A computational model of two-phase, turbulent atmospheric boundary layers containing blowing snow

In blowing and drifting snow, two distinct flow regimes are found. At the surface is the saltation layer which, although very thin, is responsible for the majority of mass transport. Above this layer, the flow can be described as a turbulent, two-phase mixture of air and snow particles. These two layers are highly coupled, and therefore an accurate description of the general snow transport process requires a description of processes occurring within both of these layers.; A physically based computational model of the salient features of blowing and drifting snow in two-dimensional terrain is developed. The model has two distinct parts, one describing the turbulent flow mixture of air and snow, and a second describing the mass transport process and resulting snow accumulation patterns related to the saltation layer. The turbulent flow model consists of a general solution of the time averaged, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, where the k-epsilon turbulence model is used to close the system of equations. The effect of particulates on the turbulent flow field is accounted for by computing the particle concentration field using a convection-diffusion equation and a subsequent modification of the k-epsilon model. The turbulent flow model is coupled to a saltation model and the time evolution of drift development and wind flow fields are computed.; The model suggests that, for the case of precipitating snow, snow particles can be considered a passive additive to the turbulent flow field. Modeled snow accumulation profiles are very similar to published field and experimental data.