Modeling the Accumulation of Wind-Driven Snow Technical Sketch

This technical sketch presents a method for modeling the appear-ance of snow drifts formed by the accumulation of wind-blownsnow near buildings and other obstacles. Our method combinesprevious work on snow accumulation [Fearing] with techniquesfor incompressible fluid flows [Fedkiw et al.]. By computing thethree-dimensional flow of air in the volume around the obstaclesour method is able to model how the snow is convected, deposited,and lifted by the wind. The results demonstrate realistic snow accu-mulation patterns with deep windward and leeward drifts, furrows,and low accumulation in wind shadowed areas. (See figure.)