Investigating snow sinks on level sea ice in the Arctic

We examined snow sinks caused by snow and sea ice interactions (snow-ice formation and sub-parcel snow mass redistribution) on Arctic level ice. We coupled SnowModel-LG, a modeling system adapted for snow depth and density reconstruction over sea ice, with HIGHTSI, a 1-D thermodynamic sea ice model, to create SMLG HS. Pan-Arctic model simulations spanned from 1 August 1980 through 31 July 2022. Evaluation of SMLG HS against snow depth, snow-ice, and sea ice thickness observations highlighted the importance of snow mass changes due to snow redistribution processes. The findings suggest that neglecting snow-ice formation and sub-parcel snow mass redistribution processes in models can lead to substantial overestimation of snow depth over level ice.