TY - Generic T1 - A Field Study of Snowpack Ablation at Sagehen Creek Field Station T2 - 87th Annual Western Snow Conference Y1 - 2019 A1 - Stephen Drake A1 - Holly J. Oldroyd A1 - Anne W. Nolin A1 - Alex Greenwald A1 - Sydney Weiss A1 - Keith S. Jennings A1 - Mikey Johnson A1 - Gavin R. Shields KW - ablation KW - forest KW - hydrology KW - radiation KW - snow KW - surface energy fluxes AB -

Preliminary results of a field experiment at Sagehen Creek Field Station, CA during the 2018/2019 winter season are presented. We deployed five flux towers across a subalpine forest/meadow transition zone to compare ablation processes of proximal sites. Differences in longwave and shortwave radiation, air temperature, and sublimation were observed between the five sites, varying with solar aspect, tree density, and other locale-specific parameters. Longwave exitance from snow had a sphere of influence less than 10 m whereas shortwave insolation had a range of influence up to an order of magnitude greater and depended on sun angle and tree height. Sublimation differences between sites were magnified as wind speed increased. Drifted snow caused by an isolated tree was not significant for this warm snow site.

JF - 87th Annual Western Snow Conference CY - Reno, NV UR - /files/PDFs/2019Drake.pdf ER -