Abstract
Abstract. The redistribution of snow by drifting and blowing snow frequently leads to an inhomogeneous snow mass distribution on larger ice caps. Together with the thermodynamic impact of drifting snow sublimation on the lower atmospheric boundary layer, these processes affect the glacier surface mass balance. This study provides a first quantification of snowdrift and sublimation of blowing and drifting snow on the Vestfonna ice cap (Svalbard) by using the specifically designed snow2blow snowdrift model. The model is forced by atmospheric fields from the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting model and resolves processes on a spatial resolution of 250 m. The model is applied to the Vestfonna ice cap for the accumulation period 2008/2009. Comparison with radio-echo soundings and snow-pit measurements show that important local-scale processes are resolved by the model and the overall snow accumulation pattern is reproduced. The findings indicate that there is a significant redistribution of snow mass from the interior of the ice cap to the surrounding areas and ice slopes. Drifting snow sublimation of suspended snow is found to be stronger during spring. It is concluded that the redistribution process is strong enough to have a significant impact on glacier mass balance.
Highlights
In high Arctic regions, redistribution of snow mass by wind drift has an important impact on the mass balance of glaciers
Meteorological data from an automatic weather station operated on the north-western slope of Vestfonna (VF-AWS, Fig. 1) since spring 2008 are used for validation of Polar Weather Research and Forecast model (PWRF) derived fields of wind speed and direction, air temperature and relative humidity
The De Geerfonna ice body receives between 15 and 20 % of its total snow mass by drifting snow, which is an important term for the local mass balance
Summary
In high Arctic regions, redistribution of snow mass by wind drift has an important impact on the mass balance of glaciers. T. Sauter et al.: Snowdrift modelling for the Vestfonna ice cap, north-eastern Svalbard repeated ground penetrating radar measurements carried out by Taurisano et al (2007) and Grabiec et al (2011). Sauter et al.: Snowdrift modelling for the Vestfonna ice cap, north-eastern Svalbard repeated ground penetrating radar measurements carried out by Taurisano et al (2007) and Grabiec et al (2011) Both studies substantially contributed to a better understanding and a consistent idea of the spatial snow cover pattern on the two large ice caps on Nordaustlandet, Austfonna and Vestfonna. Their findings have been recently affirmed by on-site snow measurements from Moller et al (2011b) and Beaudon et al (2011). The contribution and influence of individual components on the snow distribution is discussed in detail
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