Improvements in the land surface configuration to better simulate seasonal snow cover in the European Alps with the CNRM-AROME (cycle 46) convection-permitting regional climate model

Monteiro, Diego; Caillaud, Cécile; Lafaysse, Matthieu; Napoly, Adrien; Fructus, Mathieu; Alias, Antoinette; Morin, Samuel

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7645-2024

Articles | Volume 17, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7645-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7645-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 21

Development and technical paper

|

01 Nov 2024

Development and technical paper |

| 01 Nov 2024

Improvements in the land surface configuration to better simulate seasonal snow cover in the European Alps with the CNRM-AROME (cycle 46) convection-permitting regional climate model

Diego Monteiro, Cécile Caillaud, Matthieu Lafaysse, Adrien Napoly, Mathieu Fructus, Antoinette Alias, and Samuel Morin

Data sets

Snow cover in the European Alps: Station observations of snow depth and depth of snowfall M. Matiu et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5109574

IMIS measuring network Measurement and IMIS https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.406

ETC L2 ARCHIVE, Torgnon E. Cremonese et al. https://hdl.handle.net/11676/40ux_CiuCRP59zo67MrpmM5A

Cryobs-Clim-CLB/Col du Lac Blanc: a meteorological and blowing snow observatory Cryobs-Clim-CLB https://doi.org/10.17178/CRYOBSCLIM.CLB.all

MODIS/Terra CGF Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m SIN Grid D. K. Hall and G. A. Riggs https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD10A1F.061

Model code and software

Improvements of the land surface configuration to better simulate seasonal snow cover in the European Alps with the CNRM-AROME46t1 convection-permitting regional climate model D. Monteiro et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13684583

Short summary

Modeling snow cover in climate and weather forecasting models is a challenge even for high-resolution models. Recent simulations with CNRM-AROME have shown difficulties when representing snow in the European Alps. Using remote sensing data and in situ observations, we evaluate modifications of the land surface configuration in order to improve it. We propose a new surface configuration, enabling a more realistic simulation of snow cover, relevant for climate and weather forecasting applications.