Publication

Modeling with SCHNAPS: the Snow Cover and High-resolutioN Atmospheric Processes System

2026

Abstract

Mass and energy exchanges between the cryosphere and the atmosphere affect the state of both systems, motivating the development of two-way coupled cryosphere-atmosphere models. For snow-atmosphere models, traditional atmospheric models are coupled to multilayer physics-based snow models and run in a large-eddy mode when simulating horizontal resolutions approaching 100m. For the CRYOWRF model in particular, the atmospheric model WRF was coupled to the snow model SNOWPACK. This approach has enabled detailed studies of snow-atmosphere feedbacks such as sublimation of drifting and blowing snow. However, the high computational cost of CRYOWRF limits its application to short spatio-temporal domains at scales relevant to drifting and blowing snow (

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2026

Abstract

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Snow

Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place, and ultimately melt, slide or sublimate away.

Atmospheric model

In atmospheric science, an atmospheric model is a mathematical model constructed around the full set of primitive, dynamical equations which govern atmospheric motions. It can supplement these equations with parameterizations for turbulent diffusion, radiation, moist processes (clouds and precipitation), heat exchange, soil, vegetation, surface water, the kinematic effects of terrain, and convection. Most atmospheric models are numerical, i.e. they discretize equations of motion.

Precipitation

In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor (reaching 100% relative humidity), so that the water condenses and "precipitates" or falls. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but colloids, because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate.

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