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Snowdrift suspension and atmospheric turbulence. Part I: Theoretical background and model description

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Abstract

Snowdrift is one of the manymanifestations of two-phase flow, in which theinteraction between suspended particles and theambient fluid brings about some interesting features.Specifically, the drag required to keep particles insuspension against the downward gravitational pullrequires expenditure of turbulent kinetic energy(TKE). Other effects include the increased density of theair-snow mixture and the stable thermal stratificationcaused by the snowdrift sublimation-induced cooling.An atmospheric surface-layer model that includes snowdriftsuspension is described that includes the effects ofupward diffusion, gravitational settling andsublimation of snow particles in 48 size classes, theeffects of snowdrift sublimation on the heat andmoisture budget of the surface layer and the dampingof turbulence in the presence of suspended particles. Thewell-known E-ε closure model is applied toevaluate the eddy exchange coefficient, with a newterm representing buoyancy reduction induced by thestably stratified suspended particle profile includedin the prognostic equation for TKE.

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  1. Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Richard Bintanja

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Bintanja, R. Snowdrift suspension and atmospheric turbulence. Part I: Theoretical background and model description. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 95, 343–368 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002676804487

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