Snowfall and the subsequent evolution of the snowpack have a large effect on the surface energy balance and water cycle of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The effects of snow cover can be represented by the WRF coupled with a land surface scheme. The widely used Noah scheme is computationally efficient, but its poor representation of albedo needs considerable improvement. In this study, an improved albedo scheme is developed using a satellite-retrieved albedo that takes snow depth and age into account. Numerical experiments were then conducted to simulate a severe snow event in March 2017. The performance of the coupled WRF/Noah model, which implemented the improved albedo scheme, is compared against the model's performance using the default Noah albedo scheme and against the coupled WRF/CLM that applied CLM albedo scheme. When the improved albedo scheme is implemented, the albedo overestimation in the southeastern TP is reduced, reducing the RMSE of the air temperature by 0.7°C. The improved albedo scheme also attains the highest correlation between the satellite-derived and the model-estimated albedo, which provides for a realistic representation of both the snow water equivalent (SWE) spatial distribution in the heavy snowbelt (SWE > 6 mm) and the maximum SWE in the eastern TP. The underestimated albedo in the coupled WRF/CLM leads to underestimating the regional maximum SWE and a consequent failure to estimate SWE in the heavy snowbelt accurately. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of improving the Noah albedo scheme and provides a theoretical reference for researchers aiming to improve albedo schemes further.

Lian LIU;Massimo MENENTI;Yaoming MA;Weiqiang MA

Land-Atmosphere Interaction and its Climatic Effects Group,State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System,Resources and Environment(TPESRE),Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China;State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science,Aerospace Information Research Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100094,China;Delft University of Technology,Delft 2600AA,Netherlands;College of Earth and Planetary Sciences,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China;College of Atmospheric Science,Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000,China;National Observation and Research Station for Qomolongma Special Atmospheric Processes and Environmental Changes,Dingri 858200,China;Kathmandu Center of Research and Education,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China;China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Islamabad 45320,Pakistan

大气科学进展（英文版）

[1]Lian LIU;Massimo MENENTI;Yaoming MA;Weiqiang MA-.Improved Parameterization of Snow Albedo in WRF + Noah:Methodology Based on a Severe Snow Event on the Tibetan Plateau※)[J].大气科学进展（英文版）,2022(07):1079-1102

Snowfall,snowpack,snowbelt,underestimating

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