Modelling Snow Water Conservation on the Canadian Prairies
Date
2011
Authors
Pomeroy, John W.
Fang, Xing
Williams, Brad
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Centre for Hydrology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
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Technical Report
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Abstract
Snowcover accumulation has tremendous impacts on Canadian Prairie hydrology and
agriculture (Pomeroy and Gray, 1995; Fang and Pomeroy, 2007). Wind redistribution of
snow or blowing snow is frequent in the Prairies and controls the accumulation of
snowcover. Blowing snow transport is normally accompanied by in-transit sublimation
(Dyunin, 1959; Schmidt, 1972; Pomeroy, 1989). Blowing snow transport and
sublimation result in losses to exposed snowcovers from erosion of from 30% to 75% of
annual snowfall in prairie and steppe environments (Tabler, 1975; Pomeroy et al., 1993).
The disposition of this eroded snow to either sublimation or transport and subsequent
deposition is important to surface water budgets. Transported snow is available for
snowmelt, while that sublimated is returned to the atmosphere. Blowing snow fetch, or
the downwind distance of uniform terrain that permits snow transport, determines the
disposition between sublimation and transport, longer fetches promoting greater
sublimation per unit area (Tabler, 1975; Pomeroy and Gray, 1995).
Calculation of blowing snow fluxes (erosion, transport, sublimation) for a uniform area,
using the presumption of horizontal steady state flow (Pomeroy, 1989), does not provide
sufficient information to calculate the snow cover mass balance over larger areas where
flow at many points in the landscape will deviate significantly from steady state
conditions.
A comprehensive model of blowing snow was assembled by Pomeroy
and Li (2000) and tested extensively in the Prairie and Arctic environments where it was
shown to accurately predict snow accumulation. Subsequent tests by Fang and Pomeroy
(2009) show that the model can accurately predict snow accumulation in a wide range of
prairie to partly wooded environments.
This project compares field measurements of snow distribution, associated with shelterbelts at various spacings, to modeled results of snow redistribution by wind. Virtual shelterbelt configurations modeled with real climate data examine the likely impacts of shelterbelt systems on snow water conservation over multi-year time periods including drought and snowy years.
Description
Keywords
Snow cover, Shelterbelts, Water research, Wind, Prairies
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Part Of
Centre for Hydrology Report #11