Effects of snow redistribution parameterization on simulated snow thickness validated by MOSAiC observations

Gu, Fengguan; Liu, Changwei; Han, Bo; Yang, Qinghua; Liu, Jiping

doi:10.5194/tc-20-6521-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-6521-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-6521-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 11

Research article

|

12 Nov 2026

Research article |

| 12 Nov 2026

Effects of snow redistribution parameterization on simulated snow thickness validated by MOSAiC observations

Fengguan Gu, Changwei Liu, Bo Han, Qinghua Yang, and Jiping Liu

Data sets

Atmospheric Surface Flux Station #30 measurements (Level 1 Raw), Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), central Arctic, October 2019-September 2020 C. Cox et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A20C4SM1J

Atmospheric Surface Flux Station #40 measurements (Level 1 Raw), Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), central Arctic, October 2019-September 2020 C. Cox et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2CJ87M7G

Atmospheric Surface Flux Station #50 measurements (Level 1 Raw), Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), central Arctic, October 2019-September 2020 C. Cox et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2445HD46

Met City meteorological and surface flux measurements (Level 3 Final), Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), central Arctic, October 2019-September 2020 C. Cox et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2PV6B83F

Snow depth and sea ice thickness derived from the measurements of SIMBA buoys deployed in the Arctic Ocean during the Legs 1a, 1, and 3 of the MOSAiC campaign in 2019-2020 R. Lei et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.938244

AMSR2 ASI sea ice concentration data, Arctic, version 5.4 (NetCDF) C. Melsheimer and G. Spreen https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.898399

Sea ice lead fractions from SAR-derived sea ice divergence in the Transpolar Drift during MOSAiC 2019/2020 L. von Albedyll https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.963671

Short summary

Snow on Arctic sea ice acts like a blanket that traps heat and reflects sunlight, so it matters for the climate. Drawing on measurements from a year-long Arctic expedition, we improved models that simulate snow on the ice. Without wind-driven snow movement, the models overestimated snow depth. Adding a wind-driven scheme cut the average error by more than half. After tuning, simulated snow matched observations. The findings help project how Arctic sea ice may evolve in a warming climate.