WorldWideScience

Sample records for maximum winter snow

  1. Slip resistance of winter footwear on snow and ice measured using maximum achievable incline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Jennifer; Shaw, Robert; Novak, Alison; Li, Yue; Ormerod, Marcus; Newton, Rita; Dutta, Tilak; Fernie, Geoff

    2016-05-01

    Protective footwear is necessary for preventing injurious slips and falls in winter conditions. Valid methods for assessing footwear slip resistance on winter surfaces are needed in order to evaluate footwear and outsole designs. The purpose of this study was to utilise a method of testing winter footwear that was ecologically valid in terms of involving actual human testers walking on realistic winter surfaces to produce objective measures of slip resistance. During the experiment, eight participants tested six styles of footwear on wet ice, on dry ice, and on dry ice after walking over soft snow. Slip resistance was measured by determining the maximum incline angles participants were able to walk up and down in each footwear-surface combination. The results indicated that testing on a variety of surfaces is necessary for establishing winter footwear performance and that standard mechanical bench tests for footwear slip resistance do not adequately reflect actual performance. Practitioner Summary: Existing standardised methods for measuring footwear slip resistance lack validation on winter surfaces. By determining the maximum inclines participants could walk up and down slopes of wet ice, dry ice, and ice with snow, in a range of footwear, an ecologically valid test for measuring winter footwear performance was established.

  2. Effects of dirty snow in nuclear winter simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogelmann, A.M.; Robock, A.; Ellingson, R.G.

    1988-01-01

    A large-scale nuclear war would inject smoke into the atmosphere from burning forests, cities, and industries in targeted areas. This smoke could fall out onto snow and ice and would lower cryospheric albedos by as much as 50%. A global energy balance climate model is used to investigate the maximum effect these ''dirty snow'' albedos have on the surface temperature in nuclear winter simulations which span several years. These effects are investigated for different nuclear winter scenarios, snow precipitation rates, latitudinal distributions of smoke, and seasonal timings. We find that dirty snow, in general, would have a small temperature effect at mid- and low latitudes but could have a large temperature effect at polar latitudes, particularly if the soot is able to reappear significantly in later summers. Factors which limit the climatic importance of the dirty snow are (1) the dirty snow albedo is lowest when the atmosphere still contains a large amount of light-absorbing smoke; (2) even with dirty snow, sea ice areas can still increase, which helps maintain colder temperatures through the sea ice thermal inertial feedback; (3) the snow and ice areas affected by the dirty snow albedos are largest when there is little seasonal solar insolation; and (4) the area affected by the dirty snow is relatively small under all circumstances. copyright American Geophysical Union 1988

  3. Can GRACE detect winter snows in Japan?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heki, Kosuke

    2010-05-01

    Current spatial resolution of the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites is 300-400 km, and so its hydrological applications have been limited to continents and large islands. The Japanese Islands have width slightly smaller than this spatial resolution, but are known to show large amplitude seasonal changes in surface masses due mainly to winter snow. Such loads are responsible for seasonal crustal deformation observed with GEONET, a dense array of GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers in Japan (Heki, 2001). There is also a dense network of surface meteorological sensors for, e.g. snow depths, atmospheric pressures, etc. Heki (2004) showed that combined effects of surface loads, i.e. snow (predominant), atmosphere, soil moisture, dam impoundment, can explain seasonal crustal deformation observed by GPS to a large extent. The total weight of the winter snow in the Japanese Islands in its peak season may reach ~50 Gt. This is comparable to the annual loss of mountain glaciers in the Asian high mountains (Matsuo & Heki, 2010), and is above the detection level of GRACE. In this study, I use GRACE Level-2 Release-4 data from CSR, Univ. Texas, up to 2009 November, and evaluated seasonal changes in surface loads in and around the Japanese Islands. After applying a 350 km Gaussian filter and a de-striping filter, the peak-to-peak change of the water depth becomes ~4 cm in northern Japan. The maximum value is achieved in February-March. The region of large winter load spans from Hokkaido, Japan, to northeastern Honshu, which roughly coincides with the region of deep snow in Japan. Next I compiled snow depth data from surface meteorological observations, and converted them to loads using time-dependent snow density due to compaction. By applying the same spatial filter as the GRACE data, its spatial pattern becomes similar to the GRACE results. The present study suggests that GRACE is capable of detecting seasonal mass changes in an island arc not

  4. Winter survival of Scots pine seedlings under different snow conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domisch, Timo; Martz, Françoise; Repo, Tapani; Rautio, Pasi

    2018-04-01

    Future climate scenarios predict increased air temperatures and precipitation, particularly at high latitudes, and especially so during winter. Soil temperatures, however, are more difficult to predict, since they depend strongly on the fate of the insulating snow cover. 'Rain-on-snow' events and warm spells during winter can lead to thaw-freeze cycles, compacted snow and ice encasement, as well as local flooding. These adverse conditions could counteract the otherwise positive effects of climatic changes on forest seedling growth. In order to study the effects of different winter and snow conditions on young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings, we conducted a laboratory experiment in which 80 1-year-old Scots pine seedlings were distributed between four winter treatments in dasotrons: ambient snow cover (SNOW), compressed snow and ice encasement (ICE), flooded and frozen soil (FLOOD) and no snow (NO SNOW). During the winter treatment period and a 1.5-month simulated spring/early summer phase, we monitored the needle, stem and root biomass of the seedlings, and determined their starch and soluble sugar concentrations. In addition, we assessed the stress experienced by the seedlings by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence, electric impedance and photosynthesis of the previous-year needles. Compared with the SNOW treatment, carbohydrate concentrations were lower in the FLOOD and NO SNOW treatments where the seedlings had almost died before the end of the experiment, presumably due to frost desiccation of aboveground parts during the winter treatments. The seedlings of the ICE treatment showed dead needles and stems only above the snow and ice cover. The results emphasize the importance of an insulating and protecting snow cover for small forest tree seedlings, and that future winters with changed snow patterns might affect the survival of tree seedlings and thus forest productivity.

  5. Relationship of deer and moose populations to previous winters' snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mech, L.D.; McRoberts, R.E.; Peterson, R.O.; Page, R.E.

    1987-01-01

    (1) Linear regression was used to relate snow accumulation during single and consecutive winters with white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn:doe ratios, mosse (Alces alces) twinning rates and calf:cow ratios, and annual changes in deer and moose populations. Significant relationships were found between snow accumulation during individual winters and these dependent variables during the following year. However, the strongest relationships were between the dependent variables and the sums of the snow accumulations over the previous three winters. The percentage of the variability explained was 36 to 51. (2) Significant relationships were also found between winter vulnerability of moose calves and the sum of the snow accumulations in the current, and up to seven previous, winters, with about 49% of the variability explained. (3) No relationship was found between wolf numbers and the above dependent variables. (4) These relationships imply that winter influences on maternal nutrition can accumulate for several years and that this cumulative effect strongly determines fecundity and/or calf and fawn survivability. Although wolf (Canis lupus L.) predation is the main direct mortality agent on fawns and calves, wolf density itself appears to be secondary to winter weather in influencing the deer and moose populations.

  6. Genetic differentiation between sympatric and allopatric wintering populations of Snow Geese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humphries, E.M.; Peters, J.L.; Jonsson, J.E.; Stone, R.; Afton, A.D.; Omland, K.E.

    2009-01-01

    Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland, USA has been the wintering area of a small population of Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens; LSGO) since the 1930s. Snow Geese primarily pair in wintering areas and gene flow could be restricted between this and other LSGO wintering populations. Winter pair formation also could facilitate interbreeding with sympatric but morphologically differentiated Greater Snow Geese (C. c. atlantica; GSGO).We sequenced 658 bp of the mitochondrial DNA control region for 68 Snow Geese from East Coast and Louisiana wintering populations to examine the level of genetic differentiation among populations and subspecies. We found no evidence for genetic differentiation between LSGO populations but, consistent with morphological differences, LSGO and GSGO were significantly differentiated. We also found a lack of genetic differentiation between different LSGO morphotypes from Louisiana. We examined available banding data and found the breeding range of Delmarva LSGO overlaps extensively with LSGO that winter in Louisiana, and documented movements between wintering populations. Our results suggest the Delmarva population of LSGO is not a unique population unit apart from Mid-Continent Snow Geese. ?? 2009 by the Wilson Ornithological Society.

  7. Monitoring Forsmark. Snow depth, snow water content and ice cover during the winter 2010/2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wass, Eva (Geosigma AB (Sweden))

    2011-07-15

    Snow depth and ice cover have been measured and observed during the winter 2010/2011. This type of measurements started in the winter 2002/2003 and has been ongoing since then. In addition to these parameters, the water content of the snow was calculated at each measurement occasion from the weight of a snow sample. Measurements and observations were conducted on a regular basis from the beginning of November 2010 until the middle of April 2011. A persistent snow cover was established in the end of November 2010 and remained until the beginning of April 2011 at the station with longest snow cover duration. The period of ice cover was 160 days in Lake Eckarfjaerden, whereas the sea bay at SFR was ice covered for 135 days

  8. Monitoring Forsmark. Snow depth, snow water content and ice cover during the winter 2010/2011

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wass, Eva

    2011-07-01

    Snow depth and ice cover have been measured and observed during the winter 2010/2011. This type of measurements started in the winter 2002/2003 and has been ongoing since then. In addition to these parameters, the water content of the snow was calculated at each measurement occasion from the weight of a snow sample. Measurements and observations were conducted on a regular basis from the beginning of November 2010 until the middle of April 2011. A persistent snow cover was established in the end of November 2010 and remained until the beginning of April 2011 at the station with longest snow cover duration. The period of ice cover was 160 days in Lake Eckarfjaerden, whereas the sea bay at SFR was ice covered for 135 days

  9. Storing snow for the next winter: Two case studies on the application of snow farming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grünewald, Thomas; Wolfsperger, Fabian

    2016-04-01

    Snow farming is the conservation of snow during the warm half-year. This means that large piles of snow are formed in spring in order to be conserved over the summer season. Well-insulating materials such as chipped wood are added as surface cover to reduce melting. The aim of snow farming is to provide a "snow guaranty" for autumn or early winter - this means that a specific amount of snow will definitively be available, independent of the weather conditions. The conserved snow can then be used as basis for the preparation of winter sports grounds such as cross-country tracks or ski runs. This helps in the organization of early winter season sport events such as World Cup races or to provide appropriate training conditions for athletes. We present a study on two snow farming projects, one in Davos (Switzerland) and one in the Martell valley of South Tyrol. At both places snow farming has been used for several years. For the summer season 2015, we monitored both snow piles in order to assess the amount of snow conserved. High resolution terrestrial laser scanning was performed to measure snow volumes of the piles at the beginning and at the end of the summer period. Results showed that only 20% to 30 % of the snow mass was lost due to ablation. This mass loss was surprisingly low considering the extremely warm and dry summer. In order to identify the most relevant drivers of snow melt we also present simulations with the sophisticated snow cover models SNOWPACK and Alpine3D. The simulations are driven by meteorological input data recorded in the vicinity of the piles and enable a detailed analysis of the relevant processes controlling the energy balance. The models can be applied to optimize settings for snow farming and to examine the suitability of new locations, configurations or cover material for future snow farming projects.

  10. Why on the snow? Winter emergence strategies of snow-active Chironomidae (Diptera) in Poland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soszyńska-Maj, Agnieszka; Paasivirta, Lauri; Giłka, Wojciech

    2016-10-01

    A long-term study of adult non-biting midges (Chironomidae) active in winter on the snow in mountain areas and lowlands in Poland yielded 35 species. The lowland and mountain communities differed significantly in their specific composition. The mountain assemblage was found to be more diverse and abundant, with a substantial contribution from the subfamily Diamesinae, whereas Orthocladiinae predominated in the lowlands. Orthocladius wetterensis Brundin was the most characteristic and superdominant species in the winter-active chironomid communities in both areas. Only a few specimens and species of snow-active chironomids were recorded in late autumn and early winter. The abundance of chironomids peaked in late February in the mountain and lowland areas with an additional peak in the mountain areas in early April. However, this second peak of activity consisted mainly of Orthocladiinae, as Diamesinae emerged earliest in the season. Most snow-active species emerged in mid- and late winter, but their seasonal patterns differed between the 2 regions as a result of the different species composition and the duration of snow cover in these regions. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient tests yielded positive results between each season and the number of chironomid individuals recorded in the mountain area. A positive correlation between air temperature, rising to +3.5 °C, and the number of specimens recorded on the snow in the mountain community was statistically significant. The winter emergence and mate-searching strategies of chironomids are discussed in the light of global warming, and a brief compilation of most important published data on the phenomena studied is provided. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  11. Establishing Winter Origins of Migrating Lesser Snow Geese Using Stable Isotopes

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    Viviane Hénaux

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Increases in Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens populations and large-scale habitat changes in North America have contributed to the concentration of migratory waterfowl on fewer wetlands, reducing resource availability, and enhancing risks of disease transmission. Predicting wintering locations of migratory individuals is critical to guide wildlife population management and habitat restoration. We used stable carbon (δ13C, nitrogen (δ15N, and hydrogen (δ2H isotope ratios in muscle tissue of wintering Snow Geese to discriminate four major wintering areas, the Playa Lake Region, Texas Gulf Coast, Louisiana Gulf Coast, and Arkansas, and infer the wintering locations of individuals collected later during the 2007 and 2008 spring migrations in the Rainwater Basin (RWB of Nebraska. We predicted the wintering ground derivation of migrating Snow Geese using a likelihood-based approach. Our three-isotope analysis provided an efficient discrimination of the four wintering areas. The assignment model predicted that 53% [95% CI: 37-69] of our sample of Snow Geese from the RWB in 2007 had most likely originated in Louisiana, 38% [23-54] had wintered on Texas Gulf Coast, and 9% [0-20] in Arkansas; the assessment suggested that 89% [73-100] of our 2008 sample had most likely come from Texas Gulf Coast, 9% [0-27] from Louisiana Gulf Coast, and 2% [0-9] from Arkansas. Further segregation of wintering grounds and additional sampling of spring migrating Snow Geese would refine overall assignment and help explain interannual variations in migratory connectivity. The ability to distinguish origins of northbound geese can support the development of spatially-adaptive management strategies for the midcontinent Snow Goose population. Establishing migratory connectivity using isotope assignment techniques can be extended to other waterfowl species to determine critical habitat, evaluate population energy requirements, and inform waterfowl conservation and management

  12. Snow Based Winter Tourism and Kinds of Adaptations to Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breiling, M.

    2009-04-01

    Austria is the most intensive winter tourism country in the world with some 4% contribution in the national GNP. Snow based winter tourism became the lead economy of mountain areas, covering two thirds of the country and is by far economically more important than agriculture and forestry. While natural snow was the precondition for the establishment of winter tourism, artificial snow is nowadays the precondition to maintain winter tourism in the current economic intensity. Skiing originally low tech, is developing increasingly into high tech. While skiing was comparatively cheap in previous days due to natural snow, skiing is getting more expensive and exclusive for a higher income class due to the relative high production costs. Measures to adapt to a warmer climate can be divided into three principle types: physical adaptation, technical adaptation - where artificial snow production plays a major role - and social adaptation. It will be discussed under which conditions each adaptation type seems feasible in dependence of the level of warming. In particular physical and technical adaptations are related to major investments. Practically every ski resort has to decide about what is an appropriate, economically cost efficient level of adaptation. Adapting too much reduces profits. Adapting too little does not bring enough income. The optimal level is often not clear. In many cases public subsidies help to collect funds for adaptation and to keep skiing profitable. The possibility to adapt on local, regional or on national scales will depend on the degree of warming, the future price of artificial snow production and the public means foreseen to support the winter tourism industry.

  13. Spatially explicit modeling of conflict zones between wildlife and snow sports: prioritizing areas for winter refuges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braunisch, Veronika; Patthey, Patrick; Arlettaz, Raphaël

    2011-04-01

    Outdoor winter recreation exerts an increasing pressure upon mountain ecosystems, with unpredictable, free-ranging activities (e.g., ski mountaineering, snowboarding, and snowshoeing) representing a major source of stress for wildlife. Mitigating anthropogenic disturbance requires the spatially explicit prediction of the interference between the activities of humans and wildlife. We applied spatial modeling to localize conflict zones between wintering Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix), a declining species of Alpine timberline ecosystems, and two free-ranging winter sports (off-piste skiing [including snow-boarding] and snowshoeing). Track data (snow-sports and birds' traces) obtained from aerial photographs taken over a 585-km transect running along the timberline, implemented within a maximum entropy model, were used to predict the occurrence of snow sports and Black Grouse as a function of landscape characteristics. By modeling Black Grouse presence in the theoretical absence of free-ranging activities and ski infrastructure, we first estimated the amount of habitat reduction caused by these two factors. The models were then extrapolated to the altitudinal range occupied by Black Grouse, while the spatial extent and intensity of potential conflict were assessed by calculating the probability of human-wildlife co-occurrence. The two snow-sports showed different distribution patterns. Skiers' occurrence was mainly determined by ski-lift presence and a smooth terrain, while snowshoers' occurrence was linked to hiking or skiing routes and moderate slopes. Wintering Black Grouse avoided ski lifts and areas frequented by free-ranging snow sports. According to the models, Black Grouse have faced a substantial reduction of suitable wintering habitat along the timberline transect: 12% due to ski infrastructure and another 16% when adding free-ranging activities. Extrapolating the models over the whole study area results in an overall habitat loss due to ski infrastructure of

  14. Indicative properties on snow cover based on the results of experimental studies in the winter 2011/12 in the central part of the East European Plain

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    L. M. Kitaev

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Local and regional differences in the snow formation were studied in different landscapes of the central part of the East European Plain – within reserves in the Moscow and Tver’ regions (south-north direction; the study period is the winter 2011/12. The observed increase of snow storage in 1.3–1.5 times in the direction south-north is connected, apparently. The difference in the five-day appearance of snow cover maximum is related to differences in regional winter air temperature. Throughout the snow depth and snow storage in spruce are smaller than in deciduous forest – in the ratio of 0.81 in south area and 0.93 in north area; in spruce the large part of solid precipitation is intercepted by the crowns pine trees. Snow stratigraphy at south areas has four layers, six layers at the north area are more variable in snow density and snow storage. Perhaps, gravitational conversion is more noticeable due to larger snow depth. Snow density and snow storage at the open areas are more heterogeneous than in the forest. This is due to sharp fluctuations in air temperature, wind transport and compaction of snow, evaporation from the snow surface. The stratigraphy of snow also reflects the history of winter changes of air temperature and snow accumulation. Common feature for reserves at south and north is the availability of layers with maximum snow storage in the middle of the snow thickness, which were formed during the air temperature drops to the lowest seasonal values in period with increase of snow depth to maximum. Formation of depth hoar in snow thickness are touched everywhere the bottom and middle layers, respectively, it was formed both before and during the period with minimal air temperature. Thus, the results of experimental studies confirm the significance of the differences of individual components of the landscape setting. Analytical conclusions are largely qualitative in nature due to the lack to date of initial information, and

  15. The cumulative effect of consecutive winters' snow depth on moose and deer populations: a defence

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    McRoberts, R.E.; Mech, L.D.; Peterson, R.O.

    1995-01-01

    1. L. D. Mech et al. presented evidence that moose Alces alces and deer Odocoileus virginianus population parameters re influenced by a cumulative effect of three winters' snow depth. They postulated that snow depth affects adult ungulates cumulatively from winter to winter and results in measurable offspring effects after the third winter. 2. F. Messier challenged those findings and claimed that the population parameters studied were instead affected by ungulate density and wolf indexes. 3. This paper refutes Messier's claims by demonstrating that his results were an artifact of two methodological errors. The first was that, in his main analyses, Messier used only the first previous winter's snow depth rather than the sum of the previous three winters' snow depth, which was the primary point of Mech et al. Secondly, Messier smoothed the ungulate population data, which removed 22-51% of the variability from the raw data. 4. When we repeated Messier's analyses on the raw data and using the sum of the previous three winter's snow depth, his findings did not hold up.

  16. Winter Insulation By Snow Accumulation in a Subarctic Treeline Ecosystem Increases Summer Carbon Cycling Rates

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    Parker, T.; Subke, J. A.; Wookey, P. A.

    2014-12-01

    The effect of snow accumulation on soil carbon and nutrient cycling is attracting substantial attention from researchers. We know that deeper snow accumulation caused by high stature vegetation increases winter microbial activity and therefore carbon and nitrogen flux rates. However, until now the effect of snow accumulation, by buffering winter soil temperature, on subsequent summer soil processes, has scarcely been considered. We carried out an experiment at an alpine treeline in subarctic Sweden in which soil monoliths, contained within PVC collars, were transplanted between forest (deep winter snow) and tundra heath (shallow winter snow). We measured soil CO2efflux over two growing seasons and quantified soil microbial biomass after the second winter. We showed that respiration rates of transplanted forest soil were significantly reduced compared with control collars (remaining in the forest) as a consequence of colder, but more variable, winter temperatures. We hypothesised that microbial biomass would be reduced in transplanted forests soils but found there was no difference compared to control. We therefore further hypothesised that the similarly sized microbial pool in the control is assembled differently to the transplant. We believe that the warmer winters in forests foster more active consortia of decomposer microbes as a result of different abiotic selection pressures. Using an ecosystem scale experimental approach, we have identified a mechanism that influences summer carbon cycling rates based solely on the amount of snow that accumulates the previous winter. We conclude that modification of snow depth as a consequence of changes in vegetation structure is an important mechanism influencing soil C stocks in ecosystems where snow persists for a major fraction of the year.

  17. Long-term variability in Northern Hemisphere snow cover and associations with warmer winters

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCabe, Gregory J.; Wolock, David M.

