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Simulations of a Cold-Air Pool in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley: Sensitivity to Land Use and Snow Cover

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Abstract

Obtaining realistic land-surface states for initial and boundary conditions is important for the numerical weather prediction of many atmospheric phenomena. Here we investigate model sensitivity to land use and snow cover for a persistent wintertime cold-air pool in northern Utah during 1–8 January 2011. A Weather Research and Forecast model simulation using the 1993 United States Geological Survey land-use and North American Mesoscale model reanalysis snow-cover datasets is compared to an improved configuration using the modified 2011 National Land Cover Database and a more realistic representation of snow cover. The improved surface specification results in an increase (decrease) in urban land cover (Great Salt Lake surface area), and changes to the snow-cover initialization, depth, extent, and albedo. The results obtained from the model simulations are compared to observations collected during the Persistent Cold-Air Pool Study. The changes in land use and snow cover and the resulting impacts on the surface albedo and surface heat fluxes contributed to near-surface air temperature increases of 1–\(2\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\) in urban areas and decreases of 2–\(4\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\) in areas surrounding the Great Salt Lake. Although wind speeds in the boundary layer were overestimated in both simulations, shallow thermally-driven and terrain-forced flows were generally lessened in intensity and breadth in response to the decreased areal extent of the Great Salt Lake and increases in the urban footprint.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding provided by the Utah Division of Air Quality to improve wintertime air quality modelling in the Salt Lake Valley. The comparison of the model simulations to PCAPS observations was made possible by the National Science Foundation project ATM-0938397. We wish to acknowledgement C. David Whiteman for furthering our scientific understanding of cold pools, as well as for leading the Persistent Cold-Air Pool Study (PCAPS), data from which are referenced in this text. We also acknowledge the scientific input of Sebastian Hoch and John Lin. An allocation of computer time from the Center for High Performance Computing is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Christopher S. Foster, Erik T. Crosman & John D. Horel

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  1. Christopher S. Foster
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  2. Erik T. Crosman
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  3. John D. Horel
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Correspondence to Christopher S. Foster.

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Foster, C.S., Crosman, E.T. & Horel, J.D. Simulations of a Cold-Air Pool in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley: Sensitivity to Land Use and Snow Cover. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 164, 63–87 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-017-0240-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-017-0240-7

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