SVALI DELIVERABLE D3.1-5/D2.3-2

Snow accumulation is a complex process and difficult to model due to the uncertainties in precipitation but also in the melting and what happens with the melt water in the snow pack. Additionally the redistribution of the surface snow can be significant in exposed areas. This report investigates the process of the retention and refreezing of melt water on Svalbard and the sensitivity of a number of parameters in the atmospheric model WRF. It continues the work in the SVALI report 3.1-1 by analysis of output from the 5-layer snow scheme in CLM4 land surface model in addition to the 3-layer Noah-MP. The performance of the two snow schemes is investigated in relation to snow observation at Lomonosovfonna, which were not available for the earlier report. The investigated parameters include water holding capacity in the pore space in the snow, heat conductivity of the snow, the maximum snow water equivalent w.e. handled by the snow scheme and initialization of the snow/firn/glacier temperature. The simulations and the analysis gave rise to some new questions and could not directly answer the ones asked. It could for instance not be determined which of snow therma