    2010-01-01

    A monthly snow accumulation and melt model is used with gridded monthly temperature and precipitation data for the Northern Hemisphere to generate time series of March snow-covered area (SCA) for the period 1905 through 2002. The time series of estimated SCA for March is verified by comparison with previously published time series of SCA for the Northern Hemisphere. The time series of estimated Northern Hemisphere March SCA shows a substantial decrease since about 1970, and this decrease corresponds to an increase in mean winter Northern Hemisphere temperature. The increase in winter temperature has caused a decrease in the fraction of precipitation that occurs as snow and an increase in snowmelt for some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly the mid-latitudes, thus reducing snow packs and March SCA. In addition, the increase in winter temperature and the decreases in SCA appear to be associated with a contraction of the circumpolar vortex and a poleward movement of storm tracks, resulting in decreased precipitation (and snow) in the low- to mid-latitudes and an increase in precipitation (and snow) in high latitudes. If Northern Hemisphere winter temperatures continue to warm as they have since the 1970s, then March SCA will likely continue to decrease.

  18. The effects of changes in snow depth on winter recreation

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Zahradníček, Pavel; Rožnovský, J.; Štěpánek, Petr; Farda, Aleš; Brzezina, J.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 7, č. 1 (2016), s. 44-54 ISSN 1804-2821 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1415; GA ČR GA13-04291S; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-12262S Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : new snow * total snow depth * climate change * climate models * winter recreations Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

  19. Distribution of Snow and Maximum Snow Water Equivalent Obtained by LANDSAT Data and Degree Day Method

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    Takeda, K.; Ochiai, H.; Takeuchi, S.

    1985-01-01

    Maximum snow water equivalence and snowcover distribution are estimated using several LANDSAT data taken in snowmelting season over a four year period. The test site is Okutadami-gawa Basin located in the central position of Tohoku-Kanto-Chubu District. The year to year normalization for snowmelt volume computation on the snow line is conducted by year to year correction of degree days using the snowcover percentage within the test basin obtained from LANDSAT data. The maximum snow water equivalent map in the test basin is generated based on the normalized snowmelt volume on the snow line extracted from four LANDSAT data taken in a different year. The snowcover distribution on an arbitrary day in snowmelting of 1982 is estimated from the maximum snow water equivalent map. The estimated snowcover is compared with the snowcover area extracted from NOAA-AVHRR data taken on the same day. The applicability of the snow estimation using LANDSAT data is discussed.

  20. Winter fidelity and apparent survival of lesser snow goose populations in the Pacific flyway

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    Williams, C.K.; Samuel, M.D.; Baranyuk, Vasily V.; Cooch, E.G.; Kraege, Donald K.

    2008-01-01

    The Beringia region of the Arctic contains 2 colonies of lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) breeding on Wrangel Island, Russia, and Banks Island, Canada, and wintering in North America. The Wrangel Island population is composed of 2 subpopulations from a sympatric breeding colony but separate wintering areas, whereas the Banks Island population shares a sympatric wintering area in California, USA, with one of the Wrangel Island subpopulations. The Wrangel Island colony represents the last major snow goose population in Russia and has fluctuated considerably since 1970, whereas the Banks Island population has more than doubled. The reasons for these changes are unclear, but hypotheses include independent population demographics (survival and recruitment) and immigration and emigration among breeding or wintering populations. These demographic and movement patterns have important ecological and management implications for understanding goose population structure, harvest of admixed populations, and gene flow among populations with separate breeding or wintering areas. From 1993 to 1996, we neckbanded molting birds at their breeding colonies and resighted birds on the wintering grounds. We used multistate mark-recapture models to evaluate apparent survival rates, resighting rates, winter fidelity, and potential exchange among these populations. We also compared the utility of face stain in Wrangel Island breeding geese as a predictor of their wintering area. Our results showed similar apparent survival rates between subpopulations of Wrangel Island snow geese and lower apparent survival, but higher emigration, for the Banks Island birds. Males had lower apparent survival than females, most likely due to differences in neckband loss. Transition between wintering areas was low (exchange between the Banks and northern Wrangel Island populations. Face staining was an unreliable indicator of wintering area. Our findings suggest that northern and southern

  1. How autumn Eurasian snow anomalies affect east asian winter monsoon: a numerical study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Xiao; Wang, Bin

    2018-03-01

    Previous studies have found that snow Eurasian anomalies in autumn can affect East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM), but the mechanisms remain controversial and not well understood. The possible mechanisms by which Eurasian autumn snow anomalies affect EAWM are investigated by numerical experiments with a coupled general circulation model and its atmospheric general circulation model component. The leading empirical orthogonal function mode of the October-November mean Eurasian snow cover is characterized by a uniform anomaly over a broad region of central Eurasia (40°N-65°N, 60°E-140°E). However, the results from a 150-ensemble mean simulation with snow depth anomaly specified in October and November reveal that the Mongolian Plateau and Vicinity (MPV, 40°-55°N, 80°-120°E) is the key region for autumn snow anomalies to affect EAWM. The excessive snow forcing can significantly enhance EAWM and the snowfall over the northwestern China and along the EAWM front zone stretching from the southeast China to Japan. The physical process involves a snow-monsoon feedback mechanism. The excessive autumn snow anomalies over the MPV region can persist into the following winter, and significantly enhance winter snow anomalies, which increase surface albedo, reduce incoming solar radiation and cool the boundary layer air, leading to an enhanced Mongolian High and a deepened East Asian trough. The latter, in turn, strengthen surface northwesterly winds, cooling East Asia and increasing snow accumulation over the MPV region and the southeastern China. The increased snow covers feedback to EAWM system through changing albedo, extending its influence southeastward. It is also found that the atmosphere-ocean coupling process can amplify the delayed influence of Eurasian snow mass anomaly on EAWM. The autumn surface albedo anomalies, however, do not have a lasting "memory" effect. Only if the albedo anomalies are artificially extended into December and January, will the EAWM be

  2. Variability of snow line elevation, snow cover area and depletion in the main Slovak basins in winters 2001–2014

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    Krajčí Pavel

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Spatial and temporal variability of snow line (SL elevation, snow cover area (SCA and depletion (SCD in winters 2001–2014 is investigated in ten main Slovak river basins (the Western Carpathians. Daily satellite snow cover maps from MODIS Terra (MOD10A1, V005 and Aqua (MYD10A1, V005 with resolution 500 m are used.

  3. Effects of sowing time on pink snow mould, leaf rust and winter damage in winter rye varieties in Finland

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    M. SERENIUS

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Disease infection in relation to sowing time of winter rye (Secale cereale was studied in southern Finland in order to compare overwintering capacity of modern rye varieties and to give recommendations for rye cultivation. This was done by using three sowing times and four rye varieties in field trials conducted at three locations in 1999–2001. The early sown rye (beginning of August was severely affected by diseases caused by Puccinia recondita and Microdochium nivale, whereas postponing sowing for two weeks after the recommended sowing time resulted in considerably less infection. The infection levels of diseases differed among rye varieties. Finnish rye varieties Anna and Bor 7068 were more resistant to snow mould and more winter hardy than the Polish variety Amilo, or the German hybrid varieties Picasso and Esprit. However, Amilo was the most resistant to leaf rust. In the first year snow mould appeared to be the primary cause of winter damage, but in the second year the winter damage was positively correlated with leaf rust. No significant correlation between frit fly infestation and winter damage or disease incidence of snow mould or leaf rust was established. The late sowing of rye (in the beginning of September is recommended in Finland, particularly with hybrid varieties, to minimize the need for chemical plant protection in autumn.;

  4. Estimating winter survival of winter wheat by simulations of plant frost tolerance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bergjord Olsen, A.K.; Persson, T.; Wit, de A.; Nkurunziza, L.; Sindhøj, E.; Eckersten, H.

    2018-01-01

    Based on soil temperature, snow depth and the grown cultivar's maximum attainable level of frost tolerance (LT50c), the FROSTOL model simulates development of frost tolerance (LT50) and winter damage, thereby enabling risk calculations for winter wheat survival. To explore the accuracy of this

  5. Winter ecology of a subalpine grassland: Effects of snow removal on soil respiration, microbial structure and function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gavazov, Konstantin; Ingrisch, Johannes; Hasibeder, Roland; Mills, Robert T E; Buttler, Alexandre; Gleixner, Gerd; Pumpanen, Jukka; Bahn, Michael

    2017-07-15

    Seasonal snow cover provides essential insulation for mountain ecosystems, but expected changes in precipitation patterns and snow cover duration due to global warming can influence the activity of soil microbial communities. In turn, these changes have the potential to create new dynamics of soil organic matter cycling. To assess the effects of experimental snow removal and advanced spring conditions on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics, and on the biomass and structure of soil microbial communities, we performed an in situ study in a subalpine grassland in the Austrian Alps, in conjunction with soil incubations under controlled conditions. We found substantial winter C-mineralisation and high accumulation of inorganic and organic N in the topsoil, peaking at snowmelt. Soil microbial biomass doubled under the snow, paralleled by a fivefold increase in its C:N ratio, but no apparent change in its bacteria-dominated community structure. Snow removal led to a series of mild freeze-thaw cycles, which had minor effects on in situ soil CO 2 production and N mineralisation. Incubated soil under advanced spring conditions, however, revealed an impaired microbial metabolism shortly after snow removal, characterised by a limited capacity for C-mineralisation of both fresh plant-derived substrates and existing soil organic matter (SOM), leading to reduced priming effects. This effect was transient and the observed recovery in microbial respiration and SOM priming towards the end of the winter season indicated microbial resilience to short-lived freeze-thaw disturbance under field conditions. Bacteria showed a higher potential for uptake of plant-derived C substrates during this recovery phase. The observed temporary loss in microbial C-mineralisation capacity and the promotion of bacteria over fungi can likely impede winter SOM cycling in mountain grasslands under recurrent winter climate change events, with plausible implications for soil nutrient availability and

  6. Isotope composition of winter precipitation and snow cover in the foothills of the Altai

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. S. Malygina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the past three decades, several general circulation models of the atmosphere and ocean (atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models  – GCMs have been improved by modeling the hydrological cycle with the use of isotopologues (isotopes of water HDO and H2 18O. Input parameters for the GCM models taking into account changes in the isotope composition of atmospheric precipitation were, above all, the results obtained by the network GNIP – Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation. At different times, on the vast territory of Russia there were only about 40 simultaneously functioning stations where the sampling of atmospheric precipitation was performed. In this study we present the results of the isotope composition of samples taken on the foothills of the Altai during two winter seasons of 2014/15 and 2015/16. Values of the isotope composition of precipitation changed in a wide range and their maximum fluctuations were 25, 202 and 18‰ for δ18О, dexc and δD, respectively. The weighted-mean values of δ18О and δD of the precipitation analyzed for the above two seasons were close to each other (−21.1 and −158.1‰ for the first season and −21.1 and −161.9‰ for the second one, while dexc values differed significantly. The comparison of the results of isotope analysis of the snow cover integral samples with the corresponding in the time interval the weighted-mean values of precipitation showed high consistency. However, despite the similarity of values of δ18О and δD, calculated for precipitation and snow cover, and the results, interpolated in IsoMAP (from data of the GNIP stations for 1960–2010, the dexc values were close to mean annual values of IsoMAP for only the second winter season. According to the trajectory analysis (the HYSPLIT model, the revealed differences between both, the seasons, and the long-term average values of IsoMAP, were associated with a change of main regions where the air masses

  7. Biogeochemical Impact of Snow Cover and Cyclonic Intrusions on the Winter Weddell Sea Ice Pack

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tison, J.-L.; Schwegmann, S.; Dieckmann, G.; Rintala, J.-M.; Meyer, H.; Moreau, S.; Vancoppenolle, M.; Nomura, D.; Engberg, S.; Blomster, L. J.; Hendrickx, S.; Uhlig, C.; Luhtanen, A.-M.; de Jong, J.; Janssens, J.; Carnat, G.; Zhou, J.; Delille, B.

    2017-12-01

    Sea ice is a dynamic biogeochemical reactor and a double interface actively interacting with both the atmosphere and the ocean. However, proper understanding of its annual impact on exchanges, and therefore potentially on the climate, notably suffer from the paucity of autumnal and winter data sets. Here we present the results of physical and biogeochemical investigations on winter Antarctic pack ice in the Weddell Sea (R. V. Polarstern AWECS cruise, June-August 2013) which are compared with those from two similar studies conducted in the area in 1986 and 1992. The winter 2013 was characterized by a warm sea ice cover due to the combined effects of deep snow and frequent warm cyclones events penetrating southward from the open Southern Ocean. These conditions were favorable to high ice permeability and cyclic events of brine movements within the sea ice cover (brine tubes), favoring relatively high chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations. We discuss the timing of this algal activity showing that arguments can be presented in favor of continued activity during the winter due to the specific physical conditions. Large-scale sea ice model simulations also suggest a context of increasingly deep snow, warm ice, and large brine fractions across the three observational years, despite the fact that the model is forced with a snowfall climatology. This lends support to the claim that more severe Antarctic sea ice conditions, characterized by a longer ice season, thicker, and more concentrated ice are sufficient to increase the snow depth and, somehow counterintuitively, to warm the ice.

  8. Effects of Planting of Calluna Vulgaris for Stable Snow Accumulation in Winter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibuki, R.; Harada, K.

    2017-12-01

    Recent year climate of the winter season is changing and the period of snow accumulation is reduced compared with before. It affects the management of the ski resort. Snowfall had occurred in December 2016, but the snow accumulated after January 2017 at the ski resort located in the Pacific Ocean side of the Northeast region of Japan. This situation is thought to be originated from two reasons, one is snow thawing, another is to be blown away by the strong monsoon wind. We are considering utilizing planting to stabilize snow accumulation. Currently building rock gardens with shrubs, mainly Calluna Vulgaris in the ski resort for attracting customers in the summer. These are difficult to raise in the lowlands of Japan because they are too hot, but because of their good growth in relatively low-temperature highlands, it is rare for local residents to appreciate the value of these. In addition, it is excellent in low temperature resistance, and it will not die even under the snow. We investigated the pressure resistance performance due to snowfall and the appropriateness of growth under the weather conditions of the area. Regarding Calluna Vulgaris, Firefly, the plants were not damaged even under snow more than 1 m. In addition, three years have passed since planting, relatively good growth is shown, and the stock has been growing every year. Based on these results, we plan to stabilize the snow accumulation by carrying out planting of Calluna vulgaris inside the slope. The growth of the Calluna species is gentle and the tree height grows only about 50 cm even if 15 years have passed since planting. Therefore, it is considered that the plant body is hard to put out their head on the snow surface during the ski season. Next season will monitor the snow accumulation around the planting area through the snow season.

  9. Snow cover and extreme winter warming events control flower abundance of some, but not all species in high arctic Svalbard

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Semenchuk, Philipp R.; Elberling, Bo; Cooper, Elisabeth J.

    2013-01-01

    octopetala. However, the affected species were resilient and individuals did not experience any long term effects. In the case of short or cold summers, a subset of species suffered reduced reproductive success, which may affect future plant composition through possible cascading competition effects. Extreme...... winter warming events were shown to expose the canopy to cold winter air. The following summer most of the overwintering flower buds could not produce flowers. Thus reproductive success is reduced if this occurs in subsequent years. We conclude that snow depth influences flower abundance by altering...... events, while Stellaria crassipes responded partly. Snow pack thickness determined whether winter warming events had an effect on flower abundance of some species. Warming events clearly reduced flower abundance in shallow but not in deep snow regimes of Cassiope tetragona, but only marginally for Dryas...

  10. Sustainable Block Design Process for High-Rise and High-Density Districts with Snow and Wind Simulations for Winter Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norihiro Watanabe

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Urban designs that consider regional climatic conditions are one of the most important approaches for developing sustainable cities. In cities that suffer from heavy snow and cold winds in winter, an urban design approach different than that used for warm cities should be used. This study presents a scientific design process (the sustainable design approach that incorporates environmental and energy assessments that use snow and wind simulations to establish guidelines for the design of urban blocks in high-rise and high-density districts so that the impact of snow and wind can be minimized in these cities. A city block in downtown Sapporo, Japan, was used as a case study, and we evaluated four conceptual models. The four models were evaluated for how they impacted the snow and wind conditions in the block as well as the snow removal energy. Based on the results, we were able to identify the design guidelines in downtown Sapporo: an urban block design with higher building height ratio without the mid-rise part can reduce the snowdrifts and lower the snow removal energy. The proposed sustainable urban design approach would be effective in improving the quality of public spaces and reducing snow removal energy in winter cities.

  11. Sampling in the Snow: High School Winter Field Experiences Provide Relevant, Real World Connections Between Scientific Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, E. W.; Burakowski, E. A.

    2014-12-01

    For much of the northern United States, the months surrounding the winter solstice are times of increased darkness, low temperatures, and frozen landscapes. It's a time when many high school science educators, who otherwise would venture outside with their classes, hunker down and are wary of the outdoors. However, a plethora of learning opportunities lies just beyond the classroom. Working collaboratively, a high school science teacher and a snow scientist have developed multiple activities to engage students in the scientific process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting the winter world using snow data to (1) learn about the insulative properties of snow, and (2) to learn about the role of snow cover on winter climate through its reflective properties while participating in a volunteer network that collects snow depth, albedo (reflectivity), and density data. These outdoor field-based snow investigations incorporate Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and disciplinary core ideas, including ESS2.C: The roles of water in Earth's surface processes and ESS2.D: Weather and Climate. Additionally, the lesson plans presented address Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics, including the creation and analysis of bar graphs and time series plots (CCSS.Math.HSS-ID.A.1) and xy scatter plots (CCSS.Math.HSS-ID.B.6). High school students participating in the 2013/2014 snow sampling season described their outdoor learning experience as "authentic" and "hands-on" as compared to traditional class indoors. They emphasized that learning outdoors was essential to their understanding of underlying content and concepts because they "learn through actual experience."

  12. The Snow Must Go On: Ground Ice Encasement, Snow Compaction and Absence of Snow Differently Cause Soil Hypoxia, CO2 Accumulation and Tree Seedling Damage in Boreal Forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martz, Françoise; Vuosku, Jaana; Ovaskainen, Anu; Stark, Sari; Rautio, Pasi

    2016-01-01

    At high latitudes, the climate has warmed at twice the rate of the global average with most changes observed in autumn, winter and spring. Increasing winter temperatures and wide temperature fluctuations are leading to more frequent rain-on-snow events and freeze-thaw cycles causing snow compaction and formation of ice layers in the snowpack, thus creating ice encasement (IE). By decreasing the snowpack insulation capacity and restricting soil-atmosphere gas exchange, modification of the snow properties may lead to colder soil but also to hypoxia and accumulation of trace gases in the subnivean environment. To test the effects of these overwintering conditions changes on plant winter survival and growth, we established a snow manipulation experiment in a coniferous forest in Northern Finland with Norway spruce and Scots pine seedlings. In addition to ambient conditions and prevention of IE, we applied three snow manipulation levels: IE created by artificial rain-on-snow events, snow compaction and complete snow removal. Snow removal led to deeper soil frost during winter, but no clear effect of IE or snow compaction done in early winter was observed on soil temperature. Hypoxia and accumulation of CO2 were highest in the IE plots but, more importantly, the duration of CO2 concentration above 5% was 17 days in IE plots compared to 0 days in ambient plots. IE was the most damaging winter condition for both species, decreasing the proportion of healthy seedlings by 47% for spruce and 76% for pine compared to ambient conditions. Seedlings in all three treatments tended to grow less than seedlings in ambient conditions but only IE had a significant effect on spruce growth. Our results demonstrate a negative impact of winter climate change on boreal forest regeneration and productivity. Changing snow conditions may thus partially mitigate the positive effect of increasing growing season temperatures on boreal forest productivity.

  13. Retrospective forecasts of the upcoming winter season snow accumulation in the Inn headwaters (European Alps)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Förster, Kristian; Hanzer, Florian; Stoll, Elena; Scaife, Adam A.; MacLachlan, Craig; Schöber, Johannes; Huttenlau, Matthias; Achleitner, Stefan; Strasser, Ulrich

    2018-02-01

    This article presents analyses of retrospective seasonal forecasts of snow accumulation. Re-forecasts with 4 months' lead time from two coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (NCEP CFSv2 and MetOffice GloSea5) drive the Alpine Water balance and Runoff Estimation model (AWARE) in order to predict mid-winter snow accumulation in the Inn headwaters. As snowpack is hydrological storage that evolves during the winter season, it is strongly dependent on precipitation totals of the previous months. Climate model (CM) predictions of precipitation totals integrated from November to February (NDJF) compare reasonably well with observations. Even though predictions for precipitation may not be significantly more skilful than for temperature, the predictive skill achieved for precipitation is retained in subsequent water balance simulations when snow water equivalent (SWE) in February is considered. Given the AWARE simulations driven by observed meteorological fields as a benchmark for SWE analyses, the correlation achieved using GloSea5-AWARE SWE predictions is r = 0.57. The tendency of SWE anomalies (i.e. the sign of anomalies) is correctly predicted in 11 of 13 years. For CFSv2-AWARE, the corresponding values are r = 0.28 and 7 of 13 years. The results suggest that some seasonal prediction of hydrological model storage tendencies in parts of Europe is possible.

  14. Deepened winter snow increases stem growth and alters stem δ13C and δ15N in evergreen dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona in high-arctic Svalbard tundra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blok, Daan; Michelsen, Anders; Elberling, Bo; Weijers, Stef; Löffler, Jörg; Welker, Jeffrey M; Cooper, Elisabeth J

    2015-01-01

    Deeper winter snow is hypothesized to favor shrub growth and may partly explain the shrub expansion observed in many parts of the arctic during the last decades, potentially triggering biophysical feedbacks including regional warming and permafrost thawing. We experimentally tested the effects of winter snow depth on shrub growth and ecophysiology by measuring stem length and stem hydrogen (δ 2 H), carbon (δ 13 C), nitrogen (δ 15 N) and oxygen (δ 18 O) isotopic composition of the circumarctic evergreen dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona growing in high-arctic Svalbard, Norway. Measurements were carried out on C. tetragona individuals sampled from three tundra sites, each representing a distinct moisture regime (dry heath, meadow, moist meadow). Individuals were sampled along gradients of experimentally manipulated winter snow depths in a six-year old snow fence experiment: in ambient (c. 20 cm), medium (c. 100 cm), and deep snow (c. 150 cm) plots. The deep-snow treatment consistently and significantly increased C. tetragona growth during the 2008–2011 manipulation period compared to growth in ambient-snow plots. Stem δ 15 N and stem N concentration values were significantly higher in deep-snow individuals compared to individuals growing in ambient-snow plots during the course of the experiment, suggesting that soil N-availability was increased in deep-snow plots as a result of increased soil winter N mineralization. Although inter-annual growing season-precipitation δ 2 H and stem δ 2 H records closely matched, snow depth did not change stem δ 2 H or δ 18 O, suggesting that water source usage by C. tetragona was unaltered. Instead, the deep insulating snowpack may have protected C. tetragona shrubs against frost damage, potentially compensating the detrimental effects of a shortened growing season and associated phenological delay on growth. Our findings suggest that an increase in winter precipitation in the High Arctic, as predicted by climate models, has

  15. Optimizing winter/snow removal operations in MoDOT St. Louis district : includes outcome based evaluation of operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-01

    The objective of this project was to develop fleet location, route decision, material selection, and treatment procedures for winter snow removal operations to improve MoDOTs services and lower costs. This work uses a systematic, heuristic-based o...

