Comparing Simulated and Measured Sensible and Latent Heat Fluxes over Snow under a Pine Canopy to Improve an Energy Balance Snowmelt Model

During the second year of the NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX), an eddy covariance (EC) system was deployed at the Local Scale Observation Site (LSOS) from mid-February to June 2003. The EC system was located beneath a uniform pine canopy, where the trees are regularly spaced and are of similar age and height. In an effort to evaluate the turbulent flux calculations of an energy balance snowmelt model (SNOBAL), modeled and EC-measured sensible and latent heat fluxes between the snow cover and the atmosphere during this period are presented and compared. Turbulent fluxes comprise a large component of the snow cover energy balance in the premelt and ripening period (March–early May) and therefore control the internal energy content of the snow cover as melt accelerates in late spring. Simulated snow cover depth closely matched measured values (RMS difference 8.3 cm; Nash–Sutcliff model efficiency 0.90), whereas simulated snow cover mass closely matched the few measured values taken during...