Wind tunnel investigation of drifting snow development in a boundary layer

Okaze, Tsubasa; Mochida, Akashi; Tominaga, Yoshihide; Nemoto, Masaki; Sato, Takeshi; Sasaki, Yoshi N.; Ichinohe, Kazusato

doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2012.04.002

Cited by 53 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Furthermore, we note that Okaze et al . [] showed that the roughness height z 0 and the friction velocity u * estimated from an experiment with the same wind tunnel were in good agreement with the relationship between z 0 and u * obtained in previous field research [e.g., Tabler , ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Snow particle speeds in drifting snow

et al. 2014

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Knowledge of snow particle speeds is necessary for deepening our understanding of the internal structures of drifting snow. In this study, we utilized a snow particle counter (SPC) developed to observe snow particle size distributions and snow mass flux. Using high-frequency signals from the SPC transducer, we obtained the sizes of individual particles and their durations in the sampling area. Measurements were first conducted in the field, with more precise measurements being obtained in a boundary layer established in a cold wind tunnel. The obtained results were compared with the results of a numerical analysis. Data on snow particle speeds, vertical velocity profiles, and their dependence on wind speed obtained in the field and in the wind tunnel experiments were in good agreement: both snow particle speed and wind speed increased with height, and the former was always 1 to 2 m s À1 less than the latter below a height of 1 m. Thus, we succeeded in obtaining snow particle speeds in drifting snow, as well as revealing the dependence of particle speed on both grain size and wind speed. The results were verified by similar trends observed using random flight simulations. However, the difference between the particle speed and the wind speed in the simulations was much greater than that observed under real conditions. Snow transport by wind is an aeolian process. Thus, the findings presented here should be also applicable to other geophysical processes relating to the aeolian transport of particles, such as blown sand and soil.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Snow particle speeds in drifting snow

et al. 2014

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“…Snowdrift distribution around snow fences depends strongly on their design parameters, such as height, thickness, bottom gap, space between panels, penetration rate of porous fences, and distance from the road (Tabler 1986;Uematsu et al 1991;Alhajraf 2004). Some studies have examined the onset of drifting snow and snow accumulation in wind tunnel experiments (Delpech et al 1998;Okaze et al 2012;Zhou et al 2014). Other studies have reported the effect of snow fence design on the size of snowdrifts on roads based on field observations (Tabler 1980(Tabler , 1994Takeuchi 1980; Takeuchi et al 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a snowdrift model with the lattice Boltzmann method

Tanji

Inatsu

Okaze

2021

Prog Earth Planet Sci

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We developed a snowdrift model to evaluate the snowdrift height around snow fences, which are often installed along roads in snowy, windy locations. The model consisted of the conventional computational fluid dynamics solver that used the lattice Boltzmann method and a module for calculating the snow particles’ motion and accumulation. The calculation domain was a half channel with a flat free-slip boundary on the top and a non-slip boundary on the bottom, and an inflow with artificially generated turbulence from one side to the outlet side was imposed. In addition to the reference experiment with no fence, experiments were set up with a two-dimensional and a three-dimensional fence normal to the dominant wind direction in the channel center. The estimated wind flow over the two-dimensional fence was characterized by a swirling eddy in the cross section, whereas the wind flow in the three-dimensional fence experiment was horizontally diffluent with a dipole vortex pair on the leeward side of the fence. Almost all the snowdrift formed on the windward side of the two-dimensional and three-dimensional fences, although the snowdrift also formed along the split streaks on the leeward side of the three-dimensional fence. Our results suggested that the fence should be as long as possible to avoid snowdrifts on roads.

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“…Subsequently, photographic techniques were also employed to obtain mean profiles of velocity, particle concentration, mass flux, and particle dimension [ Naaim and Martinez , ; Naaim‐Bouvet and Naaim , ; Tominaga et al , ; Gromke et al , ], and later frequency analysis of the snow mass flux [ Paterna et al , ]. Mechanical traps and optical detectors were also largely employed to measure mean profiles and time series statistics [ Sugiura et al , ; Nishimura and Hunt , ; Nemoto and Nishimura , ; Kosugi et al , ; Clifton et al , ; Guala et al , ; Okaze et al , ], as well as to investigate the splash entrainment process [ Sugiura and Maeno , ; McElwaine et al , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind tunnel observations of weak and strong snow saltation dynamics

Paterna¹,

Crivelli²,

Lehning

2017

JGR Earth Surface

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Theoretical considerations suggest that saltation dynamics is dominated by either aerodynamic entrainment or by a combination of ejection and rebound at a given time and location. Calling these two regimes “weak” and “strong” saltation, respectively, we have investigated high‐resolution snow mass flux measurements by shadowgraphy in a cold wind tunnel to determine whether these two regimes can be experimentally reproduced. In this contribution, we first suggest that aerodynamic entrainment should lead to a negative correlation in the growth rates of horizontal versus vertical mass fluxes, while for the ejection regime, a positive correlation is plausible. Based on this criterion, we find evidence of weak and strong saltation in our data. Weak saltation is characterized by smaller peaks of horizontal mass flux; however, these peaks have a higher growth rate and therefore are typically narrow. The larger peaks are associated with strong saltation, are wider, and their frequency of occurrence increases with increasing overall saltation mass flux.

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Wind tunnel investigation of drifting snow development in a boundary layer

Cited by 53 publications

References 27 publications

Snow particle speeds in drifting snow

Snow particle speeds in drifting snow

Development of a snowdrift model with the lattice Boltzmann method

Wind tunnel observations of weak and strong snow saltation dynamics

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