Enhanced snow absorption and albedo reduction by dust-snow internal mixing: Modeling and parameterization

Dust-snow internal/external mixing significantly enhances snow single-scattering coalbedo and absorption at wavelengths of <1.0 mu m, with stronger enhancements for internal mixing (relative to external mixing) and higher dust concentrations but very weak dependence on snow size and shape variabilities.

Compared with pure snow, dust-snow internal mixing reduces snow albedo substantially at wavelengths of <1.0 mu m, with stronger reductions for higher dust concentrations, larger snow sizes, and spherical (relative to nonspherical) snow shapes. Compared to internal mixing, dust-snow external mixing generally shows similar spectral patterns of albedo reductions and effects of snow size and shape. However, relative to external mixing, dust-snow internal mixing enhances the magnitude of albedo reductions by 10%-30% (10%-230%) at the visible (near-infrared) band.