The Snowmelt and Heat Balance in Snow-covered Forested Areas

The snowmelt and heat balance in snow-covered forested areas have been studied with the use of a canopy model. It was found that, in general, as the canopy density increased the snowmelt decreased. However, with conditions of high air temperature, weak winds, and large snow albedo, a greater degree...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied meteorology (1988) 1992-11, Vol.31 (11), p.1322-1327
Main Authors: Yamazaki, Takeshi, Kondo, Junsei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Albedo
Atmospheric models
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Forest canopy
Heat balance
Latent heat
Snow
Snow. Ice. Glaciers
Snowmelt
Solar radiation
Surface temperature
Wind velocity
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Summary:The snowmelt and heat balance in snow-covered forested areas have been studied with the use of a canopy model. It was found that, in general, as the canopy density increased the snowmelt decreased. However, with conditions of high air temperature, weak winds, and large snow albedo, a greater degree of snowmelt occurred under a dense canopy due to infrared radiation from the canopy elements than under a sparse canopy. Although the snow temperature was never higher than 0°C while the air temperature was greater than 0°C, an upward sensible heat flux was supplied from the forest canopy, resulting in the atmospheric heating.
ISSN:0894-8763
1520-0450
DOI:10.1175/1520-0450(1992)031<1322:tsahbi>2.0.co;2