Two-dimensional numerical modelling of surface wind velocity and associated snowdrift effects over complex mountainous topography

Author： Durand Yves Guyomarc'h Gilbert Rindol Laurent Mé Corripio Javier G.

Publisher： International Glaciological Society

ISSN： 1727-5644

Source： Annals of Glaciology, Vol.38, Iss.1, 2004-01, pp. : 59-70

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Abstract

A new experimental software for blowing snow, SYTRON2, is presented. It takes advantage of the previous limited realization SYTRON1 and of the entire real-time operational environment of the automatic chain SAFRAN–Crocus–MÉPRA(SCM). It runs presently on a rectangular grid, with a mesh size of about 45 m, covering an area of 3.0 × 3.0 km² around the observation test site Col du Lac Blanc, French Alps (2700 m a.s.l., near the Alpe d'Huez ski resort). SYTRON2 is initialized with a realistic snowpack representation derived from the SCM outputs and coupled to a wind field com- puted by the new SAMVER model. The final aim is to build a fully embedded tool, suitable for representing snowdrift effects with a better resolution at different specific locations. The different tools and operators used are described, as well as the field valida- tion processes which are based on remote identification of the eroded and accumulated areas using digital pictures.