On the evolution of the snow surface during snowfall
On the evolution of the snow surface during snowfall
The deposition and attachment mechanism of settling snow crystals during snowfall dictates the very initial structure of ice within a natural snowpack. In this letter we apply ballistic deposition as a simple model to study the structural evolution of the growing surface of a snowpack during its formation. The roughness of the snow surface is predicted from the behaviour of the time dependent height correlation function. The predictions are verified by simple measurements of the growing snow surface based on digital photography during snowfall. The measurements are in agreement with the theoretical predictions within the limitations of the model which are discussed. The application of ballistic deposition type growth models illuminates structural aspects of snow from the perspective of formation which has been ignored so far. Implications of this type of growth on the aerodynamic roughness length, density, and the density correlation function of new snow are discussed.
21507
Löwe, H.
ecee114b-89b7-4e01-b3ce-e9a765386875
Egli, L.
09f83dba-7788-406c-8035-8bac97be1bc9
Bartlett, S.J.
6e10c1a9-5426-4982-9c51-2f3350c50887
Guala, M.
f5c0d890-4ebc-419e-8fad-00f765277195
Manes, C.
7d9d5123-4d1b-4760-beff-d82fe0bd0acf
November 2007
Löwe, H.
ecee114b-89b7-4e01-b3ce-e9a765386875
Egli, L.
09f83dba-7788-406c-8035-8bac97be1bc9
Bartlett, S.J.
6e10c1a9-5426-4982-9c51-2f3350c50887
Guala, M.
f5c0d890-4ebc-419e-8fad-00f765277195
Manes, C.
7d9d5123-4d1b-4760-beff-d82fe0bd0acf
Löwe, H., Egli, L., Bartlett, S.J., Guala, M. and Manes, C.
(2007)
On the evolution of the snow surface during snowfall.
Geophysical Research Letters, 34, .
Abstract
The deposition and attachment mechanism of settling snow crystals during snowfall dictates the very initial structure of ice within a natural snowpack. In this letter we apply ballistic deposition as a simple model to study the structural evolution of the growing surface of a snowpack during its formation. The roughness of the snow surface is predicted from the behaviour of the time dependent height correlation function. The predictions are verified by simple measurements of the growing snow surface based on digital photography during snowfall. The measurements are in agreement with the theoretical predictions within the limitations of the model which are discussed. The application of ballistic deposition type growth models illuminates structural aspects of snow from the perspective of formation which has been ignored so far. Implications of this type of growth on the aerodynamic roughness length, density, and the density correlation function of new snow are discussed.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: November 2007
Organisations:
Agents, Interactions & Complexity, Electronics & Computer Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 271558
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/271558
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: 6c199206-1c68-43d9-aa11-1be42a588c1a
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 17 Sep 2010 20:31
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 11:55
Export record
Contributors
Author:
H. Löwe
Author:
L. Egli
Author:
S.J. Bartlett
Author:
M. Guala
Author:
C. Manes
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics