Skip to content
Code Releases Docs (3.7.0) Docs (Dev) Stats

This is the changelog for Snowpack release 3.2.0

Configuration keys changes

First, several configuration keys have been changed (and potentially moved to another section):

  • Renamed TRESH_DT_AIRSNOW to THRESH_DTEMP_AIR_SNOW
  • Renamed INCOMING_LONGWAVE to MEAS_INCOMING_LONGWAVE
  • Disentangle HN_DENSITY and HN_DENSITY_MODEL to HN_DENSITY, HN_DENSITY_PARAMETERIZATION and HN_DENSITY_FIXEDVALUE
  • SW_ABSORPTION_SCHEME (formerly MULTISTREAM); FORCE_SW_MODE (formerly SW_MODE_CHANGE), and HARDNESS_PARAMETERIZATION (formerly HARDNESS_MODEL)
  • SW_MODE is now a string and has a value of either INCOMING, REFLECTED, or BOTH
  • The NEUTRAL key has been renamed as "ATMOSPHERIC_STABILITY" and now takes values as strings (RICHARDSON, MONIN_OBUKHOV, NEUTRAL_MO)

And some new keys added:

  • WATERTRANSPORTMODEL_SNOW, WATERTRANSPORTMODEL_SOIL (it is recommended to set DEBUG_ARITHM to OFF when using Richardson)
  • ADVECTIVE_HEAT, HEAT_BEGIN, HEAT_END
  • ALBEDO_MODEL key allows to choose an albedo parameterization from the 5 available
  • ISWR_IS_NET
  • SNOW_ALBEDO, ALBEDO_PARAMETERIZATION, ALBEDO_FIXEDVALUE
  • SNOW_EROSION
  • PROFILE_FORMAT (either PRO, PRF or IMIS or a combination)

Detailed changelog

  • code cleanup

    • warnings, using some optimized routines, reducing some variables' scope
    • breaking methods into smaller units
    • removing pointers and passing by pointers, unused variables
    • not using int as bool, more usage of STL where possible
    • checking code against published papers
    • making code more similar to the published papers
    • more consistent handling of default values
    • removing some macros
    • 64 bytes platforms
    • removing obsolete comments
    • data structure cleanup to remove redundant (and misplaced) information
    • less verbose for Alpine3D
    • more robust code in places where common user errors happen
    • removing Snowpack data generation strategy to fully rely on MeteoIO's DataGenerators

  • Utility scripts, build system and packaging

    • new scripts: to run snowpack and to extract data out of simulations
    • packaging: enabling building a fully static Snowpack on OsX and Linux
    • packaging: better compilation options for Snowpack standalone on osX
    • improved the massbalancecheck script
    • CMakeLists simplified (now requiring at least cmake 2.8.0)
    • cleanup of the tests for ctest

  • Documentation, user-friendliness

    • renaming/moving keys and working on their dependency to get a more consistent configuration
    • cleaning up and bringing up to date the examples
    • documentation improvements and updates
    • soil example
    • Windows batch file example
    • change a few default values
    • ALPINE3D soil profile introduced
    • more formats supported for snow profiles
    • putting the timestamps always at the same position in screen messages

  • Bug fixes

    • fixes after running cppcheck
    • fixing a bug in Canopy::Interception
    • fixed phase change related bug that could make all soil layers isothermal at once
    • fixed issues with high infiltration rate
    • bug fixed when writing sno files out
    • bug fix: MINIMUM_L_ELEMENT and HEIGHT_NEW_ELEM declared in the ini file were never read
    • bug fix for small elements in stop-and-go
    • fixed the grass detection algorithm to properly work in stop-and-go mode
    • bug fix: add a newline at the end of exception messages
    • bug fix when writing ascii files
    • fixed empty profiles incorrectly writen
    • limit the settling to the amount of air available in a given layer, in order to naturally keep proper volumetric contents
    • fixed a bug when validating the data: if ENFORCE_SNOW_HEIGHT, HS is necessary!
    • fixed an incomplete energy balance in the canopy

  • Water transport

    • NIED water transport and Richards equation solver
    • Detection and support of LAPACK and BLAS in cmake for the Richards equation solver
    • UPSTREAM hydrolic conductivity averaging option
    • fixed bug in volumetric contents after ice sublimation in Richards solver
    • removing wrong averaging scheme for hydrolic conductivity
    • multiple hydrolic conductivities parametrizations

  • Other improvements and features

    • improved the canopy energy balance and made it closer to the papers
    • new snow albedo parametrizations
    • the layer tagging feature has been reintroduced but not carefuly verified yet (read: highly experimental)
    • implement the possibility to inject a heat flux at a specific depth (ADVECTIVE_HEAT key)
    • it is now possible to use only 2 virtual slopes
    • implement liquid water index for virtual north and south slopes
    • new key: "SNOW_EROSION" so it is possible to erode a single slope while it still requires multiple virtual slopes to deposit snow
    • energy balance improvement when evaporating liquid water from the top layer
    • energy balance improvement when new snow falls on wet snow

  • Misc

    • better glacier detection
    • better boundary conditions
    • add possibility to provide short wave as net short wave
    • using Unsworth parametrization when no ILWR is available. This works better with ATMOSPHERIC_STABILITY=MONIN_OBUKHOV
    • ImisDBIO now direclty write the profiles to the database
    • ImisDBIO writes the calculation date to the database
    • ImisDBIO speed optimizations