  16. IOD influence on the early winter tibetan plateau snow cover: diagnostic analyses and an AGCM simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yuan, Chaoxia; Tozuka, Tomoki; Yamagata, Toshio [The University of Tokyo, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo (Japan)

    2012-10-15

    Using diagnostic analyses and an AGCM simulation, the detailed mechanism of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) influence on the early winter Tibetan Plateau snow cover (EWTPSC) is clarified. In early winter of pure positive IOD years with no co-occurrence of El Nino, the anomalous dipole diabatic heating over the tropical Indian Ocean excites the baroclinic response in the tropics. Since both baroclinic and barotropic components of the basic zonal wind over the Arabian Peninsula increase dramatically in early winter due to the equatorward retreat of the westerly jet, the baroclinic mode excites the barotropic Rossby wave that propagates northeastward and induces a barotropic cyclonic anomaly north of India. This enables the moisture transport cyclonically from the northern Indian Ocean toward the Tibetan Plateau. The convergence of moisture over the plateau explains the positive influence of IOD on the EWTPSC. In contrast, the basic zonal wind over the Arabian Peninsula is weak in autumn. This is not favorable for excitation of the barotropic Rossby wave and teleconnection, even though the IOD-related diabatic heating anomaly in autumn similar to that in early winter exists. This result explains the insignificant (significant positive) partial correlation between IOD and the autumn (early winter) Tibetan Plateau snow cover after excluding the influence of ENSO. The sensitivity experiment forced by the IOD-related SST anomaly within the tropical Indian Ocean well reproduces the baroclinic response in the tropics, the teleconnection from the Arabian Peninsula, and the increased moisture supply to the Tibetan Plateau. Also, the seasonality of the atmospheric response to the IOD is simulated. (orig.)

  17. Impacts of extreme winter warming events on plant physiology in a sub-Arctic heath community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bokhorst, Stef; Bjerke, Jarle W; Davey, Matthew P; Taulavuori, Kari; Taulavuori, Erja; Laine, Kari; Callaghan, Terry V; Phoenix, Gareth K

    2010-10-01

    Insulation provided by snow cover and tolerance of freezing by physiological acclimation allows Arctic plants to survive cold winter temperatures. However, both the protection mechanisms may be lost with winter climate change, especially during extreme winter warming events where loss of snow cover from snow melt results in exposure of plants to warm temperatures and then returning extreme cold in the absence of insulating snow. These events cause considerable damage to Arctic plants, but physiological responses behind such damage remain unknown. Here, we report simulations of extreme winter warming events using infrared heating lamps and soil warming cables in a sub-Arctic heathland. During these events, we measured maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII), photosynthesis, respiration, bud swelling and associated bud carbohydrate changes and lipid peroxidation to identify physiological responses during and after the winter warming events in three dwarf shrub species: Empetrum hermaphroditum, Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Vaccinium myrtillus. Winter warming increased maximum quantum yield of PSII, and photosynthesis was initiated for E. hermaphroditum and V. vitis-idaea. Bud swelling, bud carbohydrate decreases and lipid peroxidation were largest for E. hermaphroditum, whereas V. myrtillus and V. vitis-idaea showed no or less strong responses. Increased physiological activity and bud swelling suggest that sub-Arctic plants can initiate spring-like development in response to a short winter warming event. Lipid peroxidation suggests that plants experience increased winter stress. The observed differences between species in physiological responses are broadly consistent with interspecific differences in damage seen in previous studies, with E. hermaphroditum and V. myrtillus tending to be most sensitive. This suggests that initiation of spring-like development may be a major driver in the damage caused by winter warming events that are predicted to become more

  18. SNOW CLEARING SERVICE WINTER 2001-2002

    CERN Multimedia

    ST-HM Group; Tel. 72202

    2001-01-01

    As usual at this time of the year, the snowing clearing service, which comes under the control of the Transport Group (ST-HM), is preparing for the start of snow-clearing operations (timetable, stand-by service, personnel responsible for driving vehicles and machines, preparation of useful and necessary equipment, work instructions, etc.) in collaboration with the Cleaning Service (ST-TFM) and the Fire Brigade (TIS-FB). The main difficulty for the snow-clearing service is the car parks, which cannot be properly cleared because of the presence of CERN and private vehicles parked there overnight in different parts of the parking areas. The ST-HM Transport Group would therefore like to invite you to park vehicles together in order to facilitate the access of the snow ploughs, thus allowing the car parks to be cleared more efficiently before the personnel arrives for work in the mornings.

  19. Surface energy balance of seasonal snow cover for snow-melt ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    This study describes time series analysis of snow-melt, radiation data and energy balance for a seasonal snow cover at Dhundi field station of SASE, which lies in Pir Panjal range of the. N–W Himalaya, for a winter season from 13 January to 12 April 2005. The analysis shows that mean snow surface temperature remains ...

  20. Spatiotemporal variability of snow cover and snow water equivalent in the last three decades over Eurasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yinsheng; Ma, Ning

    2018-04-01

    Changes in the extent and amount of snow cover in Eurasia are of great interest because of their vital impacts on the global climate system and regional water resource management. This study investigated the spatial and temporal variability of the snow cover extent (SCE) and snow water equivalent (SWE) of the continental Eurasia using the Northern Hemisphere Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) Weekly SCE data for 1972-2006 and the Global Monthly EASE-Grid SWE data for 1979-2004. The results indicated that, in general, the spatial extent of snow cover significantly decreased during spring and summer, but varied little during autumn and winter over Eurasia in the study period. The date at which snow cover began to disappear in spring has significantly advanced, whereas the timing of snow cover onset in autumn did not vary significantly during 1972-2006. The snow cover persistence period declined significantly in the western Tibetan Plateau as well as partial area of Central Asia and northwestern Russia, but varied little in other parts of Eurasia. "Snow-free breaks" (SFBs) with intermittent snow cover in the cold season were principally observed in the Tibetan Plateau and Central Asia, causing a low sensitivity of snow cover persistence period to the timings of snow cover onset and disappearance over the areas with shallow snow. The averaged SFBs were 1-14 weeks during the study period and the maximum intermittence could even reach 25 weeks in certain years. At a seasonal scale, SWE usually peaked in February or March, but fell gradually since April across Eurasia. Both annual mean and annual maximum SWE decreased significantly during 1979-2004 in most parts of Eurasia except for eastern Siberia as well as northwestern and northeastern China. The possible cross-platform inconsistencies between two passive microwave radiometers may cause uncertainties in the detected trends of SWE here, suggesting an urgent need of producing a long-term, more homogeneous SWE

  1. Snow cover and temperature relationships in North America and Eurasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, J.; Owe, M.; Rango, A.

    1983-01-01

    In this study the snow cover extent during the autumn months in both North America and Eurasia has been related to the ensuing winter temperature as measured at several locations near the center of each continent. The relationship between autumn snow cover and the ensuing winter temperatures was found to be much better for Eurasia than for North America. For Eurasia the average snow cover extent during the autumn explained as much as 52 percent of the variance in the winter (December-February) temperatures compared to only 12 percent for North America. However, when the average winter snow cover was correlated with the average winter temperature it was found that the relationship was better for North America than for Eurasia. As much as 46 percent of the variance in the winter temperature was explained by the winter snow cover in North America compared to only 12 percent in Eurasia.

  2. Regime shift of snow days in Switzerland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marty, Christoph

    2008-06-01

    The number of days with a snow depth above a certain threshold is the key factor for winter tourism in an Alpine country like Switzerland. An investigation of 34 long-term stations between 200 and 1800 m asl (above sea level) going back for at least the last 60 years (1948-2007) shows an unprecedented series of low snow winters in the last 20 years. The signal is uniform despite high regional differences. A shift detection analysis revealed a significant step-like decrease in snow days at the end of the 1980's with no clear trend since then. This abrupt change resulted in a loss of 20% to 60% of the total snow days. The stepwise increase of the mean winter temperature at the end of the 1980's and its close correlation with the snow day anomalies corroborate the sensitivity of the mid-latitude winter to the climate change induced temperature increase.

  3. Snow melting system with electric heating using photovoltaic power generation; Solar yusetsuko

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sasaki, M; Fujita, S; Kaga, T; Koyama, N [Hachinohe Institute of Technology, Aomori (Japan)

    1996-10-27

    This paper clarifies the solar characteristics in Hachinohe district, to investigate a possibility of the snow melting system with electric heating using solar energy. Power demand for snow melting, power generated by the photovoltaic (PV) array, area of PV array, and working conditions of the system, as to temperature, precipitation and snowfall, were investigated. The percentage of sunshine is 44% in Hachinohe district, which has more fortunate natural condition for utilizing solar radiation compared with that of 20% in Aomori prefecture. The intensity of solar radiation in winter from December to March is around 500 W/m{sup 2} in average, which is equivalent to the quantity of solar radiation, around 2 kWh/m{sup 2} a day. When assuming that snow on the road surface is frozen at the snowfall under the air temperature below -3{degree}C, the occurrence frequency is 50% during January and February in Hachinohe district, which means one frozen day for two days and is equivalent to the occurrence frequency of frozen days, 34% in average during winter. The electric application ratio is 0.34 at the maximum in winter. That is, days of 34% for one month are required for snow melting. 3 figs., 3 tabs.

  4. Relating C-band Microwave and Optical Satellite Observations as A Function of Snow Thickness on First-Year Sea Ice during the Winter to Summer Transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, J.; Yackel, J.

    2015-12-01

    The Arctic sea ice and its snow cover have a direct impact on both the Arctic and global climate system through their ability to moderate heat exchange across the ocean-sea ice-atmosphere (OSA) interface. Snow cover plays a key role in the OSA interface radiation and energy exchange, as it controls the growth and decay of first-year sea ice (FYI). However, meteoric accumulation and redistribution of snow on FYI is highly stochastic over space and time, which makes it poorly understood. Previous studies have estimated local-scale snow thickness distributions using in-situ technique and modelling but it is spatially limited and challenging due to logistic difficulties. Moreover, snow albedo is also critical for determining the surface energy balance of the OSA during the critical summer ablation season. Even then, due to persistent and widespread cloud cover in the Arctic at various spatio-temporal scales, it is difficult and unreliable to remotely measure albedo of snow cover on FYI in the optical spectrum. Previous studies demonstrate that only large-scale sea ice albedo was successfully estimated using optical-satellite sensors. However, space-borne microwave sensors, with their capability of all-weather and 24-hour imaging, can provide enhanced information about snow cover on FYI. Daily spaceborne C-band scatterometer data (ASCAT) and MODIS data are used to investigate the the seasonal co-evolution of the microwave backscatter coefficient and optical albedo as a function of snow thickness on smooth FYI. The research focuses on snow-covered FYI near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut (Fig.1) during the winter to advanced-melt period (April-June, 2014). The ACSAT time series (Fig.2) show distinct increase in scattering at melt onset indicating the first occurrence of melt water in the snow cover. The corresponding albedo exhibits no decrease at this stage. We show how the standard deviation of ASCAT backscatter on FYI during winter can be used as a proxy for surface roughness

  5. VARIABILITY OF THE WINTER SNOWINESS AT THE SOUTHEAST OF KAMCHATKA PENINSULA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Grits

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Analyses of the snow cover depth for several years in the southeast ofKamchatkaPeninsulashow some possibilities for development of skiing, tourism and mountaineering. We found four types of winters in 1935–2006: high-snowy, mid-snowy, little-snowy, and unstable snowy. The average depth of snow for 71 years is133 cmwith minimum of60 cmin 1939 and maximum of272 cmin 2005. The exceptional snowiness gives opportunity to use this territory even in summer months. In some years inKamchatka, the mountain-skiing season lasts a round year. The average date of forming the steady snow cover in the lowlands areas is November 12, and the middle date of the highest snow is May 22. The most comfortable time for recreation on the peninsula in wintertime are observed from the middle of March until the middle of April. During this time, we have the maximum snow, large duration of sunshine and air temperature closed to zero degrees.

  6. Measurement of snow interception and canopy effects on snow accumulation and melt in a mountainous maritime climate, Oregon, United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Storck, Pascal; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.; Bolton, Susan M.

    2002-11-01

    The results of a 3 year field study to observe the processes controlling snow interception by forest canopies and under canopy snow accumulation and ablation in mountain maritime climates are reported. The field study was further intended to provide data to develop and test models of forest canopy effects on beneath-canopy snowpack accumulation and melt and the plot and stand scales. Weighing lysimeters, cut-tree experiments, and manual snow surveys were deployed at a site in the Umpqua National Forest, Oregon (elevation 1200 m). A unique design for a weighing lysimeter was employed that allowed continuous measurements of snowpack evolution beneath a forest canopy to be taken at a scale unaffected by variability in canopy throughfall. Continuous observations of snowpack evolution in large clearings were made coincidentally with the canopy measurements. Large differences in snow accumulation and ablation were observed at sites beneath the forest canopy and in large clearings. These differences were not well described by simple relationships between the sites. Over the study period, approximately 60% of snowfall was intercepted by the canopy (up to a maximum of about 40 mm water equivalent). Instantaneous sublimation rates exceeded 0.5 mm per hour for short periods. However, apparent average sublimation from the intercepted snow was less than 1 mm per day and totaled approximately 100 mm per winter season. Approximately 72 and 28% of the remaining intercepted snow was removed as meltwater drip and large snow masses, respectively. Observed differences in snow interception rate and maximum snow interception capacity between Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), white fir (Abies concolor), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) were minimal.

  7. Past and future of the Austrian snow cover - results from the CC-Snow project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strasser, Ulrich; Marke, Thomas; Hanzer, Florian; Ragg, Hansjörg; Kleindienst, Hannes; Wilcke, Renate; Gobiet, Andreas

    2013-04-01

    This study has the goal to simulate the evolution of the Austrian snow cover from 1971 to 2050 by means of a coupled modelling scheme, and to estimate the effect of climate change on the evolution of the natural snow cover. The model outcomes are interepreted with focus on both the future natural snow conditions, and the effects on winter skiing tourism. Therefore the regional temperature-index snow model SNOWREG is applied, providing snow maps with a spatial resolution of 250 m. The model is trained by means of assimilating local measurements and observed natural snow cover patterns. Meteorological forcing consists of the output of four realizations of the ENSEMBLES project for the A1B emission scenario. The meteorological variables are downscaled and error corrected with a quantile based empirical-statistical method on a daily time basis. The control simulation is 1971-2000, and the scenario simulation 2021-2050. Spatial interpolation is performed on the basis of parameter-elevation relations. We compare the four different global/regional climate model combinations and their effect on the snow modelling, and we explain the patterns of the resulting snow cover by means of regional climatological characteristics. The provinces Tirol and Styria serve as test regions, being typical examples for the two climatic subregions of Austria. To support the interpretation of the simulation results we apply indicators which enable to define meaningful measures for the comparison of the different periods and regions. Results show that the mean duration of the snow cover will decrease by 15 to 30 days per winter season, mostly in elevations between 2000 and 2500 m. Above 3000 m the higher winter precipitation can compensate this effect, and mean snow cover duration may even slightly increase. We also investigate the local scale by application of the physically based mountain snow model AMUNDSEN. This model is capable of producing 50 m resolution output maps for indicators

  8. The value of snow cover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokratov, S. A.

    2009-04-01

    Snow is the natural resource, like soil and water. It has specific properties which allow its use not just for skiing but also for houses cooling in summer (Swedish experience), for air fields construction (Arctic and Antarctic), for dams (north of Russia), for buildings (not only snow-houses of some Polar peoples but artistic hotel attracting tourists in Sweden), and as art material (Sapporo snow festival, Finnish events), etc. "Adjustment" of snow distribution and amount is not only rather common practice (avalanche-protection constructions keeping snow on slopes) but also the practice with long history. So-called "snow irrigation" was used in Russia since XIX century to protect winter crop. What is now named "artificial snow production", is part of much larger pattern. What makes it special—it is unavoidable in present climate and economy situation. 5% of national income in Austria is winter tourism. 50% of the economy in Savoy relay on winter tourism. In terms of money this can be less, but in terms of jobs and income involved this would be even more considerable in Switzerland. As an example—the population of Davos is 14000 in Summer and 50000 in Winter. Skiing is growing business. In present time you can find ski slopes in Turkey and Lebanon. To keep a cite suitable for attracting tourists you need certain amount of sunny days and certain amount of snow. The snow cannons are often the only way to keep a place running. On the other hand, more artificial snow does not necessary attract more tourists, while heavy natural snowfall does attract them. Artificial snow making is costly and requires infrastructure (ponds and electric lines) with very narrow range of weather conditions. Related companies are searching for alternatives and one of them can be "weather regulation" by distribution of some chemical components in clouds. It did not happen yet, but can happen soon. The consequences of such interference in Nature is hardly known. The ski tourism is not the

  9. Winter snow conditions on Arctic sea ice north of Svalbard during the Norwegian young sea ICE (N-ICE2015) expedition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merkouriadi, Ioanna; Gallet, Jean-Charles; Graham, Robert M.; Liston, Glen E.; Polashenski, Chris; Rösel, Anja; Gerland, Sebastian

    2017-10-01

    Snow is a crucial component of the Arctic sea ice system. Its thickness and thermal properties control heat conduction and radiative fluxes across the ocean, ice, and atmosphere interfaces. Hence, observations of the evolution of snow depth, density, thermal conductivity, and stratigraphy are crucial for the development of detailed snow numerical models predicting energy transfer through the snow pack. Snow depth is also a major uncertainty in predicting ice thickness using remote sensing algorithms. Here we examine the winter spatial and temporal evolution of snow physical properties on first-year (FYI) and second-year ice (SYI) in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean, during the Norwegian young sea ICE (N-ICE2015) expedition (January to March 2015). During N-ICE2015, the snow pack consisted of faceted grains (47%), depth hoar (28%), and wind slab (13%), indicating very different snow stratigraphy compared to what was observed in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean during the SHEBA campaign (1997-1998). Average snow bulk density was 345 kg m-3 and it varied with ice type. Snow depth was 41 ± 19 cm in January and 56 ± 17 cm in February, which is significantly greater than earlier suggestions for this region. The snow water equivalent was 14.5 ± 5.3 cm over first-year ice and 19 ± 5.4 cm over second-year ice.

  10. Impacts of Synoptic Weather Patterns on Snow Albedo at Sites in New England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adolph, A. C.; Albert, M. R.; Lazarcik, J.; Dibb, J. E.; Amante, J.; Price, A. N.

    2015-12-01

    Winter snow in the northeastern United States has changed over the last several decades, resulting in shallower snow packs, fewer days of snow cover and increasing precipitation falling as rain in the winter. In addition to these changes which cause reductions in surface albedo, increasing winter temperatures also lead to more rapid snow grain growth, resulting in decreased snow reflectivity. We present in-situ measurements and analyses to test the sensitivity of seasonal snow albedo to varying weather conditions at sites in New England. In particular, we investigate the impact of temperature on snow albedo through melt and grain growth, the impact of precipitation event frequency on albedo through snow "freshening," and the impact of storm path on snow structure and snow albedo. Over three winter seasons between 2013 and 2015, in-situ snow characterization measurements were made at three non-forested sites across New Hampshire. These near-daily measurements include spectrally resolved albedo, snow optical grain size determined through contact spectroscopy, snow depth, snow density and local meteorological parameters. Combining this information with storm tracks derived from HYSPLIT modeling, we quantify the current sensitivity of northeastern US snow albedo to temperature as well as precipitation type, frequency and path. Our analysis shows that southerly winter storms result in snow with a significantly lower albedo than storms which come from across the continental US or the Atlantic Ocean. Interannual variability in temperature and statewide spatial variability in snowfall rates at our sites show the relative importance of snowfall amount and temperatures in albedo evolution over the course of the winter.

  11. Unexpected Patterns in Snow and Dirt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ackerson, Bruce J.

    2018-01-01

    For more than 30 years, Albert A. Bartlett published "Thermal patterns in the snow" in this journal. These are patterns produced by heat sources underneath the snow. Bartlett's articles encouraged me to pay attention to patterns in snow and to understanding them. At winter's end the last snow becomes dirty and is heaped into piles. This…

  12. Winter climate variability and classification in the Bulgarian Mountainous Regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petkova, Nadezhda; Koleva, Ekaterina

    2004-01-01

    The problems of snowiness and thermal conditions of winters are of high interest of investigations because of the more frequent droughts, occurred in the region. In the present study an attempt to reveal tendencies existing during the last 70 years of 20 th century in the course winter precipitation and,temperature as well as in some of the snow cover parameters. On the base of mean winter air temperature winters in the Bulgarian mountains were analyzed and classified. The main results of the study show that winter precipitation has decrease tendencies more significant in the highest parts of the mountains. On the other hand winter air temperature increases. It shows a relatively well-established maximum at the end of the studied period. In the Bulgarian mountains normal winters are about 35-40% of all winters. (Author)

  13. Modeling snow accumulation and ablation processes in forested environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreadis, Konstantinos M.; Storck, Pascal; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.

