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Fluxes over snow surfaces. Larry Mahrt Oregon State University mahrt@coas.oregonstate.edu. Main Participants. L. Mahrt, Dean Vickers, Young-Hee Lee, Richard Cuenca, Yutaka Hagimoto, Oregon State University Robert Kelly, U. of Wyoming Glen Liston, John Strak, Chris Heimstra, C.S.U.
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Fluxes over snow surfaces Larry Mahrt Oregon State University mahrt@coas.oregonstate.edu
Main Participants • L. Mahrt, Dean Vickers, Young-Hee Lee, Richard Cuenca, Yutaka Hagimoto, Oregon State University • Robert Kelly, U. of Wyoming • Glen Liston, John Strak, Chris Heimstra, C.S.U. • Bill Massman, U.S.F.S. • Jielun Sun, Sean Burns, NCAR • Steve Oncley, Tony Delany and staff. NCAR ATD
Dependence of roughness length on snow cover over native grass
Some preliminary conclusions • During the experiment period, snow patchiness was less important than sage patchiness • Sage has low albedo with respect to low winter sun angles, even if it is sparse • Heating of the air by the sage apparently increases snow melt in windy conditions, • but reduces snow melt during weak wind conditions due to formation of an inversion over the snow.
Advection of heat and turbulence, partly due to Peterson Ridge, sometimes exerts a strong influence on local conditions. • The bulk aerodynamic approach grossly overestimates the sublimation/evaporation (model or observational error?).