Snow-masking depth in a general circulation model

Abstract

A computer program was written to calculate snow albedos for the months of January, March, and May in western Canada. Snow depth as well as water equivalent depth data was obtained from snow cover records and climatic maps. It was found that for the months of January and March, the snow depths were all greater than 10 cm and so the snow albedo was not a function of the surface type rather only the snow cover. For May, however, snow depths of less than 10 cm were obtained and the albedo became a function of both the water equivalent as well as surface type. The method of data collection is criticized primarily because of the instances of measurements and methods of measurement. Also, the equation in which the snow albedo is calculated is criticized because it only takes into consideration snow depth and not other important factors such as snow age density and crystal structure. However, age, density, and crystal structure are difficult measures to obtain data for on a large scale typical of GCMs. Good comparisons are made with the snow albedo values of forested sites obtained in this study with those in the literature.