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Abstract

The presence of snow on the land surface fundamentally changes the surface energy exchange and affects the annual cycle of land hydrology.  Global climate models and Earth system models like E3SM can simulate snow cover fairly well, but the accurate simulation of snow depth (SD) and snow water equivalent (SWE) remains elusive.  Such biases in historical SD and SWE put future projections of snowpack into doubt.  We compare SD and SWE simulated by E3SMv1 in the low-resolution AMIP and historical simulations with our 4-km snow product that consistently assimilates all in situ (SNOTEL and COOP) measurements across the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) constrained by the PRISM precipitation and temperature data .  Maximum SWE and SD are both underestimated by E3SMv1 across the higher terrain of the Intermountain West but are overestimated across the Upper Midwest and New England.  The effect of these snow biases on the simulated atmosphere-surface energy and water exchange will be explored.

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