Identification

Title

Approximating snow surface temperature from standard temperature and humidity data: New possibilities for snow model and remote sensing evaluation

Abstract

Snow surface temperature (Ts) is important to the snowmelt energy balance and land-atmosphere interactions, but in situ measurements are rare, thus limiting evaluation of remote sensing data sets and distributed models. Here we test simple Ts approximations with standard height (2-4 m) air temperature (Ta), wet-bulb temperature (Tw), and dew point temperature (Td), which are more readily available than Ts. We used hourly measurements from seven sites to understand which Ts approximation is most robust and how Ts representation varies with climate, time of day, and atmospheric conditions (stability and radiation). Td approximated Ts with the lowest overall bias, ranging from -2.3 to +2.6°C across sites and from -2.8 to 1.5°C across the diurnal cycle. Prior studies have approximated Ts with Ta, which was the least robust predictor of Ts at all sites. Approximation of Ts with Td was most reliable at night, at sites with infrequent clear sky conditions, and at windier sites (i.e., more frequent turbulent instability). We illustrate how mean daily Td can help detect surface energy balance bias in a physically based snowmelt model. The results imply that spatial Td data sets may be useful for evaluating snow models and remote sensing products in data sparse regions, such as alpine, cold prairie, or Arctic regions. To realize this potential, more routine observations of humidity are needed. Improved understanding of Td variations will advance understanding of Ts in space and time, providing a simple yet robust measure of snow surface feedback to the atmosphere.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d79c6zb2

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2013-12-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact