Intermediate-complexity parameterisation of blowing snow  in the ICOLMDZ AGCM: development and  first applications in Antarctica

Vignon, Étienne; Chiabrando, Nicolas; Agosta, Cécile; Amory, Charles; Wiener, Valentin; Charrel, Justine; Dubos, Thomas; Genthon, Christophe

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-239-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-239-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-239-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 1

Development and technical paper

|

08 Jan 2026

Development and technical paper |

| 08 Jan 2026

Intermediate-complexity parameterisation of blowing snow in the ICOLMDZ AGCM: development and first applications in Antarctica

Étienne Vignon, Nicolas Chiabrando, Cécile Agosta, Charles Amory, Valentin Wiener, Justine Charrel, Thomas Dubos, and Christophe Genthon

Data sets

A drifting snow data set (2010-2018) from coastal Adelie Land, Eastern Antarctica C. Amory et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3630497

Model code and software

Material to reproduce the results of ICOLMDZ simulations with blowing snow, for the revision of Vignon et al. 2025 E. Vignon https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17531181

Short summary

The erosion of surface snow by the wind is an important process for the Antarctic surface mass balance. This study presents the first development of a parameterisation of blowing snow for a global climate model. Simulations avec evaluated using measurements in Antarctica. Results show an overall decrease of the snow accumulation in the escarpment region of the ice sheet due to snow erosion and an increase at the coast due to blowing snow deposition and increase in precipitation.