    2009-05-01

    The effects of forest canopies on snow accumulation and ablation processes can be very important for the hydrology of midlatitude and high-latitude areas. A mass and energy balance model for snow accumulation and ablation processes in forested environments was developed utilizing extensive measurements of snow interception and release in a maritime mountainous site in Oregon. The model was evaluated using 2 years of weighing lysimeter data and was able to reproduce the snow water equivalent (SWE) evolution throughout winters both beneath the canopy and in the nearby clearing, with correlations to observations ranging from 0.81 to 0.99. Additionally, the model was evaluated using measurements from a Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) field site in Canada to test the robustness of the canopy snow interception algorithm in a much different climate. Simulated SWE was relatively close to the observations for the forested sites, with discrepancies evident in some cases. Although the model formulation appeared robust for both types of climates, sensitivity to parameters such as snow roughness length and maximum interception capacity suggested the magnitude of improvements of SWE simulations that might be achieved by calibration.

  14. Extraordinary blowing snow transport events in East Antarctica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scarchilli, Claudio; Agnoletto, Lucia [ENEA, Rome (Italy); Universita di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Siena (Italy); Frezzotti, Massimo; Grigioni, Paolo; Silvestri, Lorenzo de [ENEA, Rome (Italy); Dolci, Stefano [CNR, Rome (Italy); Consorzio P.N.R.A. S.C.r.l., Rome (Italy)

    2010-06-15

    In the convergence slope/coastal areas of Antarctica, a large fraction of snow is continuously eroded and exported by wind to the atmosphere and into the ocean. Snow transport observations from instruments and satellite images were acquired at the wind convergence zone of Terra Nova Bay (East Antarctica) throughout 2006 and 2007. Snow transport features are well-distinguished in satellite images and can extend vertically up to 200 m as first-order quantitatively estimated by driftometer sensor FlowCapt trademark. Maximum snow transportation occurs in the fall and winter seasons. Snow transportation (drift/blowing) was recorded for {proportional_to}80% of the time, and 20% of time recorded, the flux is >10{sup -2} kg m{sup -2} s{sup -1} with particle density increasing with height. Cumulative snow transportation is {proportional_to}4 orders of magnitude higher than snow precipitation at the site. An increase in wind speed and transportation ({proportional_to}30%) was observed in 2007, which is in agreement with a reduction in observed snow accumulation. Extensive presence of ablation surface (blue ice and wind crust) upwind and downwind of the measurement site suggest that the combine processes of blowing snow sublimation and snow transport remove up to 50% of the precipitation in the coastal and slope convergence area. These phenomena represent a major negative effect on the snow accumulation, and they are not sufficiently taken into account in studies of surface mass balance. The observed wind-driven ablation explains the inconsistency between atmospheric model precipitation and measured snow accumulation value. (orig.)

  15. Forest Fires Darken Snow for Years following Disturbance: Magnitude, Duration, and Composition of Light Absorbing Impurities in Seasonal Snow across a Chronosequence of Burned Forests in the Colorado River Headwaters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleason, K. E.; Arienzo, M. M.; Chellman, N.; McConnell, J.

    2017-12-01

    Charred forests shed black carbon and burned debris, which accumulates and concentrates on winter snowpack, reducing snow surface albedo, and subsequently increasing snowmelt rates, and advancing the date of snow disappearance. Forest fires have occurred across vast areas of the seasonal snow zone in recent decades, however we do not understand the long-term implications of burned forests in montane headwaters to snow hydrology and downstream water resources. Across a chronosequence of nine burned forests in the Colorado River Headwaters, we sampled snow throughout the complete snowpack profile to conserve the composition, properties, and vertical stratigraphy of impurities in the snowpack during maximum snow accumulation. Using state-of-the-art geochemical analyses, we determined the magnitude, composition, and particle size distribution of black carbon, dust, and other impurities in the snowpack relative to years-since fire. Forest fires continue to darken snow for many years following fire, however the magnitude, composition, and particle size distribution of impurities change through time, altering the post-fire radiative forcing on snow as a burned forest ages.

  16. Integration of snow management practices into a detailed snow pack model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spandre, Pierre; Morin, Samuel; Lafaysse, Matthieu; Lejeune, Yves; François, Hugues; George-Marcelpoil, Emmanuelle

    2016-04-01

    The management of snow on ski slopes is a key socio-economic and environmental issue in mountain regions. Indeed the winter sports industry has become a very competitive global market although this economy remains particularly sensitive to weather and snow conditions. The understanding and implementation of snow management in detailed snowpack models is a major step towards a more realistic assessment of the evolution of snow conditions in ski resorts concerning past, present and future climate conditions. Here we describe in a detailed manner the integration of snow management processes (grooming, snowmaking) into the snowpack model Crocus (Spandre et al., Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., in press). The effect of the tiller is explicitly taken into account and its effects on snow properties (density, snow microstructure) are simulated in addition to the compaction induced by the weight of the grooming machine. The production of snow in Crocus is carried out with respect to specific rules and current meteorological conditions. Model configurations and results are described in detail through sensitivity tests of the model of all parameters related to snow management processes. In-situ observations were carried out in four resorts in the French Alps during the 2014-2015 winter season considering for each resort natural, groomed only and groomed plus snowmaking conditions. The model provides realistic simulations of the snowpack properties with respect to these observations. The main uncertainty pertains to the efficiency of the snowmaking process. The observed ratio between the mass of machine-made snow on ski slopes and the water mass used for production was found to be lower than was expected from the literature, in every resort. The model now referred to as "Crocus-Resort" has been proven to provide realistic simulations of snow conditions on ski slopes and may be used for further investigations. Spandre, P., S. Morin, M. Lafaysse, Y. Lejeune, H. François and E. George

  17. Changes in snow cover over Northern Eurasia in the last few decades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bulygina, O N; Razuvaev, V N; Korshunova, N N

    2009-01-01

    Daily snow depth (SD) and snow cover extent around 820 stations are used to analyse variations in snow cover characteristics in Northern Eurasia, a region that encompasses the Russian Federation. These analyses employ nearly five times more stations than in the previous studies and temporally span forty years. A representative judgement on the changes of snow depth over most of Russia is presented here for the first time. The number of days with greater than 50% of the near-station territory covered with snow, and the number of days with the snow depth greater than 1.0 cm, are used to characterize the duration of snow cover (SCD) season. Linear trends of the number of days and snow depth are calculated for each station from 1966 to 2007. This investigation reveals regional features in the change of snow cover characteristics. A decrease in the duration of snow cover is demonstrated in the northern regions of European Russia and in the mountainous regions of southern Siberia. An increase in SCD is found in Yakutia and in the Far East. In the western half of the Russian Federation, the winter-averaged SD is shown to increase, with the maximum trends being observed in Northern West Siberia. In contrast, in the mountainous regions of southern Siberia, the maximum SD decreases as the SCD decreases. While both snow cover characteristics (SCD and SD) play an important role in the hydrological cycle, ecosystems dynamics and societal wellbeing are quite different roles and the differences in their systematic changes (up to differences in the signs of changes) deserve further attention.

  18. Analysis of the snow-atmosphere energy balance during wet-snow instabilities and implications for avalanche prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Mitterer

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Wet-snow avalanches are notoriously difficult to predict; their formation mechanism is poorly understood since in situ measurements representing the thermal and mechanical evolution are difficult to perform. Instead, air temperature is commonly used as a predictor variable for days with high wet-snow avalanche danger – often with limited success. As melt water is a major driver of wet-snow instability and snow melt depends on the energy input into the snow cover, we computed the energy balance for predicting periods with high wet-snow avalanche activity. The energy balance was partly measured and partly modelled for virtual slopes at different elevations for the aspects south and north using the 1-D snow cover model SNOWPACK. We used measured meteorological variables and computed energy balance and its components to compare wet-snow avalanche days to non-avalanche days for four consecutive winter seasons in the surroundings of Davos, Switzerland. Air temperature, the net shortwave radiation and the energy input integrated over 3 or 5 days showed best results in discriminating event from non-event days. Multivariate statistics, however, revealed that for better predicting avalanche days, information on the cold content of the snowpack is necessary. Wet-snow avalanche activity was closely related to periods when large parts of the snowpack reached an isothermal state (0 °C and energy input exceeded a maximum value of 200 kJ m−2 in one day, or the 3-day sum of positive energy input was larger than 1.2 MJ m−2. Prediction accuracy with measured meteorological variables was as good as with computed energy balance parameters, but simulated energy balance variables accounted better for different aspects, slopes and elevations than meteorological data.

  19. Deepened winter snow increases stem growth and alters stem δ13C and δ15N in evergreen dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona in high-arctic Svalbard tundra

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blok, Daan; Weijers, Stef; Welker, Jeffrey M

    2015-01-01

    Deeper winter snow is hypothesized to favor shrub growth and may partly explain the shrub expansion observed in many parts of the arctic during the last decades, potentially triggering biophysical feedbacks including regional warming and permafrost thawing. We experimentally tested the effects...... of winter snow depth on shrub growth and ecophysiology by measuring stem length and stem hydrogen ( δ2H), carbon ( δ13C), nitrogen ( δ15N) and oxygen ( δ18O) isotopic composition of the circumarctic evergreen dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona growing in high-arctic Svalbard, Norway. Measurements were carried...... closely matched, snow depth did not change stem δ 2 H or δ 18 O, suggesting that water source usage by C. tetragona was unaltered. Instead, the deep insulating snowpack may have protected C. tetragona shrubs against frost damage, potentially compensating the detrimental effects of a shortened growing...

  20. Decontamination and winter conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quenild, C.; Tveten, U.

    1984-12-01

    The report deals with two decontamonation experiments under winter conditions. A snow-covered parking lot was contaminated, and the snow was subsequently removed using standard snow-moving equipment. The snow left behind was collected and the content of contaminant was determined. A non-radioactive contaminant was used. A decontamination factor exceeding 100 was obtained. Although the eksperimental conditions were close to ideal, it is reason to believe that extremely efficient removal of deposited materials on a snow surface is achivable. In another investigation, run-off from agricultural surface, contaminated while covered with snow, was measured A lycimeter was used in this experiment. A stable layer of ice and snow was allowed to form before contamination. The run-off water was collected at each thaw period until all snow and ice was gone. Cs-134 was used as contaminant. Roughly 30% of the Cs-134 with which the area was contaminated ran off with the melt water. Following a reactor accident situation, this would have given a corresponding reduction in the long term doses. Both of these experiments show that consequence calculation assumptions, as they are currently applied to large accident assessment, tend to overestimate the consequences resulting from accidents taking place under winter conditions

  1. Snow reliability in ski resorts considering artificial snowmaking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofstätter, M.; Formayer, H.; Haas, P.

    2009-04-01

    Snow reliability is the key factor to make skiing on slopes possible and to ensure added value in winter tourism. In this context snow reliability is defined by the duration of a snowpack on the ski runs of at least 50 mm snow water equivalent (SWE), within the main season (Dec-Mar). Furthermore the snowpack should form every winter and be existent early enough in season. In our work we investigate the snow reliability of six Austrian ski resorts. Because nearly all Austrian resorts rely on artificial snowmaking it is of big importance to consider man made snow in the snowpack accumulation and ablation in addition to natural snow. For each study region observed weather data including temperature, precipitation and snow height are used. In addition we differentiate up to three elevations on each site (valley, intermediate, mountain top), being aware of the typical local winter inversion height. Time periods suitable for artificial snow production, for several temperature threshold (-6,-4 or -1 degree Celsius) are calculated on an hourly base. Depending on the actual snowpack height, man made snow can be added in the model with different defined capacities, considering different technologies or the usage of additives. To simulate natural snowpack accumulation and ablation we a simple snow model, based on daily precipitation and temperature. This snow model is optimized at each site separately through certain parameterization factors. Based on the local observations and the monthly climate change signals from the climate model REMO-UBA, we generate long term time series of temperature and precipitation, using the weather generator LARS. Thereby we are not only able to simulate the snow reliability under current, but also under future climate conditions. Our results show significant changes in snow reliability, like an increase of days with insufficient snow heights, especially at mid and low altitudes under natural snow conditions. Artificial snowmaking can partly

  2. Climate change in winter versus the growing-season leads to different effects on soil microbial activity in northern hardwood forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sorensen, P. O.; Templer, P. H.; Finzi, A.

    2014-12-01

    Mean winter air temperatures have risen by approximately 2.5˚ C per decade over the last fifty years in the northeastern U.S., reducing the maximum depth of winter snowpack by approximately 26 cm over this period and the duration of winter snow cover by 3.6 to 4.2 days per decade. Forest soils in this region are projected to experience a greater number of freeze-thaw cycles and lower minimum winter soil temperatures as the depth and duration of winter snow cover declines in the next century. Climate change is likely to result not only in lower soil temperatures during winter, but also higher soil temperatures during the growing-season. We conducted two complementary experiments to determine how colder soils in winter and warmer soils in the growing-season affect microbial activity in hardwood forests at Harvard Forest, MA and Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH. A combination of removing snow via shoveling and buried heating cables were used to induce freeze-thaw events during winter and to warm soils 5˚C above ambient temperatures during the growing-season. Increasing the depth and duration of soil frost via snow-removal resulted in short-term reductions in soil nitrogen (N) production via microbial proteolytic enzyme activity and net N mineralization following snowmelt, prior to tree leaf-out. Declining mass specific rates of carbon (C) and N mineralization associated with five years of snow removal at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest may be an indication of microbial physiological adaptation to winter climate change. Freeze-thaw cycles during winter reduced microbial extracellular enzyme activity and the temperature sensitivity of microbial C and N mineralization during the growing-season, potentially offsetting nutrient and soil C losses due to soil warming in the growing-season. Our multiple experimental approaches show that winter climate change is likely to contribute to reduced microbial activity in northern hardwood forests.

  3. Water losses during technical snow production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grünewald, Thomas; Wolfsperger, Fabian

    2017-04-01

    These days, the production of technical snow can be seen as a prerequisite for winter tourism. Huge amounts of water are used for technical snow production by ski resorts, especially in the beginning of the winter season. The aim is to guarantee an appropriate amount of snow to reliably provide optimal ski runs until the date of season opening in early December. Technical snow is generated by pumping pressurized water through the nozzles of a snow machine and dispersing the resulting spray of small water droplets which freeze during their travel to the ground. Cooling and freezing of the droplets can only happen if energy is emitted to the air mass surrounding the droplets. This heat transfer is happening through convective cooling and though evaporation and sublimation of water droplets and ice particles. This means that also mass is lost from the droplets and added in form of vapor to the air. It is important to note that not all water that is pumped through the snow machine is converted to snow distributed on the ground. Significant amounts of water are lost due to wind drift, sublimation and evaporation while droplets are traveling through the air or to draining of water which is not fully frozen when arriving at the ground. Studies addressing this question are sparse and the quantity of the water losses is still unclear. In order to assess this question in more detail, we obtained several systematic field observations at a test site near Davos, Switzerland. About a dozen of snow making tests had been performed during the last winter seasons. We compare the amount of water measured at the intake of the snow machine with the amount of snow accumulating at the ground during a night of snow production. The snow mass was calculated from highly detailed repeated terrestrial laser scanning measurements in combination with manually gathered snow densities. In addition a meteorological station had been set up in the vicinity observing all relevant meteorological

  4. Winter is losing its cool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, S.

    2017-12-01

    Winter seasons have significant societal impacts across all sectors ranging from direct human health to ecosystems, transportation, and recreation. This study quantifies the severity of winter and its spatial-temporal variations using a newly developed winter severity index and daily temperature, snowfall and snow depth. The winter severity and the number of extreme winter days are decreasing across the global terrestrial areas during 1901-2015 except the southeast United States and isolated regions in the Southern Hemisphere. These changes are dominated by winter warming, while the changes in daily snowfall and snow depth played a secondary role. The simulations of multiple CMIP5 climate models can well capture the spatial and temporal variations of the observed changes in winter severity and extremes during 1951-2005. The models are consistent in projecting a future milder winter under various scenarios. The winter severity is projected to decrease 60-80% in the middle-latitude Northern Hemisphere under the business-as-usual scenario. The winter arrives later, ends earlier and the length of winter season will be notably shorter. The changes in harsh winter in the polar regions are weak, mainly because the warming leads to more snowfall in the high latitudes.

  5. Decadal variability in snow depth anomaly over Eurasia and its association with all India summer monsoon rainfall and seasonal circulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, G.P.

    2003-05-01

    The Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth (HSDSD) version II data set has been used in the computation of winter and spring snow depth anomalies over west (25 deg. E to 70 deg. E, 35 deg. N to 65 deg. N) and east (70 deg. E to 160 deg. E, 35 deg. N to 65 deg. N) Eurasia. It is noticed that winter snow depth anomaly over east Eurasia is positively correlated while west Eurasia is negatively correlated with subsequent Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR). The DJF snow depth anomaly shows highest and inverse correlation coefficient (CC) with ISMR over a large area of west Eurasia in a recent period of study i.e. 1975-1995. On the basis of standardised winter (mean of December, January and February) snow depth anomaly over west Eurasia, the years 1966, 1968, 1979 and 1986 are identified as high snow years and the years 1961 and 1975 as low snow years. The characteristics of seasonal monsoon circulation features have been studied in detail during contrasting years of less (more) snow depth in winter/spring seasons followed by excess (deficient) rainfall over India using National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) / National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanylised data for the period 1948-1995. The composite difference of temperature, wind, stream function and velocity potential during the years of high and low snow years at upper and lower levels have been studied in detail. The temperature at lower level shows maximum cooling up to 6 deg. C during DJF and this cooling persists up to 500hPa by 2 deg. C which gives rise to anomalous cyclonic circulation over the Caspian Sea and this may be one of the causes of the weakening of the summer monsoon circulation over Indian sub-continent. The stream function difference fields show westerly dominated over Arabian Sea at upper level in weak monsoon years. Velocity potential difference field shows complete phase reversal in the dipole structure from the deficient to excess Indian summer monsoon rainfall. (author)

  6. Variation of rock-forming metals in sub-annual increments of modern Greenland snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinkley, T.K.

    1992-01-01

    Modern snowpack from central south Greenland was sampled in sub-seasonal increments and analysed for a suite of major, minor and trace rock-forming metals (K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr, Ba). There is a sharp seasonal concentration maximum for all six metals that comes in summer, later than mid-June. Metal concentrations in all other parts of the year's snowpack are up to 10 or more times smaller. The concentration maximum is preceded by low values in autumn-winter, very low values in early-mid-spring, and moderate-to-high values in late spring early summer; this pattern is seen consistently in three separate time stratigraphic intervals representing the same seasonal periods, spanning the time interval 1981-1984. The absolute concentration values of the snow strata representing the low-concentration portion of the year, autumn-winter-spring, may vary substantially from year to year, by a factor of two, or more. The finding that all rock-forming metals are at a sharp concentration maximum in late summer contrasts with the interpretations of several other studies in high-latitude northern regions. Those studies have reported a broad maximum of continental dust-associated metals in late winter and spring. However samples of the other studies have mostly come from regions farther to the north, and the analyses have emphasized industrial pollutant metals rather than the matched rock-forming suite of the present study. The metals measured were chosen to give information about the origin and identity of the rock and soil dusts, and sea salts, present as impurities in the snow. Metal ratios indicate that the dusts in the snowpacks are of continental origin and from ferromagnesian rocks. Source rock types for dusts in central south Greenland snow contrast with the felsic rock dusts of the Sierra Nevada, CA, annual snowpacks, and with the very felsic rock dusts in large south central Alaskan mountain glaciers. Samples in which masses of sea salt are much larger than those of rock dusts

  7. Alpine snow cover in a changing climate: a regional climate model perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steger, Christian; Kotlarski, Sven; Jonas, Tobias; Schär, Christoph

    2013-08-01

    An analysis is presented of an ensemble of regional climate model (RCM) experiments from the ENSEMBLES project in terms of mean winter snow water equivalent (SWE), the seasonal evolution of snow cover, and the duration of the continuous snow cover season in the European Alps. Two sets of simulations are considered, one driven by GCMs assuming the SRES A1B greenhouse gas scenario for the period 1951-2099, and the other by the ERA-40 reanalysis for the recent past. The simulated SWE for Switzerland for the winters 1971-2000 is validated against an observational data set derived from daily snow depth measurements. Model validation shows that the RCMs are capable of simulating the general spatial and seasonal variability of Alpine snow cover, but generally underestimate snow at elevations below 1,000 m and overestimate snow above 1,500 m. Model biases in snow cover can partly be related to biases in the atmospheric forcing. The analysis of climate projections for the twenty first century reveals high inter-model agreement on the following points: The strongest relative reduction in winter mean SWE is found below 1,500 m, amounting to 40-80 % by mid century relative to 1971-2000 and depending upon the model considered. At these elevations, mean winter temperatures are close to the melting point. At higher elevations the decrease of mean winter SWE is less pronounced but still a robust feature. For instance, at elevations of 2,000-2,500 m, SWE reductions amount to 10-60 % by mid century and to 30-80 % by the end of the century. The duration of the continuous snow cover season shows an asymmetric reduction with strongest shortening in springtime when ablation is the dominant factor for changes in SWE. We also find a substantial ensemble-mean reduction of snow reliability relevant to winter tourism at elevations below about 1,800 m by mid century, and at elevations below about 2,000 m by the end of the century.

  8. Modelling technical snow production for skiing areas in the Austrian Alps with the physically based snow model AMUNDSEN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanzer, F.; Marke, T.; Steiger, R.; Strasser, U.

