Snow drift losses from an Arctic catchment on Spitsbergen: an additional process in the water balance

Abstract

Blowing snow is a process, which can be observed during the entire winter season in Arctic catchments. On Spitsbergen at 78° North, the ground is bare of tall vegetation and the snow is easily moved by the wind. During frequent storms, large masses of snow are relocated from erosion to deposition areas. In this study, the mass of snow, transported out of an Arctic valley to the open sea is estimated via direct measurements and model calculations. The study area is a valley on Spitsbergen in the high Arctic. The valley is approximately 4 km wide and 10 km long and ends in a fjord arm. The wind direction in the valley is very uniform. During the winter season, the wind is blowing out of the valley 80% of the time. There is one permanent automatic weather station located in the valley. In addition, three automatic weather stations were installed in the valley during a study period of 2 months in February and March 2000. These stations measure, in addition to wind speed and direction, the snow drift flux with acoustic snow drift sensors. The results of the study period are related to those of the permanent station to quantify the accumulated snow mass passing from the valley to the open sea for the entire season. The results show that the transport snow mass equals 0.2% of the annual precipitation in the catchment. Thus, the losses due to snow drift to the open sea are of little importance to the valleys water balance.