| 29 Apr 2026
Impact of blowing snow on the surface radiation balance near the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Abstract. Blowing snow sublimation is a key boundary-layer process on the Greenland Ice Sheet that removes and redistributes snow and thereby influences the surface energy balance. However, the direct radiative impacts of blowing snow are often not included in (regional) climate models. This study investigates the influence of blowing snow on the surface radiation balance at observational site S10 near the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet using the regional climate model RACMO2.4p1. The radiative properties of the blowing snow layer are described as a low-level ice cloud using the blowing snow mixing ratio, effective radius, and blowing snow cloud fraction, which are taken from the blowing snow routine. Model experiments, both including and excluding blowing snow in the forcing of the stand-alone radiation scheme, are compared to quantify the impact of blowing snow on the surface radiation balance and evaluated against observational data. Our results indicate that blowing snow enhances longwave emissivity and reduces shortwave transmissivity of the near-surface atmosphere, leading to a mean increase of 5.8 W m−2 in downwelling longwave radiation and a mean decrease of 1.2 W m−2 in downwelling shortwave radiation at the surface during blowing snow events. Including blowing snow in the radiation scheme improves the simulated surface radiation balance in RACMO2.4p1. The blowing snow routine underestimates peak horizontal transport fluxes by 69 to 79 % during the short observational period in summer. We recommend coupling blowing snow and radiation schemes in climate models to account for the influence of blowing snow on the local climate and the surface mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Competing interests: MRvdB is a member of the editorial board of the journal "The Cryosphere".
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