    2012-04-01

    Tourism and particularly winter tourism is a key factor for the Austrian economy. Judging from currently available climate simulations, the Austrian Alps show a particularly high vulnerability to climatic changes. To reduce the exposure of ski areas towards changes in natural snow conditions as well as to generally enhance snow conditions at skiing sites, technical snowmaking is widely utilized across Austrian ski areas. While such measures result in better snow conditions at the skiing sites and are important for the local skiing industry, its economic efficiency has also to be taken into account. The current work emerges from the project CC-Snow II, where improved future climate scenario simulations are used to determine future natural and artificial snow conditions and their effects on tourism and economy in the Austrian Alps. In a first step, a simple technical snowmaking approach is incorporated into the process based snow model AMUNDSEN, which operates at a spatial resolution of 10-50 m and a temporal resolution of 1-3 hours. Locations of skiing slopes within a ski area in Styria, Austria, were digitized and imported into the model environment. During a predefined time frame in the beginning of the ski season, the model produces a maximum possible amount of technical snow and distributes the associated snow on the slopes, whereas afterwards, until to the end of the ski season, the model tries to maintain a certain snow depth threshold value on the slopes. Due to only few required input parameters, this approach is easily transferable to other ski areas. In our poster contribution, we present first results of this snowmaking approach and give an overview of the data and methodology applied. In a further step in CC-Snow, this simple bulk approach will be extended to consider actual snow cannon locations and technical specifications, which will allow a more detailed description of technical snow production as well as cannon-based recordings of water and energy

  9. Carbon dioxide evolution from snow-covered agricultural ecosystems in Finland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroshi Koizumi

    1996-07-01

    Full Text Available The release of CO2 from the snow surface in winter and the soil surface in summer was directly or indirectly measured in three different soil types (peat, sand and clay in agricultural ecosystems in Finland. The closed chamber (CC method was used for the direct and Pick’s diffusion model (DM method for the indirect measurements. The winter soil temperatures at 2-cm depth were between 0 and 1°C for each soil type. The concentration of CO2 within the snowpack increased linearly with snow depth. The average fluxes of CO2 calculated from the gradients of CO2 concentration in the snow using the DM method ranged from 10 to 27 mg CO2 m2h-1 and with the CC method from 18 to 27 mg CO2 m2h-1. These results suggest that the snow insulates the soil thermally, allowing CO2 production to continue at soil temperatures slightly above freezing in the winter. Carbon dioxide formed in the soil can move across the snowpack up to the atmosphere. The winter/summer ratio of CO2 evolution was estimated to exceed 4%. Therefore, the snow-covered crop soil served as a source of CO2 in winter, and CO2 evolution constitutes an important part of the annual CO2 budget in snowy regions.

  10. Simulating Snow in Canadian Boreal Environments with CLASS for ESM-SnowMIP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, L.; Bartlett, P. A.; Derksen, C.; Ireson, A. M.; Essery, R.

    2017-12-01

    The ability of land surface schemes to provide realistic simulations of snow cover is necessary for accurate representation of energy and water balances in climate models. Historically, this has been particularly challenging in boreal forests, where poor treatment of both snow masking by forests and vegetation-snow interaction has resulted in biases in simulated albedo and snowpack properties, with subsequent effects on both regional temperatures and the snow albedo feedback in coupled simulations. The SnowMIP (Snow Model Intercomparison Project) series of experiments or `MIPs' was initiated in order to provide assessments of the performance of various snow- and land-surface-models at selected locations, in order to understand the primary factors affecting model performance. Here we present preliminary results of simulations conducted for the third such MIP, ESM-SnowMIP (Earth System Model - Snow Model Intercomparison Project), using the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS) at boreal forest sites in central Saskatchewan. We assess the ability of our latest model version (CLASS 3.6.2) to simulate observed snowpack properties (snow water equivalent, density and depth) and above-canopy albedo over 13 winters. We also examine the sensitivity of these simulations to climate forcing at local and regional scales.

  11. Unexpected Patterns in Snow and Dirt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ackerson, Bruce J.

    2018-01-01

    For more than 30 years, Albert A. Bartlett published "Thermal patterns in the snow" in this journal. These are patterns produced by heat sources underneath the snow. Bartlett's articles encouraged me to pay attention to patterns in snow and to understanding them. At winter's end the last snow becomes dirty and is heaped into piles. This snow comes from the final clearing of sidewalks and driveways. The patterns observed in these piles defied my intuition. This melting snow develops edges where dirt accumulates, in contrast to ice cubes, which lose sharp edges and become more spherical upon melting. Furthermore, dirt absorbs more radiation than snow and yet doesn't melt and round the sharp edges of snow, where dirt accumulates.

  12. Estimation of the condition of snow cover in Voronezh according to the chemical analysis of water from melted snow

    OpenAIRE

    Prozhorina Tatyana Ivanovna; Bespalova Elena Vladimirovna; Yakunina Nadezhda

    2014-01-01

    Snow cover possesses high sorption ability and represents informative object to identify technogenic pollution of an urban environment. In this article the investigation data of a chemical composition of snow fallen in Voronezh during the winter period of 2014 are given. Relationships between existence of pollutants in snow and the level of technogenic effect are analyzed.

  13. Snowscape Ecology: Linking Snow Properties to Wildlife Movements and Demography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prugh, L.; Verbyla, D.; van de Kerk, M.; Mahoney, P.; Sivy, K. J.; Liston, G. E.; Nolin, A. W.

    2017-12-01

    Snow enshrouds up to one third of the global land mass annually and exerts a major influence on animals that reside in these "snowscapes," (landscapes covered in snow). Dynamic snowscapes may have especially strong effects in arctic and boreal regions where dry snow persists for much of the year. Changes in temperature and hydrology are transforming northern regions, with profound implications for wildlife that are not well understood. We report initial findings from a NASA ABoVE project examining effects of snow properties on Dall sheep (Ovis dalli dalli). We used the MODSCAG snow fraction product to map spring snowline elevations and snow-off dates from 2000-2015 throughout the global range of Dall sheep in Alaska and northwestern Canada. We found a negative effect of spring snow cover on Dall sheep recruitment that increased with latitude. Using meteorological data and a daily freeze/thaw status product derived from passive microwave remote sensing from 1983-2012, we found that sheep survival rates increased in years with higher temperatures, less winter precipitation, fewer spring freeze-thaw events, and more winter freeze-thaw events. To examine the effects of snow depth and density on sheep movements, we used location data from GPS-collared sheep and a snowpack evolution model (SnowModel). We found that sheep selected for shallow, fluffy snow at high elevations, but they selected for denser snow as depth increased. Our field measurements identified a critical snow density threshold of 329 (± 18 SE) kg/m3 to support the weight of Dall sheep. Thus, sheep may require areas of shallow, fluffy snow for foraging, while relying on hard-packed snow for winter travel. These findings highlight the importance of multiple snowscape properties on wildlife movements and demography. The integrated study of snow properties and ecological processes, which we call snowscape ecology, will greatly improve global change forecasting.

  14. Field observations of the electrostatic charges of blowing snow in Hokkaido, Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omiya, S.; Sato, A.

    2011-12-01

    An electrostatic charge of blowing snow may be a contributing factor in the formation of a snow drift and a snow cornice, and changing of the trajectory of own motion. However, detailed electrification characteristics of blowing snow are not known as there are few reports of charge measurements. We carried out field observations of the electrostatic charges of blowing snow in Tobetsu, Hokkaido, Japan in the mid winter of 2011. An anemovane and a thermohygrometer were used for the meteorological observation. Charge-to-mass ratios of blowing snow were obtained by a Faraday-cage, an electrometer and an electric balance. In this observation period, the air temperature during the blowing snow event was -6.5 to -0.5 degree Celsius. The measured charges in this observation were consistent with the previous studies in sign, which is negative, but they were smaller than the previous one. In most cases, the measured values increased with the temperature decrease, which corresponds with previous studies. However, some results contradicted the tendency, and the maximum value was obtained on the day of the highest air temperature of -0.5 degree Celsius. This discrepancy may be explained from the difference of the snow surface condition on observation day. The day when the maximum value was obtained, the snow surface was covered with old snow, and hard. On the other hand, in many other cases, the snow surface was covered with the fresh snow, and soft. Blowing snow particles on the hard surface can travel longer distance than on the soft one. Therefore, it can be surmised that the hard surface makes the blowing snow particles accumulate a lot of negative charges due to a large number of collisions to the surface. This can be supported by the results of the wind tunnel experiments by Omiya and Sato (2011). By this field observation, it was newly suggested that the electrostatic charge of blowing snow are influenced greatly by the difference of the snow surface condition. REFERENCE

  15. Assimilation of snow cover and snow depth into a snow model to estimate snow water equivalent and snowmelt runoff in a Himalayan catchment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. E. Stigter

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Snow is an important component of water storage in the Himalayas. Previous snowmelt studies in the Himalayas have predominantly relied on remotely sensed snow cover. However, snow cover data provide no direct information on the actual amount of water stored in a snowpack, i.e., the snow water equivalent (SWE. Therefore, in this study remotely sensed snow cover was combined with in situ observations and a modified version of the seNorge snow model to estimate (climate sensitivity of SWE and snowmelt runoff in the Langtang catchment in Nepal. Snow cover data from Landsat 8 and the MOD10A2 snow cover product were validated with in situ snow cover observations provided by surface temperature and snow depth measurements resulting in classification accuracies of 85.7 and 83.1 % respectively. Optimal model parameter values were obtained through data assimilation of MOD10A2 snow maps and snow depth measurements using an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF. Independent validations of simulated snow depth and snow cover with observations show improvement after data assimilation compared to simulations without data assimilation. The approach of modeling snow depth in a Kalman filter framework allows for data-constrained estimation of snow depth rather than snow cover alone, and this has great potential for future studies in complex terrain, especially in the Himalayas. Climate sensitivity tests with the optimized snow model revealed that snowmelt runoff increases in winter and the early melt season (December to May and decreases during the late melt season (June to September as a result of the earlier onset of snowmelt due to increasing temperature. At high elevation a decrease in SWE due to higher air temperature is (partly compensated by an increase in precipitation, which emphasizes the need for accurate predictions on the changes in the spatial distribution of precipitation along with changes in temperature.

  16. Combining snow depth and innovative skier flow measurements in order to improve snow grooming techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmagnola, Carlo Maria; Albrecht, Stéphane; Hargoaa, Olivier

    2017-04-01

    In the last decades, ski resort managers have massively improved their snow management practices, in order to adapt their strategies to the inter-annual variability in snow conditions and to the effects of climate change. New real-time informations, such as snow depth measurements carried out on the ski slopes by grooming machines during their daily operations, have become available, allowing high saving, efficiency and optimization gains (reducing for instance the groomer fuel consumption and operation time and the need for machine-made snow production). In order to take a step forward in improving the grooming techniques, it would be necessary to keep into account also the snow erosion by skiers, which depends mostly on the snow surface properties and on the skier attendance. Today, however, most ski resort managers have only a vague idea of the evolution of the skier flows on each slope during the winter season. In this context, we have developed a new sensor (named Skiflux) able to measure the skier attendance using an infrared beam crossing the slopes. Ten Skiflux sensors have been deployed during the 2016/17 winter season at Val Thorens ski area (French Alps), covering a whole sector of the resort. A dedicated software showing the number of skier passages in real time as been developed as well. Combining this new Skiflux dataset with the snow depth measurements from grooming machines (Snowsat System) and the snow and meteorological conditions measured in-situ (Liberty System from Technoalpin), we were able to create a "real-time skiability index" accounting for the quality of the surface snow and its evolution during the day. Moreover, this new framework allowed us to improve the preparation of ski slopes, suggesting new strategies for adapting the grooming working schedule to the snow quality and the skier attendance. In the near future, this work will benefit from the advances made within the H2020 PROSNOW project ("Provision of a prediction system allowing

  17. Measurement of the reduction of terrestrial gamma-ray dose rates by the snow cover using TL-dosimeters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakamoto, Ryuichi; Saito, Kimiaki; Nagaoka, Toshi; Tsutsumi, Masahiro; Moriuchi, Shigeru

    1990-12-01

    The objective of the investigation is to make clear the effect of the snow cover on environmental gamma-ray field. The reduction in the natural terrestrial gamma-ray dose rate due to snow cover was measured by TL-dosimeters. The measurements were performed in autumn before snowfall and in winter from September 1987 through March 1988 in Nagaoka city, Niigata prefecture. The dosimeters were set at four points, both outside and inside of the houses, for three months. The penetration factors (ratios of terrestrial gamma-ray dose accumulated during snow covered period to those during snow free period) were 0.54-0.67 in the open field, and 0.73-0.95 in the houses. According to theoretical calculation by the Monte Carlo method and the published snowfall data, the corresponding penetration factor was estimated at 0.54 in an ideal open field. As a result, the measured penetration factors were larger than calculated one by 24 % at maximum. The variation of dose rate inside houses by the difference of the amount of snow fall has been investigated. In general, though the amount of snow fall changes every year, dose rates inside the house were proved to be affected little by them. And, the optimum value of snow density which adapted for inference of penetration factor was found to be 0.3 g/cm 3 . The penetration factors inferred from snowdepth data for the year distributed between 0.6 and 1.0 in winter from November 1985 through April 1986 in Niigata prefecture. (author)

  18. Spatiotemporal dynamics of snow cover based on multi-source remote sensing data in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xiaodong; Deng, Jie; Ma, Xiaofang; Wang, Yunlong; Feng, Qisheng; Hao, Xiaohua; Liang, Tiangang

    2016-10-01

    By combining optical remote sensing snow cover products with passive microwave remote sensing snow depth (SD) data, we produced a MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) cloudless binary snow cover product and a 500 m snow depth product. The temporal and spatial variations of snow cover from December 2000 to November 2014 in China were analyzed. The results indicate that, over the past 14 years, (1) the mean snow-covered area (SCA) in China was 11.3 % annually and 27 % in the winter season, with the mean SCA decreasing in summer and winter seasons, increasing in spring and fall seasons, and not much change annually; (2) the snow-covered days (SCDs) showed an increase in winter, spring, and fall, and annually, whereas they showed a decrease in summer; (3) the average SD decreased in winter, summer, and fall, while it increased in spring and annually; (4) the spatial distributions of SD and SCD were highly correlated seasonally and annually; and (5) the regional differences in the variation of snow cover in China were significant. Overall, the SCD and SD increased significantly in south and northeast China, and decreased significantly in the north of Xinjiang province. The SCD and SD increased on the southwest edge and in the southeast part of the Tibetan Plateau, whereas it decreased in the north and northwest regions.

  19. Enhanced hemispheric-scale snow mapping through the blending of optical and microwave satellite data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, R. L.; Brodzik, M. J.; Savoie, M.; Knowles, K.

    2003-04-01

    Snow cover is an important variable for climate and hydrologic models due to its effects on energy and moisture budgets. Seasonal snow can cover more than 50% of the Northern Hemisphere land surface during the winter resulting in snow cover being the land surface characteristic responsible for the largest annual and interannual differences in albedo. Passive microwave satellite remote sensing can augment measurements based on visible satellite data alone because of the ability to acquire data through most clouds or during darkness as well as to provide a measure of snow depth or water equivalent. Global snow cover fluctuation can now be monitored over a 24 year period using passive microwave data (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) 1978-1987 and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), 1987-present). Evaluation of snow extent derived from passive microwave algorithms is presented through comparison with the NOAA Northern Hemisphere weekly snow extent data. For the period 1978 to 2002, both passive microwave and visible data sets show a similar pattern of inter-annual variability, although the maximum snow extents derived from the microwave data are consistently less than those provided by the visible satellite data and the visible data typically show higher monthly variability. Decadal trends and their significance are compared for the two data types. During shallow snow conditions of the early winter season microwave data consistently indicate less snow-covered area than the visible data. This underestimate of snow extent results from the fact that shallow snow cover (less than about 5.0 cm) does not provide a scattering signal of sufficient strength to be detected by the algorithms. As the snow cover continues to build during the months of January through March, as well as throughout the melt season, agreement between the two data types continually improves. This occurs because as the snow becomes deeper and the layered structure more complex, the

  20. Linking Changes in Snow Cover with Nitrogen Cycling and Microbial Abundance and Functional Gene Expression in Agricultural Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goyer, C.; Brin, L.; Zebarth, B.; Burton, D.; Wertz, S.; Chantigny, M.

    2016-12-01

    In eastern Canada, climate change-related warming and increased precipitation may alter winter snow cover, with potential consequences for soil conditions, microbes, and N2O fluxes. We conducted a two-year field study with snow removal, passive snow addition, and ambient treatments in a potato-barley crop system. We measured in situ greenhouse gas (N2O and CO2) fluxes and belowground gas accumulation, and quantified abundance and expression of denitrifier (nirS, nirK, nosZ) and nitrifier (ammonium oxidizing archaeal (AOA) and bacterial (AOB) amoA) genes. Soil gas accumulated throughout winter, and surface fluxes were greatest during spring thaw. Greatest mid-winter soil N2O accumulation and spring thaw N2O fluxes were associated with snow removal in winter 1 and ambient snow in winter 2. High N2O accumulation and fluxes may have been due to increased substrate availability with increased frost intensity in removal plots in winter 1, but with greatest water content in ambient plots in winter 2. In each winter, greatest abundances of nirS, nirK gene denitrifiers and/or amoA gene of AOA were observed in the treatments with the greatest N2O accumulation and fluxes. Gene expression did not vary with treatment, but highest expression of amoA gene of AOA and AOB, and nosZ gene was measured near 0ºC, indicating activity during periods of stable snow cover and spring thaw. Results suggest that the magnitude of fluxes during spring thaw were related to soil conditions and microbial communities present during the prior winter, and not solely those during thaw. Furthermore, the effects of changing snow cover on microbes and N2O fluxes were not a straightforward effect of snow depth, but were likely mediated by temperature and moisture.

  1. Snowpack snow water equivalent measurement using the attenuation of cosmic gamma radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osterhuber, R.; Condreva, K.

    1998-01-01

    Incoming, background cosmic radiation constantly fluxes through the earth's atmosphere. The high energy gamma portion of this radiation penetrates many terrestrial objects, including the winter snowpack. The attenuation of this radiation is exponentially related to the mass of the medium through which it penetrates. For the past three winters, a device measuring cosmic gamma radiation--and its attenuation through snow--has been installed at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, near Donner Pass, California. This gamma sensor, measuring energy levels between 5 and 15 MeV, has proved to be an accurate, reliable, non-invasive, non-mechanical instrument with which to measure the total snow water equivalent of a snowpack. This paper analyzes three winters' worth of data and discusses the physics and practical application of the sensor for the collection of snow water equivalent data from a remote location

  2. Spatiotemporal variability of snow depth across the Eurasian continent from 1966 to 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Xinyue; Zhang, Tingjun; Kang, Shichang; Wang, Kang; Zheng, Lei; Hu, Yuantao; Wang, Huijuan

    2018-01-01

    Snow depth is one of the key physical parameters for understanding land surface energy balance, soil thermal regime, water cycle, and assessing water resources from local community to regional industrial water supply. Previous studies by using in situ data are mostly site specific; data from satellite remote sensing may cover a large area or global scale, but uncertainties remain large. The primary objective of this study is to investigate spatial variability and temporal change in snow depth across the Eurasian continent. Data used include long-term (1966-2012) ground-based measurements from 1814 stations. Spatially, long-term (1971-2000) mean annual snow depths of >20 cm were recorded in northeastern European Russia, the Yenisei River basin, Kamchatka Peninsula, and Sakhalin. Annual mean and maximum snow depth increased by 0.2 and 0.6 cm decade-1 from 1966 through 2012. Seasonally, monthly mean snow depth decreased in autumn and increased in winter and spring over the study period. Regionally, snow depth significantly increased in areas north of 50° N. Compared with air temperature, snowfall had greater influence on snow depth during November through March across the former Soviet Union. This study provides a baseline for snow depth climatology and changes across the Eurasian continent, which would significantly help to better understanding climate system and climate changes on regional, hemispheric, or even global scales.

  3. Daily gridded datasets of snow depth and snow water equivalent for the Iberian Peninsula from 1980 to 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alonso-González, Esteban; López-Moreno, J. Ignacio; Gascoin, Simon; García-Valdecasas Ojeda, Matilde; Sanmiguel-Vallelado, Alba; Navarro-Serrano, Francisco; Revuelto, Jesús; Ceballos, Antonio; Jesús Esteban-Parra, María; Essery, Richard

    2018-02-01

    We present snow observations and a validated daily gridded snowpack dataset that was simulated from downscaled reanalysis of data for the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula has long-lasting seasonal snowpacks in its different mountain ranges, and winter snowfall occurs in most of its area. However, there are only limited direct observations of snow depth (SD) and snow water equivalent (SWE), making it difficult to analyze snow dynamics and the spatiotemporal patterns of snowfall. We used meteorological data from downscaled reanalyses as input of a physically based snow energy balance model to simulate SWE and SD over the Iberian Peninsula from 1980 to 2014. More specifically, the ERA-Interim reanalysis was downscaled to 10 km × 10 km resolution using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The WRF outputs were used directly, or as input to other submodels, to obtain data needed to drive the Factorial Snow Model (FSM). We used lapse rate coefficients and hygrobarometric adjustments to simulate snow series at 100 m elevations bands for each 10 km × 10 km grid cell in the Iberian Peninsula. The snow series were validated using data from MODIS satellite sensor and ground observations. The overall simulated snow series accurately reproduced the interannual variability of snowpack and the spatial variability of snow accumulation and melting, even in very complex topographic terrains. Thus, the presented dataset may be useful for many applications, including land management, hydrometeorological studies, phenology of flora and fauna, winter tourism, and risk management. The data presented here are freely available for download from Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.854618). This paper fully describes the work flow, data validation, uncertainty assessment, and possible applications and limitations of the database.

  4. Spatiotemporal dynamics of snow cover based on multi-source remote sensing data in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Huang

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available By combining optical remote sensing snow cover products with passive microwave remote sensing snow depth (SD data, we produced a MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer cloudless binary snow cover product and a 500 m snow depth product. The temporal and spatial variations of snow cover from December 2000 to November 2014 in China were analyzed. The results indicate that, over the past 14 years, (1 the mean snow-covered area (SCA in China was 11.3 % annually and 27 % in the winter season, with the mean SCA decreasing in summer and winter seasons, increasing in spring and fall seasons, and not much change annually; (2 the snow-covered days (SCDs showed an increase in winter, spring, and fall, and annually, whereas they showed a decrease in summer; (3 the average SD decreased in winter, summer, and fall, while it increased in spring and annually; (4 the spatial distributions of SD and SCD were highly correlated seasonally and annually; and (5 the regional differences in the variation of snow cover in China were significant. Overall, the SCD and SD increased significantly in south and northeast China, and decreased significantly in the north of Xinjiang province. The SCD and SD increased on the southwest edge and in the southeast part of the Tibetan Plateau, whereas it decreased in the north and northwest regions.

