TY - JOUR
T1 - A new Snow-SVAT to simulate the accumulation and ablation of seasonal snow cover beneath a forest canopy
AU - Tribbeck, Melody J.
AU - Gurney, Robert J.
AU - Morris, Elizabeth M.
AU - Pearson, David W. C.
N1 - This work was carried out while one of us (M.J.T.) was in receipt of U.K. Natural Environment Research Council studentship GT 04/98/TS/247 in conjunction with a CASE award from the British Antarctic Survey. We wish to thank D. Marks for processing laboratory measurements of vegetation spectral reflectance, andT. Link for providing model forcing data. We also wish to thank the Scientific Editor, J. Glen, and two anonymous referees whose suggestions greatly improved this paper.
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - A new snow—soil—vegetation—atmosphere transfer (Snow-SVAT) scheme, which simulates the accumulation and ablation of the snow cover beneath a forest canopy, is presented. The model was formulated by coupling a canopy optical and thermal radiation model to a physically based multi-layer snow model. This canopy radiation model is physically based yet requires few parameters, so can be used when extensive in situ field measurements are not available. Other forest effects such as the reduction of wind speed, interception of snow on the canopy and the deposition of litter were incorporated within this combined model, SNOWCAN, which was tested with data taken as part of the Boreal Ecosystem—Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) international collaborative experiment. Snow depths beneath four different canopy types and at an open site were simulated. Agreement between observed and simulated snow depths was generally good, with correlation coefficients ranging between r2 = 0.94 and r2 = 0.98 for all sites where automatic measurements were available. However, the simulated date of total snowpack ablation generally occurred later than the observed date. A comparison between simulated solar radiation and limited measurements of sub-canopy radiation at one site indicates that the model simulates the sub-canopy downwelling solar radiation early in the season to within measurement uncertainty.
AB - A new snow—soil—vegetation—atmosphere transfer (Snow-SVAT) scheme, which simulates the accumulation and ablation of the snow cover beneath a forest canopy, is presented. The model was formulated by coupling a canopy optical and thermal radiation model to a physically based multi-layer snow model. This canopy radiation model is physically based yet requires few parameters, so can be used when extensive in situ field measurements are not available. Other forest effects such as the reduction of wind speed, interception of snow on the canopy and the deposition of litter were incorporated within this combined model, SNOWCAN, which was tested with data taken as part of the Boreal Ecosystem—Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) international collaborative experiment. Snow depths beneath four different canopy types and at an open site were simulated. Agreement between observed and simulated snow depths was generally good, with correlation coefficients ranging between r2 = 0.94 and r2 = 0.98 for all sites where automatic measurements were available. However, the simulated date of total snowpack ablation generally occurred later than the observed date. A comparison between simulated solar radiation and limited measurements of sub-canopy radiation at one site indicates that the model simulates the sub-canopy downwelling solar radiation early in the season to within measurement uncertainty.
U2 - 10.3189/172756504781830187
DO - 10.3189/172756504781830187
M3 - Article
VL - 50
SP - 171
EP - 182
JO - Journal of Glaciology
JF - Journal of Glaciology
SN - 0022-1430
IS - 169
ER -