Evidence of Strong Flux Underestimation by Bulk Parametrizations During Drifting and Blowing Snow.

The influence of drifting and blowing snow on surface mass and energy exchange is difficult to quantify due to limitations in both measurements and models, but is still potentially very important over large areas with seasonal or perennial snow cover. We present a unique set of measurements that make possible the calculation of turbulent moisture, heat, and momentum fluxes during conditions of drifting and blowing snow. From the data, Monin-Obukhov estimation of bulk fluxes is compared to eddy-covariance-derived fluxes. In addition, large-eddy simulations with sublimating particles are used to more completely understand the vertical profiles of the fluxes. For a storm period at the Syowa S17 station in East Antarctica, the bulk parametrization severely underestimates near-surface heat and moisture fluxes. The large-eddy simulations agree with the eddy-covariance fluxes when the measurements are minimally disturbed by the snow particles. We conclude that overall exchange over snow surfaces is much more intense than current models suggest, which has implications for the total mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet and the cryosphere. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10546-021-00653-x.

The bright side of PV production in snow-covered mountains.

Our work explores the prospect of bringing the temporal production profile of solar photovoltaics (PV) into better correlation with typical electricity consumption patterns in the midlatitudes. To do so, we quantify the potential of three choices for PV installations that increase production during the winter months when electricity is most needed. These are placements that favor (i) high winter irradiance, (ii) high ground-reflected radiation, and (iii) steeper-than-usual panel tilt angles. In addition to spatial estimates of the production potential, we compare the performance of different PV placement scenarios in urban and mountain environments for the country of Switzerland. The results show that the energy deficit in a future fully renewable production from wind power, hydropower, and geothermal power could be significantly reduced when solar PV is installed at high elevations. Because the temporal production patterns match the typical demand more closely than the production in urban environments, electricity production could be shifted from summer to winter without reducing the annual total production. Such mountain installations require significantly less surface area and, combined with steeper panel tilt angles, up to 50% of the winter deficit in electricity production can be mediated.