Distributed, explicit modeling of technical snow production for a ski area in the Schladming region (Austrian Alps)

• A snowmaking module is coupled to a spatially distributed energy balance snow model.
• The module accounts for individual snow guns and the snowmaking infrastructure.
• Actual snowmaking infrastructure data is used to drive and evaluate the model.
• The results show that the model can accurately simulate snowmaking operations.

A module for simulating technical snow production in ski areas coupled to a spatially distributed physically based snow model (AMUNDSEN) is presented. The module explicitly considers individual snow guns and distributes the produced snow along the slopes. The amount of snow produced by each snow gun is a function of the snow gun type, wet-bulb temperature at the snow gun's location, ski area infrastructure (in terms of water supply and pumping capacity), and snow demand. Water losses during snowmaking due to evaporation and sublimation are considered, as well as the distinct properties of technical snow such as the higher density as compared to natural snow. An empirical rule for snow production derived from common snowmaking practices has been implemented, which splits the season into a period of maximum snowmaking and a period of selective on-demand snowmaking. The model is set up for a ski area in the Schladming region (Austrian Alps) using actual snowmaking infrastructure data as model parameters. Model validation is performed for the period 2003–2011 using recordings of snowmaking operations as well as a spatial comparison of remotely sensed and simulated snow-covered area. Simulated total seasonal snowmaking hours and water and energy consumption as well as the ski season length are in good agreement with observations, which indicates that the model is capable of accurately simulating real-world snowmaking operations. The explicit consideration of individual snow guns allows easily playing through different management strategies and changes in snowmaking infrastructure, such as replacing the snow guns with more efficient models, increasing the number of snow guns or concentrating them to certain slope segments, or increasing the capacity of reservoirs.