭合问题,结果表明敦煌戈壁站的观测在白天总体较好。夏季地表能量通量的平均日变化显示,潜热通量整天都很小,可以忽略,白天到达地表的短波辐射以及地表向上的长波辐射非常强,地表净辐射主要转化为感热输送（敦煌戈壁站在中午时平均分别达380W·m-2以上和250W·m-2以上）;夜间土壤释放热量以平衡地表的辐射冷却,感热通量略低于0。白天时地表大气经常触发自由对流活动,影响动量通量的观测质量,并有效输送地表热力至上层大气中,有助于形成超厚大气边界层。分析了戈壁下垫面的动量粗糙度特征和热力粗糙度特征（敦煌戈壁站动量粗糙度约为0．6mm）,热力粗糙度基本小于动量粗糙度一个量级,这符合目前对干旱区戈壁下垫面热力输送特征的初步认识。     

Impact of the snow cover scheme on snow distribution and energy budget modeling over the Tibetan Plateau

This paper presents the impact of two snow cover schemes (NY07 and SL12) in the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5) on the snow distribution and surface energy budget over the Tibetan Plateau. The simulated snow cover fraction (SCF), snow depth, and snow cover days were evaluated against in situ snow depth observations and a satellite-based snow cover product and snow depth dataset. The results show that the SL12 scheme, which considers snow accumulation and snowmelt processes separately, has a higher overall accuracy (81.8%) than the NY07 (75.8%). The newer scheme performs better in the prediction of overall accuracy compared with the NY07; however, SL12 yields a 15.1% underestimation rate while NY07 overestimated the SCF with a 15.2% overestimation rate. Both two schemes capture the distribution of the maximum snow depth well but show large positive biases in the average value through all periods (3.37, 3.15, and 1.48 cm for NY07; 3.91, 3.52, and 1.17 cm for SL12) and overestimate snow cover days compared with the satellite-based product and in situ observations. Higher altitudes show larger root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) in the simulations of snow depth and snow cover days during the snow-free period. Moreover, the surface energy flux estimations from the SL12 scheme are generally superior to the simulation from NY07 when evaluated against ground-based observations, in particular for net radiation and sensible heat flux. This study has great implications for further improvement of the subgrid-scale snow variations over the Tibetan Plateau.     

On the drag coefficient over shallow water

It is shown that if the wind-wave spectrum in shallow water is approximately independent of wind speed due to the combined effects of white-capping and bottom friction, then the wave-induced drag coefficient has a maximum value when the wind speed is twice the maximum wave-speed; as the wind speed increases further, the drag coefficient slowly decreases. This result is consistent with the observations of Hicks et al. (1974).     

Frost condensation of sulfur dioxide and snow surface pollution

Discussed is the mechanism of snow cover pollution caused by the frost condensation of sulfur dioxide. Given are the results of observations of sulfur dioxide concentration variations in the upper snow layer. The temperature gradient value in the surface inversion layer is considered as a determining factor of frost condensation. It was supposed that the role of this process in the formation of aerial technogenic pollution of the snow surface on the territories with a stable snow cover becomes more significant under climate warming conditions.     

The sublimation of falling snow over the Mackenzie River Basin

The sublimation of falling snow may be an important component of the atmospheric water budget of the Mackenzie River Basin and many parts of the Arctic. To investigate this issue, a simple sublimation model is used along with surface precipitation observations and sonde data obtained during the autumn 1994 Beaufort and Arctic Storms Experiment (BASE). Model results are then compared with actual precipitation measurements at Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, sites in Northern Canada, to approximate mass loss due to sublimation. The sublimation results are found to vary in concert with cloud base height, precipitation intensity aloft and the nature of the precipitation. Atmospheric conditions are furthermore examined over a wide range of the Arctic, especially the Mackenzie River Basin, to assess to what degree the results can be generalized. The presence of a relatively dry near-surface layer, a favourable environment for sublimation, is a key feature of most sites during the early autumn storm period. Estimates of sublimational mass losses are found over Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk using sonde derived cloud base heights and temperature and humidity profiles. Sublimation losses for such sites are found to be of the order of 40–60%, which shows that sublimation is indeed a significant process over the Mackenzie Basin and needs to be well handled in climate models. However, increasing the vertical resolution of the sublimation model to that of climate scales can dramatically affect predicted sublimation amounts; how to properly account for sublimation then remains a difficult task.     

Projection of snow cover changes over China under RCP scenarios

Snow cover changes in the middle (2040–2059) and end (2080–2099) of the twenty-first century over China were investigated with a regional climate model, nested within the global model BCC_CSM1.1. The simulations had been conducted for the period of 1950–2099 under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Results show that the model perform well in representing contemporary (1986–2005) spatial distributions of snow cover days (SCDs) and snow water equivalent (SWE). However, some differences between observation and simulation were detected. Under the RCP4.5 scenarios, SCDs are shortened by 10–20 and 20–40 days during the middle and end of the twenty-first century, respectively. Whereas simulated SWE is lowered by 0.1–10 mm in most areas over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). On the other hand, the spatial distributions of SWE are reversed between the middle and end terms in the northeast China. Furthermore, compared with the changes of RCP4.5 scenario, SCDs are reduced by 5–20 days in the middle period under RCP8.5 scenario with even larger decreasing amplitude in the end term. SWE was lowered by 0.1–2.5 mm in most areas except the northeast of China in middle term under RCP8.5 scenario. The great center of SCDs and SWE changes are always located over TP. The regional mean of SCDs and SWE for the TP and for China display a declining trend from 2006 to 2099 with more pronounced changes in the TP than in China as a whole. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the changes are enhanced compared to those under RCP4.5.     