  5. Snow loads in a changing climate: new risks?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    U. Strasser

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available In January/February 2006, heavy snowfalls in Bavaria (Germany lead to a series of infrastructural damage of catastrophic nature. Since on many collapsed roofs the total snow load was not exceptional, serious engineering deficiencies in roof construction and a sudden rise in the total snow load were considered to be the trigger of the events. An analysis of the then meteorological conditions reveals, that the early winter of 2005/2006 was characterised by an exceptional continuous snow cover, temperatures remained around the freezing point and no significant snowmelt was evident. The frequent freezing/thawing cycles were followed by a general compaction of the snow load. This resulted in a re-distribution and a new concentration of the snow load on specific locations on roofs. With respect to climate change, the question arises as to whether the risks relating to snow loads will increase. The future probability of a continuous snow cover occurrence with frequent freezing/thawing cycles will probably decline due to predicted higher temperatures. However, where temperatures remain low, an increase in winter precipitation will result in increased snow loads. Furthermore, the variability of extremes is predicted to increase. If heavy snowfall events are more frequent, the risk of a trigger event will likely increase. Finally, an attempt will be made here in this paper to outline a concept for an operational warning system for the Bavarian region. This system envisages to predict the development and risk of critical snow loads for a 3-day time period, utilising a combination of climate and snow modelling data and using this together with a snow pillow device (located on roofs and the results of which.

  6. Regional variation in the chemical composition of winter snow pack and terricolous lichens in relation to sources of acid emissions in the Usa river basin, northeast European Russia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walker, T.R.; Crittenden, P.D.; Young, S.D.

    2003-01-01

    The chemistry of winter snow pack and terricolous lichens indicate pollution distribution in Arctic Russia. - The chemical composition of snow and terricolous lichens was determined along transects through the Subarctic towns of Vorkuta (130 km west-east), Inta (240 km south-north) and Usinsk (140 km, southwest-northeast) in the Usa river basin, northeast European Russia. Evidence of pollution gradients was found on two spatial scales. First, on the Inta transect, northward decreases in concentrations of N in the lichen Cladonia stellaris (from 0.57 mmol N g -1 at 90 km south to 0.43 mmol N g -1 at 130 km north of Inta) and winter deposition of non-sea salt sulphate (from 29.3 to 12.8 mol ha -1 at 90 km south and 110 km north of Inta, respectively) were attributed to long range transport of N and S from lower latitudes. Second, increased ionic content (SO 4 2- , Ca 2+ , K + ) and pH of snow, and modified N concentration and the concentration ratios K + :Mg 2+ and K + : (Mg 2+ +Ca 2+ ) in lichens (Cladonia arbuscula and Flavocetraria cucullata) within ca. 25-40 km of Vorkuta and Inta were largely attributed to local deposition of alkaline coal ash. Total sulphate concentrations in snow varied from ca. 5 μmol l -1 at remote sites to ca. 19 μmol l -1 near Vorkuta. Nitrate concentration in snow (typically ca. 9 μmol l -1 ) did not vary with proximity to perceived pollution sources

  7. Decadal variability in snow depth anomaly over Eurasia and its association with all India summer monsoon rainfall and seasonal circulations

    CERN Document Server

    Singh, G P

    2003-01-01

    The Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth (HSDSD) version II data set has been used in the computation of winter and spring snow depth anomalies over west (25 deg. E to 70 deg. E, 35 deg. N to 65 deg. N) and east (70 deg. E to 160 deg. E, 35 deg. N to 65 deg. N) Eurasia. It is noticed that winter snow depth anomaly over east Eurasia is positively correlated while west Eurasia is negatively correlated with subsequent Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR). The DJF snow depth anomaly shows highest and inverse correlation coefficient (CC) with ISMR over a large area of west Eurasia in a recent period of study i.e. 1975-1995. On the basis of standardised winter (mean of December, January and February) snow depth anomaly over west Eurasia, the years 1966, 1968, 1979 and 1986 are identified as high snow years and the years 1961 and 1975 as low snow years. The characteristics of seasonal monsoon circulation features have been studied in detail during contrasting years of less (more) snow depth in winter/spring seasons f...

  8. Satellite Remote Sensing of Snow Depth on Antarctic Sea Ice: An Inter-Comparison of Two Empirical Approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Kern

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Snow on Antarctic sea ice plays a key role for sea ice physical processes and complicates retrieval of sea ice thickness using altimetry. Current methods of snow depth retrieval are based on satellite microwave radiometry, which perform best for dry, homogeneous snow packs on level sea ice. We introduce an alternative approach based on in-situ measurements of total (sea ice plus snow freeboard and snow depth, which we use to compute snow depth on sea ice from Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat total freeboard observations. We compare ICESat snow depth for early winter and spring of the years 2004 through 2006 with the Advanced Scanning Microwave Radiometer aboard EOS (AMSR-E snow depth product. We find ICESat snow depths agree more closely with ship-based visual and air-borne snow radar observations than AMSR-E snow depths. We obtain average modal and mean ICESat snow depths, which exceed AMSR-E snow depths by 5–10 cm in winter and 10–15 cm in spring. We observe an increase in ICESat snow depth from winter to spring for most Antarctic regions in accordance with ground-based observations, in contrast to AMSR-E snow depths, which we find to stay constant or to decrease. We suggest satellite laser altimetry as an alternative method to derive snow depth on Antarctic sea ice, which is independent of snow physical properties.

  9. Application of the MODIS “snow cover” product for identification of the snow cover pattern in Gis-Baikal region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. A. Istomina

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Validation of remote sensing data MODIS «snow cover» in the period from September to May 2000/01, 2007/08, 2008/09 is realized on the base of weather stations data. Good repeatability of weather stations data and snow cover data is shown (more than 80% when snow depth is exceeds 2 cm. The minimum accuracy is in May and October for the variety of snowfall winters. Remote sensing data give possibility to extend the dot information of hydrometeorological stations network on the spatial snow distribution to the mountainous area of Predbajkalje where ground-based observations are absent. According to remote sensing earlier appearance and later melting of snow in mountain areas were identified. The plains and basins areas are characterized by later appearance and earlier melting of snow.

  10. Acid Rain and Snow in Kashiwazaki City.

    OpenAIRE

    小野寺, 正幸; 富永, 禎秀; 竹園, 恵; 大金, 一二; Onodera, Masayuki; Tominaga, Yoshihide; Takesono, Satoshi; Oogane, Katsuji

    2002-01-01

    This paper described the actual condition of acid rain and snow and their influence of a winter monsoon in Kashiwazaki city. For 7 months from September in 2001 to March in 2002, the pH value was measured in rain or snow. The minimum of pH value observed was 3.9 for the 7 months. The day which observed pH

  11. Experimental measurement and modeling of snow accumulation and snowmelt in a mountain microcatchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danko, Michal; Krajčí, Pavel; Hlavčo, Jozef; Kostka, Zdeněk; Holko, Ladislav

    2016-04-01

    Fieldwork is a very useful source of data in all geosciences. This naturally applies also to the snow hydrology. Snow accumulation and snowmelt are spatially very heterogeneous especially in non-forested, mountain environments. Direct field measurements provide the most accurate information about it. Quantification and understanding of processes, that cause these spatial differences are crucial in prediction and modelling of runoff volumes in spring snowmelt period. This study presents possibilities of detailed measurement and modeling of snow cover characteristics in a mountain experimental microcatchment located in northern part of Slovakia in Western Tatra mountains. Catchment area is 0.059 km2 and mean altitude is 1500 m a.s.l. Measurement network consists of 27 snow poles, 3 small snow lysimeters, discharge measurement device and standard automatic weather station. Snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) were measured twice a month near the snow poles. These measurements were used to estimate spatial differences in accumulation of SWE. Snowmelt outflow was measured by small snow lysimeters. Measurements were performed in winter 2014/2015. Snow water equivalent variability was very high in such a small area. Differences between particular measuring points reached 600 mm in time of maximum SWE. The results indicated good performance of a snow lysimeter in case of snowmelt timing identification. Increase of snowmelt measured by the snow lysimeter had the same timing as increase in discharge at catchment's outlet and the same timing as the increase in air temperature above the freezing point. Measured data were afterwards used in distributed rainfall-runoff model MIKE-SHE. Several methods were used for spatial distribution of precipitation and snow water equivalent. The model was able to simulate snow water equivalent and snowmelt timing in daily step reasonably well. Simulated discharges were slightly overestimated in later spring.

  12. Twenty-four year record of Northern Hemisphere snow cover derived from passive microwave remote sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, Richard L.; Brodzik, Mary Jo

    2003-04-01

    Snow cover is an important variable for climate and hydrologic models due to its effects on energy and moisture budgets. Seasonal snow can cover more than 50% of the Northern Hemisphere land surface during the winter resulting in snow cover being the land surface characteristic responsible for the largest annual and interannual differences in albedo. Passive microwave satellite remote sensing can augment measurements based on visible satellite data alone because of the ability to acquire data through most clouds or during darkness as well as to provide a measure of snow depth or water equivalent. It is now possible to monitor the global fluctuation of snow cover over a 24 year period using passive microwave data (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) 1978-1987 and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), 1987-present). Evaluation of snow extent derived from passive microwave algorithms is presented through comparison with the NOAA Northern Hemisphere snow extent data. For the period 1978 to 2002, both passive microwave and visible data sets show a smiliar pattern of inter-annual variability, although the maximum snow extents derived from the microwave data are consistently less than those provided by the visible statellite data and the visible data typically show higher monthly variability. During shallow snow conditions of the early winter season microwave data consistently indicate less snow-covered area than the visible data. This underestimate of snow extent results from the fact that shallow snow cover (less than about 5.0 cm) does not provide a scattering signal of sufficient strength to be detected by the algorithms. As the snow cover continues to build during the months of January through March, as well as on into the melt season, agreement between the two data types continually improves. This occurs because as the snow becomes deeper and the layered structure more complex, the negative spectral gradient driving the passive microwave algorithm

  13. Consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration variability over ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Decline in consistent seasonal snow cover depth, duration and changing snow cover build- up pattern over the WH in recent decades indicate that WH has undergone considerable climate change and winter weather patterns are changing in the WH. 1. Introduction. Mountainous regions around the globe are storehouses.

  14. Summertime Minimum Streamflow Elasticity to Antecendent Winter Precipitation, Peak Snow Water Equivalent and Summertime Evaporative Demand in the Western US Maritime Mountains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaperow, J.; Cooper, M. G.; Cooley, S. W.; Alam, S.; Smith, L. C.; Lettenmaier, D. P.

    2017-12-01

    As climate regimes shift, streamflows and our ability to predict them will change, as well. Elasticity of summer minimum streamflow is estimated for 138 unimpaired headwater river basins across the maritime western US mountains to better understand how climatologic variables and geologic characteristics interact to determine the response of summer low flows to winter precipitation (PPT), spring snow water equivalent (SWE), and summertime potential evapotranspiration (PET). Elasticities are calculated using log log linear regression, and linear reservoir storage coefficients are used to represent basin geology. Storage coefficients are estimated using baseflow recession analysis. On average, SWE, PET, and PPT explain about 1/3 of the summertime low flow variance. Snow-dominated basins with long timescales of baseflow recession are least sensitive to changes in SWE, PPT, and PET, while rainfall-dominated, faster draining basins are most sensitive. There are also implications for the predictability of summer low flows. The R2 between streamflow and SWE drops from 0.62 to 0.47 from snow-dominated to rain-dominated basins, while there is no corresponding increase in R2 between streamflow and PPT.

  15. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus and climate change: Importance of winter forage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thrine Moen Heggberget

    2002-06-01

    Full Text Available As a consequence of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, climate change is predicted to be particularly pronounced, although regionally variable, in the vast arctic, sub-arctic and alpine tundra areas of the northern hemisphere. Here, we review winter foraging conditions for reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus living in these areas, and consider diet, forage quality and distribution, accessibility due to snow variation, and effects of snow condition on reindeer and caribou populations. Finally, we hypothesise how global warming may affect wild mountain reindeer herds in South Norway. Energy-rich lichens often dominate reindeer and caribou diets. The animals also prefer lichens, and their productivity has been shown to be higher on lichen-rich than on lichen-poor ranges. Nevertheless, this energy source appears to be neither sufficient as winter diet for reindeer or caribou (at least for pregnant females nor necessary. Some reindeer and caribou populations seem to be better adapted to a non-lichen winter diet, e.g. by a larger alimentary tract. Shrubs appear to be the most common alternative winter forage, while some grasses appear to represent a good, nutritionally-balanced winter diet. Reindeer/caribou make good use of a wide variety of plants in winter, including dead and dry parts that are digested more than expected based on their fibre content. The diversity of winter forage is probably important for the mineral content of the diet. A lichen-dominated winter diet may be deficient in essential dietary elements, e.g. minerals. Sodium in particular may be marginal in inland winter ranges. Our review indicates that most Rangifer populations with lichen-dominated winter diets are either periodically or continuously heavily harvested by humans or predators. However, when population size is mainly limited by food, accessible lichen resources are often depleted. Plant studies simulating climatic change indicate that a warmer, wetter

  16. Flying Fast and High: Operational Flight Planning for Maximum Data Return for Airborne Snow Observatory Mountain Surveys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berisford, D. F.; Painter, T. H.; Richardson, M.; Wallach, A.; Deems, J. S.; Bormann, K. J.

    2017-12-01

    The Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO - http://aso.jpl.nasa.gov) uses an airborne laser scanner to map snow depth, and imaging spectroscopy to map snow albedo in order to estimate snow water equivalent and melt rate over mountainous, hydrologic basin-scale areas. Optimization of planned flight lines requires the balancing of many competing factors, including flying altitude and speed, bank angle limitation, laser pulse rate and power level, flightline orientation relative to terrain, surface optical properties, and data output requirements. These variables generally distill down to cost vs. higher resolution data. The large terrain elevation variation encountered in mountainous terrain introduces the challenge of narrow swath widths over the ridgetops, which drive tight flightline spacing and possible dropouts over the valleys due to maximum laser range. Many of the basins flown by ASO exceed 3,000m of elevation relief, exacerbating this problem. Additionally, sun angle may drive flightline orientations for higher-quality spectrometer data, which may change depending on time of day. Here we present data from several ASO missions, both operational and experimental, showing the lidar performance and accuracy limitations for a variety of operating parameters. We also discuss flightline planning strategies to maximize data density return per dollar, and a brief analysis on the effect of short turn times/steep bank angles on GPS position accuracy.

  17. Drones application on snow and ice surveys in alpine areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    La Rocca, Leonardo; Bonetti, Luigi; Fioletti, Matteo; Peretti, Giovanni

    2015-04-01

    scientific point of view. All flight was performed by remote controlled aero models with high resolution camera. Aero models were able to take off and to ground on snow covered or icy surfaces since the specific aerodynamic configuration and specific engine used to. All winter surveys were executed flying low to obtain a tridimensional reconstruction of an High resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of snow cover and ice cover and on summer as been developed the DEM were snow amass in the maximum avalanche risk period. The difference between winter and summer DEM (difference between two point clouds) let to individuate the snow depth, and it was used as input data for the snow avalanche model for the Aprica site (Bergamo - Italy).

  18. Snow Drift Management: Summit Station Greenland

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-05-01

    management Snow surveys Transport analysis Winds -- Speed 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19a. NAME OF...that about 25% of the estimated snow that the wind transports to Summit each winter is deposited and forms drifts, mostly in close proxim- ity to...the structures. This analysis demonstrates that weather data ( wind speed and direction) and a transport analysis can aid in estimating the vol- ume of

  19. Analysis of Light Absorbing Aerosols in Northern Pakistan: Concentration on Snow/Ice, their Source Regions and Impacts on Snow Albedo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gul, C.; Praveen, P. S.; Shichang, K.; Adhikary, B.; Zhang, Y.; Ali, S.

    2016-12-01

    Elemental carbon (EC) and light absorbing organic carbon (OC) are important particulate impurities in snow and ice which significantly reduce the albedo of glaciers and accelerate their melting. Snow and ice samples were collected from Karakorum-Himalayan region of North Pakistan during the summer campaign (May-Jun) 2015 and only snow samples were collected during winter (Dec 2015- Jan 2016). Total 41 surface snow/ice samples were collected during summer campaign along different elevation ranges (2569 to 3895 a.m.s.l) from six glaciers: Sachin, Henarche, Barpu, Mear, Gulkin and Passu. Similarly 18 snow samples were collected from Sust, Hoper, Tawas, Astore, Shangla, and Kalam regions during the winter campaign. Quartz filters were used for filtering of melted snow and ice samples which were then analyzed by thermal optical reflectance (TOR) method to determine the concentration of EC and OC. The average concentration of EC (ng/g), OC (ng/g) and dust (ppm) were found as follows: Passu (249.5, 536.8, 475), Barpu (1190, 397.6, 1288), Gulkin (412, 793, 761), Sachin (911, 2130, 358), Mear (678, 2067, 83) and Henarche (755, 1868, 241) respectively during summer campaign. Similarly, average concentration of EC (ng/g), OC (ng/g) and dust (ppm) was found in the samples of Sust (2506, 1039, 131), Hoper (646, 1153, 76), Tawas (650, 1320, 16), Astore (1305, 2161, 97), Shangla (739, 2079, 31) and Kalam (107, 347, 5) respectively during winter campaign. Two methods were adopted to identify the source regions: one coupled emissions inventory with back trajectories, second with a simple region tagged chemical transport modeling analysis. In addition, CALIPSO subtype aerosol composition indicated that frequency of smoke in the atmosphere over the region was highest followed by dust and then polluted dust. SNICAR model was used to estimate the snow albedo reduction from our in-situ measurements. Snow albedo reduction was observed to be 0.3% to 27.6%. The derived results were used

  20. Canopy, snow, and lichens on woodland caribou range in southeastern Manitoba

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James A. Schaefer

    1996-01-01

    Full Text Available I examined the relationships among snow cover (api, lichen abundance, and canopy composition on the range of the Aikens Lake population of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou in southeastern Manitoba. Percent cover of forage lichens (Cladina spp. was positively correlated with maximum total thickness and with maximum vertical hardness of api. Mixed communities of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides, spruce (Picea spp., and balsam fir (Abies balsamea showed the most favourable nival conditions for caribou but had low lichen abundance; those dominated by jack pine (Pinus banksiana were the converse. The results suggest an energetic compromise for woodland caribou when foraging for terrestrial lichens. During winter, caribou exhibited significant selection for jack pine communities whereas mixed communities were avoided.

  1. Application of SNODAS and hydrologic models to enhance entropy-based snow monitoring network design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keum, Jongho; Coulibaly, Paulin; Razavi, Tara; Tapsoba, Dominique; Gobena, Adam; Weber, Frank; Pietroniro, Alain

    2018-06-01

    Snow has a unique characteristic in the water cycle, that is, snow falls during the entire winter season, but the discharge from snowmelt is typically delayed until the melting period and occurs in a relatively short period. Therefore, reliable observations from an optimal snow monitoring network are necessary for an efficient management of snowmelt water for flood prevention and hydropower generation. The Dual Entropy and Multiobjective Optimization is applied to design snow monitoring networks in La Grande River Basin in Québec and Columbia River Basin in British Columbia. While the networks are optimized to have the maximum amount of information with minimum redundancy based on entropy concepts, this study extends the traditional entropy applications to the hydrometric network design by introducing several improvements. First, several data quantization cases and their effects on the snow network design problems were explored. Second, the applicability the Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) products as synthetic datasets of potential stations was demonstrated in the design of the snow monitoring network of the Columbia River Basin. Third, beyond finding the Pareto-optimal networks from the entropy with multi-objective optimization, the networks obtained for La Grande River Basin were further evaluated by applying three hydrologic models. The calibrated hydrologic models simulated discharges using the updated snow water equivalent data from the Pareto-optimal networks. Then, the model performances for high flows were compared to determine the best optimal network for enhanced spring runoff forecasting.

  2. Impact of climate change in Switzerland on socioeconomic snow indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmucki, Edgar; Marty, Christoph; Fierz, Charles; Weingartner, Rolf; Lehning, Michael

    2017-02-01

    Snow is a key element for many socioeconomic activities in mountainous regions. Due to the sensitivity of the snow cover to variations of temperature and precipitation, major changes caused by climate change are expected to happen. We analyze the evolution of some key snow indices under future climatic conditions. Ten downscaled and postprocessed climate scenarios from the ENSEMBLES database have been used to feed the physics-based snow model SNOWPACK. The projected snow cover has been calculated for 11 stations representing the diverse climates found in Switzerland. For the first time, such a setup is used to reveal changes in frequently applied snow indices and their implications on various socioeconomic sectors. Toward the end of the twenty-first century, a continuous snow cover is likely only guaranteed at high elevations above 2000 m a.s.l., whereas at mid elevations (1000-1700 m a.s.l.), roughly 50 % of all winters might be characterized by an ephemeral snow cover. Low elevations (below 500 m a.s.l.) are projected to experience only 2 days with snowfall per year and show the strongest relative reductions in mean winter snow depth of around 90 %. The range of the mean relative reductions of the snow indices is dominated by uncertainties from different GCM-RCM projections and amounts to approximately 30 %. Despite these uncertainties, all snow indices show a clear decrease in all scenario periods and the relative reductions increase toward lower elevations. These strong reductions can serve as a basis for policy makers in the fields of tourism, ecology, and hydropower.

  3. The AMSR2 Satellite-based Microwave Snow Algorithm (SMSA) to estimate regional to global snow depth and snow water equivalent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, R. E. J.; Saberi, N.; Li, Q.

