Estimation of Snow Cover over Mountain Region based on the Surface Wet-bulb Temperature Measurements

• Published in: Asia-Pacific journal of atmospheric sciences 2022-11, Vol.58 (5), p.637-645
• Main Authors: Sim, Ji-Han, Kim, Baek-Min, Oh, Jai-Ho, Huh, Mo-Rang, Noh, Namkyu, Han, Kwang-Hee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences; Climatology; Distribution; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Evaporation; Geophysics/Geodesy; High altitude; Hydrologic data; Lapse rate; Meteorological observations; Methods; Mountains; Original Article; Precipitation data; Rainfall; Satellites; Snow; Snow cover; Snowfall; Soundings; Temperature measurement
• ISSN: 1976-7633; 1976-7951
• DOI: 10.1007/s13143-022-00280-7

Wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature to which air can be cooled by the evaporation of water into the air at a constant pressure. Traditionally, wet-bulb temperature, which considers both temperature and humidity, has been used as a useful empirical indicator to distinguish snow and rain. In this study, we developed a new estimation method for the wet-bulb temperature at the mountain region where no direct observation exists by the wet-bulb temperature measured at the near-by surface stations and vertical meteorological sounding. Vertical sounding is needed to estimate lapse rate of wet-bulb temperature at surface level. We show that the estimated wet-bulb temperature at the mountain region can be a useful indicator for snow cover estimation over a complex and high mountainous region which is usually data-sparse region. Using the Korea Forest Service meteorological observation data at two available mountainous regions in the city of Busan, we verified the devised method and the results are noteworthy. Based on the successful estimation of wet-bulb temperature over complex terrain, we estimated snow cover using the wet-bulb temperature and precipitation data and compared the estimated snow cover with satellite snow cover. Regardless of the type of snowfall, the estimated snowfall distribution in mountainous areas showed considerable consistency with the satellite snowfall distribution. Overall, the analysis of experimental results shows that the distribution of snow cover over high altitude and complex terrain can be effectively estimated using the devised snow cover estimation method.