NDLI: The thermoinsulation effect of snow cover within a climate model

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Cook, Benjamin I. Bonan, Gordon B. Levis, Samuel Epstein, Howard E.
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	We use a state of the art climate model (CAM3–CLM3) to investigate the sensitivity of surface climate and land surface processes to treatments of snow thermal conductivity. In the first set of experiments, the thermal conductivity of snow at each grid cell is set to that of the underlying soil (SC-SOIL), effectively eliminating any insulation effect. This scenario is compared against a control run (CTRL), where snow thermal conductivity is determined as a prognostic function of snow density. In the second set of experiments, high (SC-HI) and low (SC-LO) thermal conductivity values for snow are prescribed, based on upper and lower observed limits. These two scenarios are used to envelop model sensitivity to the range of realistic observed thermal conductivities. In both sets of experiments, the high conductivity/low insulation cases show increased heat exchange, with anomalous heat fluxes from the soil to the atmosphere during the winter and from the atmosphere to the soil during the summer. The increase in surface heat exchange leads to soil cooling of up to 20 K in the winter, anomalies that persist (though damped) into the summer season. The heat exchange also drives an asymmetric seasonal response in near-surface air temperatures, with boreal winter anomalies of +6 K and boreal summer anomalies of −2 K. On an annual basis there is a net loss of heat from the soil and increases in ground ice, leading to reductions in infiltration, evapotranspiration, and photosynthesis. Our results show land surface processes and the surface climate within CAM3–CLM3 are sensitive to the treatment of snow thermal conductivity.
Starting Page	107
Ending Page	124
Page Count	18
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09307575
Journal	Climate Dynamics
Volume Number	31
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	14320894
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2007-12-04
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Snow cover Snow thermal conductivity Climate model sensitivity Soil/atmosphere exchange Permafrost Oceanography Meteorology/Climatology Geophysics/Geodesy
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Atmospheric Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Effect of snow cover on pan-Arctic permafrost thermal regimes

Rapid vegetation responses and feedbacks amplify climate model response to snow cover changes

Incorporating organic soil into a global climate model

The role of terrestrial snow cover in the climate system

Sensitivity of tropical Atlantic climate to mixing in a coupled ocean–atmosphere model

The contribution of snow condition trends to future ground climate

On the Arctic near-surface permafrost and climate sensitivities to soil and snow model formulations in climate models

Warmer climate: less or more snow?

Projection of snow cover changes over China under RCP scenarios

The thermoinsulation effect of snow cover within a climate model

Similar Documents

Effect of snow cover on pan-Arctic permafrost thermal regimes

Rapid vegetation responses and feedbacks amplify climate model response to snow cover changes

Incorporating organic soil into a global climate model

The role of terrestrial snow cover in the climate system

Sensitivity of tropical Atlantic climate to mixing in a coupled ocean–atmosphere model

The contribution of snow condition trends to future ground climate

On the Arctic near-surface permafrost and climate sensitivities to soil and snow model formulations in climate models

Warmer climate: less or more snow?

Projection of snow cover changes over China under RCP scenarios

The thermoinsulation effect of snow cover within a climate model