Large-scale High Mountain Asia snow model

Code for the snow model presented by Kraaijenbrink et al. (2021). The model is based on the temperature index principle with several additions and modifications: 

• Sub daily time stepping
• Sub-grid variability
• Mixed precipitation phase
• Time-variable melt rates (albedo decay)
• Snow pack water storage and refreezing
• Advection of rain on snow

For the exact methods and model description see Kraaijenbrink et al. (2021).

To run the model, an installation of R is required. The model uses two separate scripts:

1. swe-model.r
   I/O and core model control script, written in R.
2. calculateSWE.cpp
   The core model, written in c++.

In Kraaijenbrink et al. (2021) the model was setup for the High Mountain Asia region on a 0.05 degree grid and 3-hourly time step, forced using ERA5 temperature and precipitation, and calibrated using MODIS-derived snow cover. The pre-proccessed input data required to run the model for this domain and in this setup are available here.

Daily output time series of snow water equivalent and snow melt presented by Kraaijenbrink et al. (2021) are available here.

Reference

Kraaijenbrink, P. D. A., Stigter, E. E., Yao, T., and Immerzeel, W. W. (2021). Climate change decisive for Asia’s snow meltwater supply. Nature Climate Change. doi:10.1038/s41558-021-01074-x.