Snow and Frozen Ground Simulations

Water from the snowpack drives the rivers for much of the World and can be a large contributor to flooding. Historically, snow has been difficult to simulate due to limited data availability for both forcing and calibrating the numerical methods. Many hydrologic models contain multiple snow simulation methods depending on available data. Complex methods solve the physical processes within the snowpack, but often require numerous and highly-accurate forcing data. Simpler methods require less data, but often miss the spatial characteristics of the snowpack (differences between South- and North-facing slopes, shading, vegetation, etc.).