Challenges in Snow and Ice Albedo Parameterizations

The surface albedo in snow-covered regions is a critical factor controlling climate sensitivity. However, still large uncertainty characterizes the present-day simulation of the snow albedo. This paper summarizes the physical and modeling challenges in deriving snow and ice albedo parameterizations, briefly presenting the state of art of the existing parameterizations and evidencing also the effects of model structure and other model’s parameterizations on the albedo result. A general recommendation to improve the snow and ice albedo parameterization is to develop more physically-based schemes. To reach this objective, it is of paramount importance to carry out field experiments with simultaneous measurements of albedo and snow properties (snow grain size and density, vertically resolved temperature, impurity concentration) at high temporal resolution.

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