SUB-grid-scale topography and the simulation of northern hemisphere snow cover

Abstract

A new interactive snow hydrology scheme suitable for incorporating into a general circulation model (GCM) has been developed. The algorithm accounts for a prognostic calculation of snow depth and snow fraction and models the hydrological budget and energy balance over the snow surface. In addition, the scheme incorporates the effect of sub-grid-scale variations in topography with a novel statistical approach. A 10-year GCM simulation using the new interactive snow hydrology is analysed. The snow climatology and variability is compared over the Northern Hemisphere with observational data from NOAA/NESDIS. The model is shown to perform well. We have assessed the impact of parameterizing the ef..