Item: Simulating liquid water infiltration - comparison between a three-dimensional water transport model and a dual-domain approach using SNOWPACK
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Title: Simulating liquid water infiltration - comparison between a three-dimensional water transport model and a dual-domain approach using SNOWPACK
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Proceedings 2018, Innsbruck, Austria
Authors:
- Hiroyuki Hirashima [ Snow and Ice Research Center, NIED, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan ]
- Nander Wever [ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciencesm University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA ]
- Francesco Avanzi [ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, Barkeley, CA, USA ]
- Satoru Yamaguchi [ Snow and Ice Research Center, NIED, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan ]
- Yoshiyuki Ishii [ Snow and Ice Research Center, NIED, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan ]
Date: 2018-10-07
Abstract: In this study, we compared the performance of a three dimensional (3-D) watertransport model and the physics-based multi-layer SNOWPACK model with a dual-domain approach for preferential flow, to simulate water infiltration by preferential flow. We used data from three experiments to validate our models: liquid-water profiles and preferential-flow patterns around capillary barriers, measured in cold laboratories (Avanzi et al., 2016); water-sprinkle experiments measuring discharge amounts in the field (Ishii et al., 2014); and infiltration experiments in nature-identical snow with simultaneous measurements of wet-snow metamorphism, measured using micro-computed tomography, (Avanzi et al., 2017). Qualitatively, the dual-domain approach of SNOWPACK produced similar patterns of water infiltration to the 3-D model. However, percolation speed in preferential channels, the position of the water-ponding layer, and the simulated time when the transition from preferential to matrix flow occurred differed between the two models. We show that the 3-D model yields good agreement with laboratory experiments and field observations. Our results also suggest that the 3-D model could be used to enhance the accuracy of the SNOWPACK model’s simulation by refining the parameters of the dual-domain approach. Such improvements enhance the ability of SNOWPACK to simulate liquid-water infiltration in snow, thereby enhancing its ability to predict the formation of wet-snow avalanches.
Object ID: ISSW2018_P05.12.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: Liquid-water movement, numerical snowpack model, preferential flow, 3-D water transport model.
Page Number(s): 474-478
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