Summary
The snow surface energy budgets in two alpine basins in New Zealand's South Island were calculated from meteorological observations made during a spring melt period. The sensible heat flux was the most important energy source and precipitation heat flow the least important at both sites. Latent heat was the second greatest source at the more maritime site while net radiation was more important than latent heat at the other site. The greater cloud cover at the more maritime site accounts for the lower net radiation received there. The differences in the sensible and latent heat fluxes are due to differences in the air temperature, humidity and wind speed between the sites. No reliable relationship between the wind speeds at the two sites appears to exist. The differences in temperature and humidity result from the influences of different airmasses and the modification of airmasses as they traverse the mountain ranges.
Zussamenfassung
Die Schneeschmelzenergiehaushalte zweier alpiner Becken der Südinsel Neuseelands wurden auf Grund meteorologischer Beobachtungen während der Frühjahrsaperung erstellt. An beiden Standorten stellte die konvektionelle Wärmeübertragung die wichtigste, die durch Niederschläge zugeführte Wärme die unwichtigste Energiequelle dar. Am ozeannahen Standort war Latentwärme die zweitgrößte Quelle, während am anderen Standort Nettoeinstrahlung von größerer Bedeutung war als Latentwänne. Höherer Bewölkungsgrad am ozeanischen Standort führte zu geringerer Nettoeinstrahlung. Differenzen zwischen Konvektions- und Latentwärmefluß sind auf unterschiedliche Lufttemperatur, Luftfeuchtigkeit und Windgeschwindigkeit an beiden Standorten zurückzuführen. Es scheint kein eindeutiger Zusammenhang zwischen den Windgeschwindigkeiten an beiden Standorten zu bestehen. Temperatur- und Luftfeuchtigkeitsunterschiede sind auf Einflüsse unterschiedlicher Luftmassen und auf Luftmassenveränderungen beim Überqueren der Gebirgskette zurückzuführen.
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Moore, R.D. A comparison of the snowmelt energy budgets in two alpine basins. Arch. Met. Geoph. Biocl., Ser. B 33, 1–10 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02273986
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02273986