SNOW_BLOW
Case description
Idealized blowing snow case simulating snow transport by wind in polar boundary layer conditions. The case uses a column setup for local testing and a 30x30km domain at 50m resolution for HPC simulations.
Configuration
Parameter |
Local (BLOWSNOW_c1b1D) |
HPC (SNOW_BLOW) |
|---|---|---|
Category |
Idealized cases |
HPC cases |
Grid type |
Cartesian (1D column) |
Cartesian (2D) |
Horizontal resolution |
Variable (wind 11-16 m/s) |
50m |
Domain size |
1 column |
30x30km (600x600 grid) |
Vertical levels |
Variable |
70 |
Initial condition |
RSOU (radiosounding) |
RSOU (radiosounding 2011-03-18) |
Surface |
Flat (FLAT) |
External (EXTE) |
Equation system |
LHE (liquid-ice) |
DUR (dry) |
Lateral boundaries |
CYCL (cyclic) |
OPEN |
Turbulence |
TKEL (TKE-length) |
TKEL (TKE-length) |
Time step |
0.5s (local) |
1.5s (HPC) |
Segment length |
1200s (20min) |
10800s (3h) |
Physics |
Blowing snow (no sublimation) |
Blowing snow + sublimation |
Declination
Configuration |
Description |
|---|---|
BLOWSNOW_c1b1D_U11 |
Column with 11 m/s wind speed |
BLOWSNOW_c1b1D_U16 |
Column with 16 m/s wind speed |
SNOW_BLOW_0100_UnifSnw |
Initial condition with uniform snow |
SNOW_BLOW_0200 |
Time 2h - evolving state |
SNOW_BLOW_0300 |
Time 4h - evolving state |
SNOW_BLOW_0400 |
Time 6h - evolving state |
Steps
Step |
Script |
|---|---|
001_prep_ideal |
run_prep_ideal_case_xyz |
002_run |
run_mesonh_xyz |
HPC_prep_ideal |
run_prep_ideal_case |
HPC_run |
run_mesonh |
Specificities
Scientific specificities - Blowing snow parameterization (LBLOWSNOW=T) - Snow saltation and suspension (CSNOW_SALT=’TSOR’) - Snow sedimentation (CSNOW_SEDIM=’TABC’) - Snow sublimation (only HPC: LSNOWSUBL=T) - Canopy snow processes (LBLOWSNW_CANOSUBL on HPC) - WENO advection scheme (5th order) - Ice phase microphysics (ICE3)
Technical specificities - Multiple wind speed variants (local) - Four sequential time steps (HPC: 0100-0400) - 20-layer snow scheme (CRO) - ISBA-Canopy (LISBA_CANOPY=T) - SLEVE vertical coordinate
Validation
Snow mass balance
Vertical profiles of snow concentration
Surface snow mass evolution
Saltation flux comparison
Numerical ressources
Local: Single CPU (1 node, 1 core) HPC: 1 node, 128 cores (MPI parallel)
References
Gordon et al. (2007): Blowing snow parameterization
Vignon et al. (2021): Blowing snow at Antarctic station
Box et al. (2022): Arctic snow transport modeling