Penetration of Solar Radiation in Snow-Ice Covered Water Reservoirs: Winterkill

摘要

A snow-ice covered water reservoir is modeled by two absorbing-scattering planar layers. The scattering centers in the snow layer are assumed to be ice spheres, while the scattering centers in the ice layer are assumed to be spherical voids. The scattering characteristics of each layer are predicted by Mie theory. A Dirac-delta function approximation to the scattering phase function is introduced to simplify the analysis and account for strong forward scattering due to diffraction. An invariant imbedding solution technique is then used to solve the transport equation including multiple scattering for the penetration of solar radiation through the snow-ice layer. The results of this investigation should help predict winter-kill (the suffocation of aquatic animal life in the winter months).