    2017-12-01

    With moderate to high spatial resolution (observation approaches yet to be fully scoped and developed, the long-term satellite passive microwave record remains an important tool for cryosphere-climate diagnostics. A new satellite microwave remote sensing approach is described for estimating snow depth (SD) and snow water equivalent (SWE). The algorithm, called the Satellite-based Microwave Snow Algorithm (SMSA), uses Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - 2 (AMSR2) observations aboard the Global Change Observation Mission - Water mission launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in 2012. The approach is unique since it leverages observed brightness temperatures (Tb) with static ancillary data to parameterize a physically-based retrieval without requiring parameter constraints from in situ snow depth observations or historical snow depth climatology. After screening snow from non-snow surface targets (water bodies [including freeze/thaw state], rainfall, high altitude plateau regions [e.g. Tibetan plateau]), moderate and shallow snow depths are estimated by minimizing the difference between Dense Media Radiative Transfer model estimates (Tsang et al., 2000; Picard et al., 2011) and AMSR2 Tb observations to retrieve SWE and SD. Parameterization of the model combines a parsimonious snow grain size and density approach originally developed by Kelly et al. (2003). Evaluation of the SMSA performance is achieved using in situ snow depth data from a variety of standard and experiment data sources. Results presented from winter seasons 2012-13 to 2016-17 illustrate the improved performance of the new approach in comparison with the baseline AMSR2 algorithm estimates and approach the performance of the model assimilation-based approach of GlobSnow. Given the variation in estimation power of SWE by different land surface/climate models and selected satellite-derived passive microwave approaches, SMSA provides SWE estimates that are independent of real or near real

  4. The influence of snowmobile trails on coyote movements during winter in high-elevation landscapes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric M Gese

    Full Text Available Competition between sympatric carnivores has long been of interest to ecologists. Increased understanding of these interactions can be useful for conservation planning. Increased snowmobile traffic on public lands and in habitats used by Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis remains controversial due to the concern of coyote (Canis latrans use of snowmobile trails and potential competition with lynx. Determining the variables influencing coyote use of snowmobile trails has been a priority for managers attempting to conserve lynx and their critical habitat. During 2 winters in northwest Wyoming, we backtracked coyotes for 265 km to determine how varying snow characteristics influenced coyote movements; 278 km of random backtracking was conducted simultaneously for comparison. Despite deep snow (>1 m deep, radio-collared coyotes persisted at high elevations (>2,500 m year-round. All coyotes used snowmobile trails for some portion of their travel. Coyotes used snowmobile trails for 35% of their travel distance (random: 13% for a mean distance of 149 m (random: 59 m. Coyote use of snowmobile trails increased as snow depth and penetrability off trails increased. Essentially, snow characteristics were most influential on how much time coyotes spent on snowmobile trails. In the early months of winter, snow depth was low, yet the snow column remained dry and the coyotes traveled off trails. As winter progressed and snow depth increased and snow penetrability increased, coyotes spent more travel distance on snowmobile trails. As spring approached, the snow depth remained high but penetrability decreased, hence coyotes traveled less on snowmobile trails because the snow column off trail was more supportive. Additionally, coyotes traveled closer to snowmobile trails than randomly expected and selected shallower snow when traveling off trails. Coyotes also preferred using snowmobile trails to access ungulate kills. Snow compaction from winter recreation influenced

  5. The influence of snowmobile trails on coyote movements during winter in high-elevation landscapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gese, Eric M; Dowd, Jennifer L B; Aubry, Lise M

    2013-01-01

    Competition between sympatric carnivores has long been of interest to ecologists. Increased understanding of these interactions can be useful for conservation planning. Increased snowmobile traffic on public lands and in habitats used by Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) remains controversial due to the concern of coyote (Canis latrans) use of snowmobile trails and potential competition with lynx. Determining the variables influencing coyote use of snowmobile trails has been a priority for managers attempting to conserve lynx and their critical habitat. During 2 winters in northwest Wyoming, we backtracked coyotes for 265 km to determine how varying snow characteristics influenced coyote movements; 278 km of random backtracking was conducted simultaneously for comparison. Despite deep snow (>1 m deep), radio-collared coyotes persisted at high elevations (>2,500 m) year-round. All coyotes used snowmobile trails for some portion of their travel. Coyotes used snowmobile trails for 35% of their travel distance (random: 13%) for a mean distance of 149 m (random: 59 m). Coyote use of snowmobile trails increased as snow depth and penetrability off trails increased. Essentially, snow characteristics were most influential on how much time coyotes spent on snowmobile trails. In the early months of winter, snow depth was low, yet the snow column remained dry and the coyotes traveled off trails. As winter progressed and snow depth increased and snow penetrability increased, coyotes spent more travel distance on snowmobile trails. As spring approached, the snow depth remained high but penetrability decreased, hence coyotes traveled less on snowmobile trails because the snow column off trail was more supportive. Additionally, coyotes traveled closer to snowmobile trails than randomly expected and selected shallower snow when traveling off trails. Coyotes also preferred using snowmobile trails to access ungulate kills. Snow compaction from winter recreation influenced coyote

  6. Resilience to Changing Snow Depth in a Shrubland Ecosystem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loik, M. E.

    2008-12-01

    Snowfall is the dominant hydrologic input for high elevations and latitudes of the arid- and semi-arid western United States. Sierra Nevada snowpack provides numerous important services for California, but is vulnerable to anthropogenic forcing of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. GCM and RCM scenarios envision reduced snowpack and earlier melt under a warmer climate, but how will these changes affect soil and plant water relations and ecosystem processes? And, how resilient will this ecosystem be to short- and long-term forcing of snow depth and melt timing? To address these questions, our experiments utilize large- scale, long-term roadside snow fences to manipulate snow depth and melt timing in eastern California, USA. Interannual snow depth averages 1344 mm with a CV of 48% (April 1, 1928-2008). Snow fences altered snow melt timing by up to 18 days in high-snowfall years, and affected short-term soil moisture pulses less in low- than medium- or high-snowfall years. Sublimation in this arid location accounted for about 2 mol m- 2 of water loss from the snowpack in 2005. Plant water potential increased after the ENSO winter of 2005 and stayed relatively constant for the following three years, even after the low snowfall of winter 2007. Over the long-term, changes in snow depth and melt timing have impacted cover or biomass of Achnatherum thurberianum, Elymus elemoides, and Purshia tridentata. Growth of adult conifers (Pinus jeffreyi and Pi. contorta) was not equally sensitive to snow depth. Thus, complex interactions between snow depth, soil water inputs, physiological processes, and population patterns help drive the resilience of this ecosystem to changes in snow depth and melt timing.

  7. Improving snow density estimation for mapping SWE with Lidar snow depth: assessment of uncertainty in modeled density and field sampling strategies in NASA SnowEx

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raleigh, M. S.; Smyth, E.; Small, E. E.

    2017-12-01

    The spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) is not sufficiently monitored with either remotely sensed or ground-based observations for water resources management. Recent applications of airborne Lidar have yielded basin-wide mapping of SWE when combined with a snow density model. However, in the absence of snow density observations, the uncertainty in these SWE maps is dominated by uncertainty in modeled snow density rather than in Lidar measurement of snow depth. Available observations tend to have a bias in physiographic regime (e.g., flat open areas) and are often insufficient in number to support testing of models across a range of conditions. Thus, there is a need for targeted sampling strategies and controlled model experiments to understand where and why different snow density models diverge. This will enable identification of robust model structures that represent dominant processes controlling snow densification, in support of basin-scale estimation of SWE with remotely-sensed snow depth datasets. The NASA SnowEx mission is a unique opportunity to evaluate sampling strategies of snow density and to quantify and reduce uncertainty in modeled snow density. In this presentation, we present initial field data analyses and modeling results over the Colorado SnowEx domain in the 2016-2017 winter campaign. We detail a framework for spatially mapping the uncertainty in snowpack density, as represented across multiple models. Leveraging the modular SUMMA model, we construct a series of physically-based models to assess systematically the importance of specific process representations to snow density estimates. We will show how models and snow pit observations characterize snow density variations with forest cover in the SnowEx domains. Finally, we will use the spatial maps of density uncertainty to evaluate the selected locations of snow pits, thereby assessing the adequacy of the sampling strategy for targeting uncertainty in modeled snow density.

  8. The Impact Of Snow Melt On Surface Runoff Of Sava River In Slovenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horvat, A.; Brilly, M.; Vidmar, A.; Kobold, M.

    2009-04-01

    Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Snow remains on the ground until it melts or sublimates. Spring snow melt is a major source of water supply to areas in temperate zones near mountains that catch and hold winter snow, especially those with a prolonged dry summer. In such places, water equivalent is of great interest to water managers wishing to predict spring runoff and the water supply of cities downstream. In temperate zone like in Slovenia the snow melts in the spring and contributes certain amount of water to surface flow. This amount of water can be great and can cause serious floods in case of fast snow melt. For this reason we tried to determine the influence of snow melt on the largest river basin in Slovenia - Sava River basin, on surface runoff. We would like to find out if snow melt in Slovenian Alps can cause spring floods and how serious it can be. First of all we studied the caracteristics of Sava River basin - geology, hydrology, clima, relief and snow conditions in details for each subbasin. Furtermore we focused on snow and described the snow phenomenom in Slovenia, detailed on Sava River basin. We collected all available data on snow - snow water equivalent and snow depth. Snow water equivalent is a much more useful measurement to hydrologists than snow depth, as the density of cool freshly fallen snow widely varies. New snow commonly has a density of between 5% and 15% of water. But unfortunately there is not a lot of available data of SWE available for Slovenia. Later on we compared the data of snow depth and river runoff for some of the 40 winter seasons. Finally we analyzed the use of satellite images for Slovenia to determine the snow cover for hydrology reason. We concluded that snow melt in Slovenia does not have a greater influence on Sava River flow. The snow cover in Alps can melt fast due to higher temperatures but the water distributes

  9. Sublimation From Snow in Northern Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomeroy, J. W.

    2002-12-01

    Sublimation from snow is an often neglected component of water and energy balances. Research under the Mackenzie GEWEX Study has attempted to understand the snow and atmospheric processes controlling sublimation and to estimate the magnitude of sublimation in high latitude catchments. Eddy correlation units were used to measure vertical water vapour fluxes from a high latitude boreal forest, snow-covered tundra and shrub-covered tundra in Wolf Creek Research Basin, near Whitehorse Yukon, Territory Canada. Over Jan-Apr. water vapour fluxes from the forest canopy amounted to 18.3 mm, a significant loss from winter snowfall of 54 mm. Most of this loss occurred when the canopy was snow-covered. The weight of snow measured on a suspended, weighed tree indicates that this flux is dominated by sublimation of intercepted snow. In the melt period (April), water vapour fluxes were uniformly small ranging from 0.21 mm/day on the tundra slope, 0.23 mm/day for the forest and 0.27 mm/day for the shrub-tundra. During the melt period the forest and shrub canopies was snow-free and roots were frozen, so the primary source of water vapour from all sites was the surface snow.

  10. Snow cover and snowfall impact corticosterone and immunoglobulin a levels in a threatened steppe bird.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Gang; Hu, Xiaolong; Kessler, Aimee Elizabeth; Gong, Minghao; Wang, Yihua; Li, Huixin; Dong, Yuqiu; Yang, Yuhui; Li, Linhai

    2018-05-15

    Birds use both the corticosterone stress response and immune system to meet physiological challenges during exposure to adverse climatic conditions. To assess the stress level and immune response of the Asian Great Bustard during conditions of severe winter weather, we measured fecal corticosterone (CORT) and Immunoglobulin A (IgA) before and after snowfall in a low snow cover year (2014) and a high snow cover year (2015). A total of 239 fecal samples were gathered from individuals in Tumuji Nature Reserve, located in eastern Inner Mongolia, China. We observed high CORT levels that rose further after snowfall both in high and low snow cover years. IgA levels increased significantly after snowfall in the low snow cover year, but decreased after snowfall in the high snow cover year. These results suggest that overwintering Asian Great Bustards are subjected to climatic stress during severe winter weather, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and immune system react to this challenge. Extreme levels of stress, such as snowfall in already prolonged and high snow cover conditions may decrease immune function. Supplemental feeding should be considered under severe winter weather conditions for this endangered subspecies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Air–snow exchange of nitrate: a modelling approach to investigate physicochemical processes in surface snow at Dome C, Antarctica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Bock

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Snowpack is a multiphase (photochemical reactor that strongly influences the air composition in polar and snow-covered regions. Snowpack plays a special role in the nitrogen cycle, as it has been shown that nitrate undergoes numerous recycling stages (including photolysis in the snow before being permanently buried in the ice. However, the current understanding of these physicochemical processes remains very poor. Several modelling studies have attempted to reproduce (photochemical reactions inside snow grains, but these have relied on strong assumptions to characterise snow reactive properties, which are not well defined. Air–snow exchange processes such as adsorption, solid-state diffusion, or co-condensation also affect snow chemical composition. Here, we present a physically based model of these processes for nitrate. Using as input a 1-year-long time series of atmospheric nitrate concentration measured at Dome C, Antarctica, our model reproduces with good agreement the nitrate measurements in the surface snow. By investigating the relative importance of the main exchange processes, this study shows that, on the one hand, the combination of bulk diffusion and co-condensation allows a good reproduction of the measurements (correlation coefficient r = 0.95, with a correct amplitude and timing of summer peak concentration of nitrate in snow. During winter, nitrate concentration in surface snow is mainly driven by thermodynamic equilibrium, whilst the peak observed in summer is explained by the kinetic process of co-condensation. On the other hand, the adsorption of nitric acid on the surface of the snow grains, constrained by an already existing parameterisation for the isotherm, fails to fit the observed variations. During winter and spring, the modelled concentration of adsorbed nitrate is respectively 2.5 and 8.3-fold higher than the measured one. A strong diurnal variation driven by the temperature cycle and a peak occurring in early

  12. Occurrence of blowing snow events at an alpine site over a 10-year period: Observations and modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vionnet, V.; Guyomarc'h, G.; Naaim Bouvet, F.; Martin, E.; Durand, Y.; Bellot, H.; Bel, C.; Puglièse, P.

    2013-05-01

    Blowing snow events control the evolution of the snow pack in mountainous areas and cause inhomogeneous snow distribution. The goal of this study is to identify the main features of blowing snow events at an alpine site and assess the ability of the detailed snowpack model Crocus to reproduce the occurrence of these events in a 1D configuration. We created a database of blowing snow events observed over 10 years at our experimental site. Occurrences of blowing snow events were divided into cases with and without concurrent falling snow. Overall, snow transport is observed during 10.5% of the time in winter and occurs with concurrent falling snow 37.3% of the time. Wind speed and snow age control the frequency of occurrence. Model results illustrate the necessity of taking the wind-dependence of falling snow grain characteristics into account to simulate periods of snow transport and mass fluxes satisfactorily during those periods. The high rate of false alarms produced by the model is investigated in detail for winter 2010/2011 using measurements from snow particle counters.

  13. Winter warming as an important co-driver for Betula nana growth in western Greenland during the past century

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hollesen, Jørgen; Buchwal, Agata; Rachlewicz, Grzegorz

    2015-01-01

    Growing season conditions are widely recognized as the main driver for tundra shrub radial growth, but the effects of winter warming and snow remain an open question. Here, we present a more than 100years long Betulanana ring-width chronology from Disko Island in western Greenland that demonstrates...... a highly significant and positive growth response to both summer and winter air temperatures during the past century. The importance of winter temperatures for Betulanana growth is especially pronounced during the periods from 1910-1930 to 1990-2011 that were dominated by significant winter warming....... Data also reveal a clear shift within the last 20years from a period with thick snow depths (1991-1996) and a positive effect on Betulanana radial growth, to a period (1997-2011) with generally very shallow snow depths and no significant growth response towards snow. During this period, winter...

  14. Monitoring of carbon isotope composition of snow cover for Tomsk region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akulov, P. A.; Volkov, Y. V.; Kalashnikova, D. A.; Markelova, A. N.; Melkov, V. N.; Simonova, G. V.; Tartakovskiy, V. A.

    2016-11-01

    This article shows the potential of using δ13C values of pollutants in snow pack to study the human impact on the environment of Tomsk and its surroundings. We believe that it is possible to use a relation between the isotope compositions of a fuel and black carbon for establishing the origin of the latter. The main object of our investigation was dust accumulated by the snow pack in the winter of 2015-2016. The study of dust samples included the following steps: determination of the total carbon content in snow pack samples of Tomsk and its surroundings, extraction of black carbon from the dust, as well as the determination of δ13C values of the total and black carbon accumulated in the snow pack. A snow survey was carried out on the 26th of January and on the 18th of March. The relative carbon content in the dust samples was determined by using an EA Flash 2000 element analyzer. It varied from 3 to 24%. The maximum carbon content was in the dust samples from areas of cottage building with individual heating systems. The δ13C values of the total and black carbon were determined by using a DELTA V Advantage isotope mass spectrometer (TomTsKP SB RAS). The isotope composition of black carbon corresponded to that of the original fuel. This fact allowed identifying the origin of black carbon in some areas of Tomsk.

  15. The engineering approach to winter sports

    CERN Document Server

    Cheli, Federico; Maldifassi, Stefano; Melzi, Stefano; Sabbioni, Edoardo

    2016-01-01

    The Engineering Approach to Winter Sports presents the state-of-the-art research in the field of winter sports in a harmonized and comprehensive way for a diverse audience of engineers, equipment and facilities designers, and materials scientists. The book examines the physics and chemistry of snow and ice with particular focus on the interaction (friction) between sports equipment and snow/ice, how it is influenced by environmental factors, such as temperature and pressure, as well as by contaminants and how it can be modified through the use of ski waxes or the microtextures of blades or ski soles. The authors also cover, in turn, the different disciplines in winter sports:  skiing (both alpine and cross country), skating and jumping, bob sledding and skeleton, hockey and curling, with attention given to both equipment design and on the simulation of gesture and  track optimization.

  16. Comparison of seasonal soil microbial process in snow-covered temperate ecosystems of northern China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinyue Zhang

    Full Text Available More than half of the earth's terrestrial surface currently experiences seasonal snow cover and soil frost. Winter compositional and functional investigations in soil microbial community are frequently conducted in alpine tundra and boreal forest ecosystems. However, little information on winter microbial biogeochemistry is known from seasonally snow-covered temperate ecosystems. As decomposer microbes may differ in their ability/strategy to efficiently use soil organic carbon (SOC within different phases of the year, understanding seasonal microbial process will increase our knowledge of biogeochemical cycling from the aspect of decomposition rates and corresponding nutrient dynamics. In this study, we measured soil microbial biomass, community composition and potential SOC mineralization rates in winter and summer, from six temperate ecosystems in northern China. Our results showed a clear pattern of increased microbial biomass C to nitrogen (N ratio in most winter soils. Concurrently, a shift in soil microbial community composition occurred with higher fungal to bacterial biomass ratio and gram negative (G- to gram positive (G+ bacterial biomass ratio in winter than in summer. Furthermore, potential SOC mineralization rate was higher in winter than in summer. Our study demonstrated a distinct transition of microbial community structure and function from winter to summer in temperate snow-covered ecosystems. Microbial N immobilization in winter may not be the major contributor for plant growth in the following spring.

  17. Concentrations and source regions of light-absorbing particles in snow/ice in northern Pakistan and their impact on snow albedo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gul, Chaman; Praveen Puppala, Siva; Kang, Shichang; Adhikary, Bhupesh; Zhang, Yulan; Ali, Shaukat; Li, Yang; Li, Xiaofei

    2018-04-01

    Black carbon (BC), water-insoluble organic carbon (OC), and mineral dust are important particles in snow and ice which significantly reduce albedo and accelerate melting. Surface snow and ice samples were collected from the Karakoram-Himalayan region of northern Pakistan during 2015 and 2016 in summer (six glaciers), autumn (two glaciers), and winter (six mountain valleys). The average BC concentration overall was 2130 ± 1560 ng g-1 in summer samples, 2883 ± 3439 ng g-1 in autumn samples, and 992 ± 883 ng g-1 in winter samples. The average water-insoluble OC concentration overall was 1839 ± 1108 ng g-1 in summer samples, 1423 ± 208 ng g-1 in autumn samples, and 1342 ± 672 ng g-1 in winter samples. The overall concentration of BC, OC, and dust in aged snow samples collected during the summer campaign was higher than the concentration in ice samples. The values are relatively high compared to reports by others for the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. This is probably the result of taking more representative samples at lower elevation where deposition is higher and the effects of ageing and enrichment are more marked. A reduction in snow albedo of 0.1-8.3 % for fresh snow and 0.9-32.5 % for aged snow was calculated for selected solar zenith angles during daytime using the Snow, Ice, and Aerosol Radiation (SNICAR) model. The daily mean albedo was reduced by 0.07-12.0 %. The calculated radiative forcing ranged from 0.16 to 43.45 W m-2 depending on snow type, solar zenith angle, and location. The potential source regions of the deposited pollutants were identified using spatial variance in wind vector maps, emission inventories coupled with backward air trajectories, and simple region-tagged chemical transport modeling. Central, south, and west Asia were the major sources of pollutants during the sampling months, with only a small contribution from east Asia. Analysis based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-STEM) chemical transport model identified a

  18. Vancouver winters: Environmental influences on inpatient adult orthopaedic trauma demographics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noordin, S.; Masri, B. A.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To compare the pattern of adult inpatient orthopaedic injuries admitted at three Vancouver hospitals following one of the worst winter snowstorms in the region with the preceding control winter period. Methods: The surveillance study was conducted at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2007 to 2010. Inpatient adult admissions for orthopaedic injuries at three hospitals were recorded, including age, gender, anatomic location of injury, type of fracture (open or closed), fixation method (internal versus external fixation), and length of acute care hospital stay. Comparisons between admissions during this weather pattern and admission during a previous winter with minimal snow were made. SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 511 patients admitted under Orthopaedic trauma service during the significant winter snowstorms of December 2008 - January 2009, 100 (19.6%) (CI: 16.2%-23.2%) were due to ice and snow, whereas in the preceding mild winter only 18 of 415 (4.3%) (CI: 2.5%-6.8%) cases were related to snow (p<0.05). Ankle and wrist fractures were the most frequent injuries during the index snow storm period (p<0.05). At all the three institutions, 97 (96.5%) fractures were closed during the snowstorm as opposed to 17 (95%) during the control winter period. Internal fixation in 06 (89%) fractures as opposed to external fixation in 12 (11%) patients was the predominant mode of fixation across the board during both time periods. Conclusion: The study demonstrated a significantly higher inpatient orthopaedic trauma volume during the snowstorm more rigorous prospective studies need to be designed to gain further insight to solving these problems from a public health perspective. (author)

  19. Spatial and temporal variability in seasonal snow density

    KAUST Repository

    Bormann, Kathryn J.

