Articles | Volume 16, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4319-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4319-2022
Research article
 | 
14 Oct 2022
Research article |  | 14 Oct 2022

Understanding wind-driven melt of patchy snow cover

Luuk D. van der Valk, Adriaan J. Teuling, Luc Girod, Norbert Pirk, Robin Stoffer, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden

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Aalstad, K., Westermann, S., Schuler, T. V., Boike, J., and Bertino, L.: Ensemble-based assimilation of fractional snow-covered area satellite retrievals to estimate the snow distribution at Arctic sites, The Cryosphere, 12, 247–270, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-247-2018, 2018. a
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Bonekamp, P. N. J., van Heerwaarden, C. C., Steiner, J. F., and Immerzeel, W. W.: Using 3D turbulence-resolving simulations to understand the impact of surface properties on the energy balance of a debris-covered glacier, The Cryosphere, 14, 1611–1632, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1611-2020, 2020. a, b, c
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Short summary
Most large-scale hydrological and climate models struggle to capture the spatially highly variable wind-driven melt of patchy snow cover. In the field, we find that 60 %–80 % of the total melt is wind driven at the upwind edge of a snow patch, while it does not contribute at the downwind edge. Our idealized simulations show that the variation is due to a patch-size-independent air-temperature reduction over snow patches and also allow us to study the role of wind-driven snowmelt on larger scales.