Wind-tunnel experimental studies of the spatial snow distribution over grass and bush surfaces

The snow is one of the most important water resources in grassland in northern and western China, while the wind blowing snow due to the strong wind there is a common phenomenon, which can lead to heavy disasters to harm the local animal husbandry and transportation. A reasonable arrangement of the snow protection forests is one of the most economical and effective methods to prevent the wind blowing snow, and a great number of investigations were carried out for its wind block effects. However, the deposition patterns of the snowfall and the blowing snow in the forests are still largely unknown. In this study, the wind tunnel experiments are performed to investigate the influences of the vegetation (grass and bush) on the wind speed profiles and the spatial distribution of the accumulated snow, by using the bran as the snow substitute. The snow blocking abilities of two bush models are analyzed to show the effects of different coverages. The results show that the grass and the bush have different effects on the wind speed profiles, and the snow-blocking abilities of the vegetation and the resulting spatial distribution are determined by the amount of the snowfall, the wind speed, and the height and the coverage of the vegetation. For the engineering design, if the snow is required on the windward side of the vegetation or in the vegetation, the densely arranged forest belts are needed, if the snow is required to accumulate on the leeward side of the vegetation, the sparse forest belts can be used. This work would be helpful as a reference to the reasonable arrangement of the snow-protection forests in pastoral areas.