Our modelling team have identified new snow depth parameters that are better for Solcast customers modeling their own snow soiling calculations. So we’re introducing two new parameters, and deprecating our legacy snow_water parameter.
Snow_depth
The new snow_depth metric is a measure of the physical snow pack on the ground, measured in centimeters.Snow_water_equivalent
The new snow_water_equivalent parameter is a measure of the equivalent water depth from the current snow pack, measured in centimeters of water equivalent. Essentially if the current snow pack melted, how much water would remain.Changes for the API
The two new parameters are now live and can be queried by customers with a Live or Live and Forecast Solcast Subscription.Our previous snow-water metric, has been reflecting a snow water equivalent calculation based on precipitated snow. With the new metrics now live, the legacy snow_water parameter will be deprecated in May 2023 and existing customers using this parameter will have heard from our support team about how to implement the new parameters.
| snow_water_equivalent | snow_depth | |
|---|---|---|
| Units | cm-water-equivalent | cm |
| Description | The snow depth liquid-water-equivalent | The depth of the snow pack. |
| Live and Forecast GFS Source parameters (see here) |
Derived from WEASD [Water Equivalent of Accumulated Snow Depth] | Derived from SNOD [Snow Depth] |
| Historic ERA5 source parameters (see here) |
Derived from water-equivalent snow depth | Derived from snow_density Applied to the water-equivalent snow_depth |
Our snow parameters are derived from Numerical Weather Prediction data. For Live and Forecast, this is NOAA GFS, and for Historic and TMY this is ERA5.
Harry Jack
Harry is Solcast's Lead Modeller and forecast systems engineer, leading our modelling team and responsible for data quality and data value across Solcast. Harry holds a BEng (Hons I) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney, and a Grad. Dip. in Meteorology from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). He has worked as an operational Meteorologist and as a forecast systems scientist at the BoM.