Snow Band Elevation File
This file contains information needed to define the properties of each elevation band used by the snow model. Snow elevation bands are used to improve the model's performance in changing topography, especially mountainous regions, where the effects of elevation on snow pack accumulation and ablation might be lost in a large grid cell. The number of snow elevation bands (option.SNOW_BAND) to be used with the model, is defined in the model control file. This file is only read if the number of snow elevation bands is greater than 1.
Column |
Variable Name |
Units |
Number of Values |
Description |
|
1 |
cellnum |
N/A |
1 |
Grid cell number (should match numbers assigned in soil parameter file) |
|
2 : (SNOW_BAND+1) |
AreaFract |
fraction |
SNOW_BAND |
Fraction of grid cell covered by each elevation band. Sum of the fractions must equal 1. |
|
(SNOW_BAND+2) : (2*SNOW_BAND+1) |
elevation |
m |
SNOW_BAND |
Mean (or median) elevation of elevation band. This is used to compute the change in air temperature from the grid cell mean elevation. |
|
(2*SNOW_BAND+2) : (3*SNOW_BAND+1) |
Pfactor |
fraction |
SNOW_BAND |
Fraction of cell precipitation that falls on each elevation band. Total must equal 1. To ignore effects of elevation on precipitation, set these fractions equal to the area fractions. |
Example Snow Elevation Band File: 3 Layers