淮河地区水稻田下垫面整体输送系数的确定与讨论

利用1999年夏季淮河流域能量和水循环试验(HUBEX)补充加强观测期间寿县观测站探测资料,计算分析了水稻田下垫表面上的整体输送系数CD、CH和CE,并与能量平衡结果进行了对比研究.结果表明,尽管水稻田下垫面上的稳定度集中在一狭小区间内,但整体输送系数CD、CH和CE仍取决于稳定度参数z/L、观测高度z和地表粗糙长度z0.     

Impact of rain snow threshold temperature on snow depth simulation in land surface and regional atmospheric models

This study investigates the impact of rain snow threshold (RST) temperatures on snow depth simulation using the Community Land Model (CLM) and the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF-coupled with the CLM and hereafter referred to as WRF CLM), and the difference in impacts. Simulations were performed from 17 December 1994 to 30 May 1995 in the French Alps. Results showed that both the CLM and the WRF CLM were able to represent a fair simulation of snow depth with actual terrain height and 2.5℃ RST temperature. When six RST methods were applied to the simulation using WRF CLM, the simulated snow depth was the closest to observations using 2.5℃ RST temperature, followed by that with Pipes’, USACE, Kienzle’s, Dai’s, and 0℃ RST temperature methods. In the case of using CLM, simulated snow depth was the closest to the observation with Dai’s method, followed by with USACE, Pipes’, 2.5℃ RST temperature, Kienzle’s, and 0℃ RST temperature method. The snow depth simulation using the WRF CLM was comparatively sensitive to changes in RST temperatures, because the RST temperature was not only the factor to partition snow and rainfall. In addition, the simulated snow related to RST temperature could induce a significant feedback by influencing the meteorological variables forcing the land surface model in WRF CLM. In comparison, the above variables did not change with changes in RST in CLM. Impacts of RST temperatures on snow depth simulation could also be influenced by the patterns of temperature and precipitation, spatial resolution, and input terrain heights.     

The atmospheric boundary layer over a wavy surface

The wavy area of north-west Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) is simulated by a cylindrical surface model. A curvilinear orthogonal system of coordinates along the model surface is introduced. The hydrodynamical equations of motion are transformed into this system of coordinates. By applying boundary-layer assumptions, the equations of motion for the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) above the model are derived. The equations and boundary conditions show an equivalence of the ABL above the model with that above a flat surface with external pressure gradient.     

Turbulent exchange over a surface with chessboard-type inhomogeneities

The results of an experiment carried out in the summer of 1988 in the forest-steppe region of the USSR are given. The aim of the experiment was to study turbulent exchange between the atmosphere and a non-homogeneous underlying surface consisting of a patchwork quilt of agricultural lands sown with different crops (hereafter called chessboard-type inhomogeneities). Simultaneous measurements of turbulent fluxes of heat, momentum and humidity by the eddy-correlation methods and also the measurements of the mean wind velocity and temperature are described. The values of turbulent fluxes calculated from the profile measurements are in good agreement with those obtained from the eddy-correlation measurements. Thus it may be concluded that the universal functions of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (determined from measurements over a flat and homogeneous underlying surface) pertain also to a non-homogeneous (chessboard-type) underlying surface.     

Changes in snow parameterization over typical vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere

Seasonal snow is sensitive to climate change, and is always taken as a signal of local climate changes. As changes in snow differ locally in their characteristics, it is necessary to detect the effects of snow on different land cover types. The middle and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are located in a vast area of seasonal snow, experiencing snow accumulation and snowmelt stages each year. This study found that selected land cover types (open shrubland, evergreen needleleaf forest, and mixed forest) possess unique relationship curves between the snow cover fraction and snow depth. This has resulted in the northward shrinking of open shrubland and expansion of evergreen needleleaf forest and mixed forest, thereby further modulating local ecological systems. However, such changes in the snow process are not reproduced well by model parameterizations, and a faster melting process in the snowmelt stage will occur owing to the effects of global warming not being properly considered in such parametrization schemes. This inability to properly simulate the change in the snow process will affect the understanding of the ecological impacts of snowmelt in spring.摘要季节性降雪对气候变化很敏感, 常被当作气候变化的信号. 由于其局地特征差异显著, 不同下垫面类型的积雪过程也不尽相同. 北半球中高纬度的典型下垫面 (开阔灌丛, 常绿针叶林和混交林) 在积雪覆盖率和雪深之间有着独特的关系曲线, 这种关系不仅代表了积雪过程和融雪过程的特征变化, 更能用于模式进行积雪预测. 研究发现, 北半球中高纬度的增温改变了积雪参数化关系, 进一步影响了局地能量和水循环, 造成开阔灌丛的北缩和常绿针叶林及混交林的扩张. 然而, 目前模式中的积雪参数化并不能很好地再现全球变暖影响下融雪阶段出现的加速融化过程, 并且进一步影响对春季融雪的生态影响的理解.