Estimating surface water availability in high mountain rock slopes using a numerical energy balance model

Model output, forcing data and physical parameters used to estimate water and energy balance. The model was calibrated with field measurements from a study site in the Mont-Blanc massif, at 3842 m a.s.l, at a slope of 55 deegrees and aspect azimut of 150 degrees (south-east). The different ModelOutput files are from simulations at  different elevastions (from 4800 m to 2700 m at steps of 300 m). We used the CryoGrid community model (version 1.0) toolbox (Westermann et al., 2022) to simulate the 1D ground thermal regime and ice/water balance, and estimate the availability of surface water and its potential for infiltration in rock fractures. The S2M-SAFRAN dataset combines output from a numerical weather prediction model and in situ observations, and was originally developed for operational needs to estimate avalanche hazard in mountainous areas (Durand et al., 1993). The S2M-SAFRAN dataset that we used is available for various mountain areas, at elevation steps of 300 m, and with an hourly resolution between the years 1958 to 2021 (Vernay et al., 2022). It includes most parameters that are required for modeling with CryoGrid: Relative humidity, air T, incoming long wavelength radiation, incoming short wavelength solar radiation, and wind speed. To complete the forcing data we used top of the atmosphere incident solar radiation from ERA5 global reanalysis dataset (Hersbach et al., 2020).