A Model for Pollutant Concentrations During Snow-Melt

Abstract

In recent years extensive measurements of pollutant concentrations within the environment have been made over Western Europe following reports of unusually high pollution levels within rivers and lakes, especially after the start of the spring melting period. A simple model is presented to describe theoretically the pollutant efflux within the first fractions of melt water released from a snow-pack at the start of the melting season. The dominant features included are the appearance of a wave-front as heading the unsaturated flow of melt water and the pollutant dispersion arising from the interaction of the flow with the porous structure of the snow-pack and molecular diffusion. Computed results are shown describing the evolution of pollutant concentration profiles in the first run-off stage from a snow-pack subjected to an applied uniform surface heating.