Evaluation of input wind speed used in wind tunnel test and numerical simulation to estimate drifting snow profile

Wind tunnel test and numerical modeling technique are often used to estimate the drifting snow profile. One of the basic parameters needed for the estimation is the input wind speed. The selection of this wind speed is of importance since it affects the estimated drifting snow profile significantly. In this study, annual maximum snow depth and the daily maximum wind speed on its occurrence (companion wind speed) between 1981 and 2010 from all the meteorological stations in Heilongjiang province, as well as annual maximum wind speed for part of the stations, were used to evaluate the possible input wind speed. For this purpose, statistical analysis of the probable month of occurrence for annual maximum snow depth and for annual maximum wind speed were first carried out, followed by the assessment of correlation between annual maximum snow depth and its companion (daily maximum) wind speed. It is suggested that the input wind speed can be assigned with the mean of the companion wind speed. By evaluating the input wind speed for Heilongjiang province, it is concluded that the companion wind speed is much less than the annual maximum wind speed, and that the ratio of the former to the latter is about 0.45. Based on this finding, it is suggested that the input wind speed for estimating difting snow profile can be set to be 0.45 times of the 50-year return period value of annual maximum wind speed when meteorological data is not available for the analysis.