Impact of snow drift on the Antarctic ice sheet surface mass balance: Possible sensitivity to snow-surface properties

A mesoscale atmospheric numerical model is coupled with a physically based snow-pack model and with a snow-drift model. The snow model is verified for the French Alps by comparing its simulations to observations performed at the Col de Forte in the Chartreuse Massif. The snow erosion threshold depends on snow-pack properties such as density, dendricity, sphericity and particle size. The atmospheric turbulence scheme is modified in order to take into account stabilization effects due to airborne blown snow particles. In particular, vertically integrated stability functions for the stable boundary layer are completed by including the threshold friction velocity for snow erosion. The snow-drift model is calibrated by simulating the conditions observed during the Byrd snow project, held in West Antarctica in 1962. Finally, sensitivity experiments to the snow-surface properties show the importance of their accurate representation when modelling the contribution of deflation to the Antarctic surface mass balance.