    2013-03-01

    Snow density is a fundamental physical property of snowpacks used in many aspects of snow research. As an integral component in the remote sensing of snow water equivalent and parameterisation of snow models, snow density may be used to describe many important features of snowpack behaviour. The present study draws on a significant dataset of snow density and climate observations from the United States, Australia and the former Soviet Union and uses regression-based techniques to identify the dominant climatological drivers for snow densification rates, characterise densification rate variability and estimate spring snow densities from more readily available climate data. Total winter precipitation was shown to be the most prominent driver of snow densification rates, with mean air temperature and melt-refreeze events also found to be locally significant. Densification rate variance is very high at Australian sites, very low throughout the former Soviet Union and between these extremes throughout much of the US. Spring snow densities were estimated using a statistical model with climate variable inputs and best results were achieved when snow types were treated differently. Given the importance of snow density information in many snow-related research disciplines, this work has implications for current methods of converting snow depths to snow water equivalent, the representation of snow dynamics in snow models and remote sensing applications globally. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

  20. Spatial and temporal variability in seasonal snow density

    KAUST Repository

    Bormann, Kathryn J.; Westra, Seth; Evans, Jason P.; McCabe, Matthew

    2013-01-01

    Snow density is a fundamental physical property of snowpacks used in many aspects of snow research. As an integral component in the remote sensing of snow water equivalent and parameterisation of snow models, snow density may be used to describe many important features of snowpack behaviour. The present study draws on a significant dataset of snow density and climate observations from the United States, Australia and the former Soviet Union and uses regression-based techniques to identify the dominant climatological drivers for snow densification rates, characterise densification rate variability and estimate spring snow densities from more readily available climate data. Total winter precipitation was shown to be the most prominent driver of snow densification rates, with mean air temperature and melt-refreeze events also found to be locally significant. Densification rate variance is very high at Australian sites, very low throughout the former Soviet Union and between these extremes throughout much of the US. Spring snow densities were estimated using a statistical model with climate variable inputs and best results were achieved when snow types were treated differently. Given the importance of snow density information in many snow-related research disciplines, this work has implications for current methods of converting snow depths to snow water equivalent, the representation of snow dynamics in snow models and remote sensing applications globally. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

  1. Addressing challenges for youths with mobility devices in winter conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morales, Ernesto; Lindsay, Sally; Edwards, Geoffrey; Howell, Lori; Vincent, Claude; Yantzi, Nicole; Gauthier, Véronique

    2018-01-01

    Winter-related research about the experience of navigating in the urban context has mostly focused on the elderly population with physical disabilities. The aim of this project was to explore potential design solutions to enhance young people's mobility devices and the built environment to improve accessibility and participation in winter. A multi-method qualitative design process included the following steps: (1) in-depth interviews; (2) photo elicitation; (3) individual co-design sessions; and (4) group co-design sessions (i.e., focus group). The participants were 13 youths (nine males and four females), aged 12-21, who used a wheelchair (12 power chair users and one manual wheelchair), for some with their parents, others without their parents, according to the parents' willingness to participate or not in the study (n = 13). The first two authors conducted group co-design sessions with mechanical engineers and therapists/clinicians in two Canadian cities to discuss the feasibility of the designs. Results (findings): The youths and their parents reported different winter-related challenges and proposed specific design solutions to enhance their participation and inclusion in winter activities. Seven of these designs were presented at two group co-design sessions of therapists/clinicians and engineers. Two designs were found to be feasible: (1) a traction device for wheelchairs in snow and (2) a mat made of rollers to clean snow and dirt from tires. The results of this research highlight the frustrations and challenges youths who use wheelchairs encounter in winter and a need for new solutions to ensure greater accessibility in winter. Therapists/clinicians and designers should address winter-related accessibility problems in areas with abundant snow. Implications for Rehabilitation Several studies show that current urban contexts do not necessarily respond accurately to the needs of individuals with limited mobility. Winter-related research about the

  2. Cloud-based Computing and Applications of New Snow Metrics for Societal Benefit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolin, A. W.; Sproles, E. A.; Crumley, R. L.; Wilson, A.; Mar, E.; van de Kerk, M.; Prugh, L.

    2017-12-01

    Seasonal and interannual variability in snow cover affects socio-environmental systems including water resources, forest ecology, freshwater and terrestrial habitat, and winter recreation. We have developed two new seasonal snow metrics: snow cover frequency (SCF) and snow disappearance date (SDD). These metrics are calculated at 500-m resolution using NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow cover data (MOD10A1). SCF is the number of times snow is observed in a pixel over the user-defined observation period. SDD is the last date of observed snow in a water year. These pixel-level metrics are calculated rapidly and globally in the Google Earth Engine cloud-based environment. SCF and SDD can be interactively visualized in a map-based interface, allowing users to explore spatial and temporal snowcover patterns from 2000-present. These metrics are especially valuable in regions where snow data are sparse or non-existent. We have used these metrics in several ongoing projects. When SCF was linked with a simple hydrologic model in the La Laguna watershed in northern Chile, it successfully predicted summer low flows with a Nash-Sutcliffe value of 0.86. SCF has also been used to help explain changes in Dall sheep populations in Alaska where sheep populations are negatively impacted by late snow cover and low snowline elevation during the spring lambing season. In forest management, SCF and SDD appear to be valuable predictors of post-wildfire vegetation growth. We see a positive relationship between winter SCF and subsequent summer greening for several years post-fire. For western US winter recreation, we are exploring trends in SDD and SCF for regions where snow sports are economically important. In a world with declining snowpacks and increasing uncertainty, these metrics extend across elevations and fill data gaps to provide valuable information for decision-making. SCF and SDD are being produced so that anyone with Internet access and a Google

  3. Water and life from snow: A trillion dollar science question

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sturm, Matthew; Goldstein, Michael A.; Parr, Charles

    2017-05-01

    Snow provides essential resources/services in the form of water for human use, and climate regulation in the form of enhanced cooling of the Earth. In addition, it supports a thriving winter outdoor recreation industry. To date, the financial evaluation of the importance of snow is incomplete and hence the need for accelerated snow research is not as clear as it could be. With snow cover changing worldwide in several worrisome ways, there is pressing need to determine global, regional, and local rates of snow cover change, and to link these to financial analyses that allow for rational decision making, as risks related to those decisions involve trillions of dollars.

  4. Winter forest soil respiration controlled by climate and microbial community composition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monson, Russell K; Lipson, David L; Burns, Sean P; Turnipseed, Andrew A; Delany, Anthony C; Williams, Mark W; Schmidt, Steven K

    2006-02-09

    Most terrestrial carbon sequestration at mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere occurs in seasonal, montane forest ecosystems. Winter respiratory carbon dioxide losses from these ecosystems are high, and over half of the carbon assimilated by photosynthesis in the summer can be lost the following winter. The amount of winter carbon dioxide loss is potentially susceptible to changes in the depth of the snowpack; a shallower snowpack has less insulation potential, causing colder soil temperatures and potentially lower soil respiration rates. Recent climate analyses have shown widespread declines in the winter snowpack of mountain ecosystems in the western USA and Europe that are coupled to positive temperature anomalies. Here we study the effect of changes in snow cover on soil carbon cycling within the context of natural climate variation. We use a six-year record of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange in a subalpine forest to show that years with a reduced winter snowpack are accompanied by significantly lower rates of soil respiration. Furthermore, we show that the cause of the high sensitivity of soil respiration rate to changes in snow depth is a unique soil microbial community that exhibits exponential growth and high rates of substrate utilization at the cold temperatures that exist beneath the snow. Our observations suggest that a warmer climate may change soil carbon sequestration rates in forest ecosystems owing to changes in the depth of the insulating snow cover.

  5. Snow Climatology of Arctic Sea Ice: Comparison of Reanalysis and Climate Model Data with In Situ Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevooruvalappil Chandran, B.; Pittana, M.; Haas, C.

    2015-12-01

    Snow on sea ice is a critical and complex factor influencing sea ice processes. Deep snow with a high albedo and low thermal conductivity inhibits ice growth in winter and minimizes ice loss in summer. Very shallow or absent snow promotes ice growth in winter and ice loss in summer. The timing of snow ablation critically impacts summer sea ice mass balance. Here we assess the accuracy of various snow on sea ice data products from reanalysis and modeling comparing them with in situ measurements. The latter are based on the Warren et al. (1999) monthly climatology derived from snow ruler measurements between 1954-1991, and on daily snow depth retrievals from few drifting ice mass balance buoys (IMB) with sufficiently long observations spanning the summer season. These were compared with snow depth data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction Department of Energy Reanalysis 2 (NCEP), the Community Climate System Model 4 (CCSM4), and the Canadian Earth System Model 2 (CanESM2). Results are quite variable in different years and regions. However, there is often good agreement between CanESM2 and IMB snow depth during the winter accumulation and spring melt periods. Regional analyses show that over the western Arctic covered primarily with multiyear ice NCEP snow depths are in good agreement with the Warren climatology while CCSM4 overestimates snow depth. However, in the Eastern Arctic which is dominated by first-year ice the opposite behavior is observed. Compared to the Warren climatology CanESM2 underestimates snow depth in all regions. Differences between different snow depth products are as large as 10 to 20 cm, with large consequences for the sea ice mass balance. However, it is also very difficult to evaluate the accuracy of reanalysis and model snow depths due to a lack of extensive, continuous in situ measurements.

  6. Effects of multilayer snow scheme on the simulation of snow: Offline Noah and coupled with NCEP CFSv2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha, Subodh Kumar; Sujith, K.; Pokhrel, Samir; Chaudhari, Hemantkumar S.; Hazra, Anupam

    2017-03-01

    The Noah version 2.7.1 is a moderately complex land surface model (LSM), with a single layer snowpack, combined with vegetation and underlying soil layer. Many previous studies have pointed out biases in the simulation of snow, which may hinder the skill of a forecasting system coupled with the Noah. In order to improve the simulation of snow by the Noah, a multilayer snow scheme (up to a maximum of six layers) is introduced. As Noah is the land surface component of the Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), the modified Noah is also coupled with the CFSv2. The offline LSM shows large improvements in the simulation of snow depth, snow water equivalent (SWE), and snow cover area during snow season (October to June). CFSv2 with the modified Noah reveals a dramatic improvements in the simulation of snow depth and 2 m air temperature and moderate improvements in SWE. As suggested in the previous diagnostic and sensitivity study, improvements in the simulation of snow by CFSv2 have lead to the reduction in dry bias over the Indian subcontinent (by a maximum of 2 mm d-1). The multilayer snow scheme shows promising results in the simulation of snow as well as Indian summer monsoon rainfall and hence this development may be the part of the future version of the CFS.

  7. Effect of snow cover on soil frost penetration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rožnovský, Jaroslav; Brzezina, Jáchym

    2017-12-01

    Snow cover occurrence affects wintering and lives of organisms because it has a significant effect on soil frost penetration. An analysis of the dependence of soil frost penetration and snow depth between November and March was performed using data from 12 automated climatological stations located in Southern Moravia, with a minimum period of measurement of 5 years since 2001, which belong to the Czech Hydrometeorological institute. The soil temperatures at 5 cm depth fluctuate much less in the presence of snow cover. In contrast, the effect of snow cover on the air temperature at 2 m height is only very small. During clear sky conditions and no snow cover, soil can warm up substantially and the soil temperature range can be even higher than the range of air temperature at 2 m height. The actual height of snow is also important - increased snow depth means lower soil temperature range. However, even just 1 cm snow depth substantially lowers the soil temperature range and it can therefore be clearly seen that snow acts as an insulator and has a major effect on soil frost penetration and soil temperature range.

  8. Characteristics of black carbon in snow from Laohugou No. 12 glacier on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yulan; Kang, Shichang; Li, Chaoliu; Gao, Tanguang; Cong, Zhiyuan; Sprenger, Michael; Liu, Yajun; Li, Xiaofei; Guo, Junming; Sillanpää, Mika; Wang, Kun; Chen, Jizu; Li, Yang; Sun, Shiwei

    2017-12-31

    Black carbon (BC) emitted from the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuel impacts the climate system, cryospheric change, and human health. This study documents black carbon deposition in snow from a benchmark glacier on the northern Tibetan Plateau. Significant seasonality of BC concentrations indicates different input or post-depositional processes. BC particles deposited in snow had a mass volume median diameter slightly larger than that of black carbon particles typically found in the atmosphere. Also, unlike black carbon particles in the atmosphere, the particles deposited in snow did not exhibit highly fractal morphology by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope. Footprint analysis indicated BC deposited on the glacier in summer originated mainly from Central Asia; in winter, the depositing air masses generally originated from Central Asia and Pakistan. Anthropogenic emissions play an important role on black carbon deposition in glacial snow, especially in winter. The mass absorption efficiency of BC in snow at 632nm exhibited significantly seasonality, with higher values in summer and lower values in winter. The information on black carbon deposition in glacial snow provided in this study could be used to help mitigate the impacts of BC on glacier melting on the northern Tibetan Plateau. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Aerotechnogenic Monitoring of Urban Environment on Snow Cover Pollution (on the Example of Voronezh City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prozhorina Tatyana Ivanovna

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Snow cover is characterized by high sorption ability and represents an informative object in the process of identifying the technogenic pollution of urban environment. The article contains the results of the research on the chemical composition of the snow which fell in Voronezh in the winter period of 2013–2014. The coefficients of chemical elements concentration were calculated to provide objective characteristics of snow cover pollution. The authors analyze the connection between the presence of pollutants in snow and the level of technogenic impact. The obtained ranges of anomaly coefficients among anions reflect the composition of technogenic emissions. The mineralization of snow water reliably characterizes the intensity of anthropogenic impact on the urban environment, and the value of mineralization snow samples ranges from 62,6 (background to 183,9 mg/l. Maximum values of mineralization (more than 150 mg/l are typical for samples taken in transport area. High values of salinity (more than 120 mg/l are observed in snow samples taken in the industrial area, which confirms the high “technogenic pressure” on the urban environment in zones of industrial and transport potential of the city. The investigated functional areas can be arranged in the following series by descending level of contamination: transport area > industrial zone > residential and recreational areas > background territory. The study of the chemical composition of snow cover in the various functional areas of Voronezh allows to conclude that the pH level, mineralization and the content of suspended solids in snow waters characterize the intensity of anthropogenic pressure on the urban environment, and the composition of melt waters indicates the nature of its pollution.

  10. [Effects of snow pack on soil nitrogen transformation enzyme activities in a subalpine Abies faxioniana forest of western Sichuan, China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Li; Xu, Zhen-Feng; Wu, Fu-Zhong; Yang, Wan-Qin; Yin, Rui; Li, Zhi-Ping; Gou, Xiao-Lin; Tang, Shi-Shan

    2014-05-01

    This study characterized the dynamics of the activities of urease, nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase in both soil organic layer and mineral soil layer under three depths of snow pack (deep snowpack, moderate snowpack and shallow snowpack) over the three critical periods (snow formed period, snow stable period, and snow melt period) in the subalpine Abies faxoniana forest of western Sichuan in the winter of 2012 and 2013. Throughout the winter, soil temperature under deep snowpack increased by 46.2% and 26.2%, respectively in comparison with moderate snowpack and shallow snowpack. In general, the three nitrogen-related soil enzyme activities under shallow snowpack were 0.8 to 3.9 times of those under deep snowpack during the winter. In the beginning and thawing periods of seasonal snow pack, shallow snowpack significantly increased the activities of urease, nitrate and nitrite reductase enzyme in both soil organic layer and mineral soil layer. Although the activities of the studied enzymes in soil organic layer and mineral soil layer were observed to be higher than those under deep- and moderate snowpacks in deep winter, no significant difference was found under the three snow packs. Meanwhile, the effects of snowpack on the activities of the measured enzymes were related with season, soil layer and enzyme type. Significant variations of the activities of nitrogen-related enzymes were found in three critical periods over the winter, and the three measured soil enzymes were significantly higher in organic layer than in mineral layer. In addition, the activities of the three measured soil enzymes were closely related with temperature and moisture in soils. In conclusion, the decrease of snow pack induced by winter warming might increase the activities of soil enzymes related with nitrogen transformation and further stimulate the process of wintertime nitrogen transformation in soils of the subalpine forest.

  11. Improving automated disturbance maps using snow-covered landsat time series stacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk M. Stueve; Ian W. Housman; Patrick L. Zimmerman; Mark D. Nelson; Jeremy Webb; Charles H. Perry; Robert A. Chastain; Dale D. Gormanson; Chengquan Huang; Sean P. Healey; Warren B. Cohen

    2012-01-01

    Snow-covered winter Landsat time series stacks are used to develop a nonforest mask to enhance automated disturbance maps produced by the Vegetation Change Tracker (VCT). This method exploits the enhanced spectral separability between forested and nonforested areas that occurs with sufficient snow cover. This method resulted in significant improvements in Vegetation...

  12. Snow chemistry of high altitude glaciers in the French Alps

    OpenAIRE

    MAUPETIT, FRANÇOIS; DELMAS, ROBERT J.

    2011-01-01

    Snow samples were collected as snowcores in the accumulation zone of four high altitude glaciers (2980–3540 m.a.s.l.) from each of the 4 highest mountain areas of the French Alps, during 3 consecutive years: 1989, 1990 and 1991. Sampling was performed in spring (∼ May), before the onset of late spring–summer percolation. The accumulated snow therefore reflects winter and spring conditions. A complementary sampling of fresh-snow was performed on an event basis, on one of the studied glaciers, ...

  13. A snow cover climatology for the Pyrenees from MODIS snow products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gascoin, S.; Hagolle, O.; Huc, M.; Jarlan, L.; Dejoux, J.-F.; Szczypta, C.; Marti, R.; Sanchez, R.

    2015-05-01

    time above 1600 m between December and April. We finally analyze the snow patterns for the atypical winter 2011-2012. Snow cover duration anomalies reveal a deficient snowpack on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, which seems to have caused a drop in the national hydropower production.

  14. Use of gamma surveys from the aircraft for hydrological forecasts on the area with irregular snow pack

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vershinina, L K

    1979-01-01

    Gamma snow surveys from the aircraft based on the measurements of the attenuation of gamma-radiation of soils by the snow pack are discussed. Radiation rate depends on the amount of water on the soil surface and in the top layer 30 to 40 cm deep. Therefore, if measurements are made twice (without snow and with snow pack available) water equivalent of snow cover may be determined only when soil moisture content changes do not occur during the period between the dates of gamma surveys. In the areas with frequent winter thaws, standard land snow surveys do not provide snow storage evaluation with the accuracy sufficient for spring flow prediction. It is shown that when gamma-radiation of absolutely dry soils determined at the laboratory is known as well as of naturally moistened soils during the periods of gamma surveys of the snow pack from the aircraft, and when data is available on soil moisture content obtained from the measurements at the base land network, then a reliable estimation of snow storage on the watershed surfaces in the regions with irregular snow cover is quite possible. This ensures a significant accuracy increase of spring snow melt flood forecasting, particularly concerning winters with little snow.

  15. Use of gamma surveys from the airraft for hydrological forecasts on the area with irregular snow pack

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vershinina, L K [State Hydrological Institute, Leningrad (USSR)

    1979-01-01

    Gamma snow surveys from aircraft based on the measurement of the attenuation of gamma-radiation of soils by the snow pack are discussed. Radiation rate depends on the amount of water on the soil surface and in the top layer 30 to 40 cm deep. Therefore, if measurements are made twice (without snow and with snow pack available) the water equivalent of the snow cover may be determined only in cases when soil moisture content changes do not occur during the period between the dates of gamma surveys. In areas with frequent winter thaws standard land snow surveys do not provide snow storage evaluation with accuracy sufficient for spring flow prediction. It is shown that when gamma-radiation of absolutely dry soils determined at the laboratory is known, as well as of naturally moistened soils during the periods of gamma surveys of the snow pack from aircraft, and when data is available on soil moisture content obtained from measurements at the base land network, then a reliable estimation of snow storage on the watershed surfaces in regions with irregular snow cover is quite possible. This ensures a significant accuracy increase in spring snow melt flood forecasting, in particular during winters with little snow.

  16. Relocation of major ions in snow along the tundra-taiga ecotone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pomeroy, J.W.; Marsh, P. (Environment Canada, Saskatoon (Canada)); Lesack, L. (Simon Fraser Univeristy, Burnaby, (Canada))

    1993-01-01

    The chemistry of seasonal snowcovers north of Unuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada was stratified by biophysical landscape. In this region, deposition of ions in winter occurs largely through the redistribution of wind-blown snow with accumulations in forest-edges and valley sides 8 to 12 times that of the open tundra. While dominated by this snow redistribution, the loading of most ions, except for SO[sub 4][sup 2-], does not scale exactly with that of snow, there being several mechanisms by which ion concentrations become relatively enriched or depleted in various landscape units. Vaporisation during temperature-gradient metamorphism in shallow-snow and uptake during either photochemical reactions or gaseous scavenging to well-exposed snow transformed concentrations of NO[sub 3][sup -] by 50%. Dry deposition of aerosols to forested terrain and valley bottoms enriched Cl[sup -], Na[sup +], Mg[sup 2]-[sup +], K[sup +] and Ca[sup 2+] concentrations up to more than two-fold, however scavenging of aerosols to blowing snow particles contributed an additional 40% to the sea-salt enrichment and 20% to the Ca[sup 2+] enrichment in wind-blown treeline forests. It is concluded that central measurements of snow chemistry in the Arctic cannot be reliably extrapolated without reference to changes caused by over-winter physical and chemical metamorphic processes. Associating the physical/chemical changes with readily identifiable Arctic landscape units suggests a simple and robust method for spatial extrapolation. (au) (26 refs.)

  17. Evaluation of alternative snow plow cutting edges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-05-01

    With approximately 450 snow plow trucks, the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) uses in : excess of 10,000 linear feet of plow cutting edges each winter season. Using the 2008-2009 cost per linear : foot of $48.32, the Departments total co...

  18. Analyses of newly digitised and reconstructed snow series over the last 100+ years in Switzerland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherrer, S. C.; Wüthrich, C.; Croci-Maspoli, M.; Appenzeller, C.

    2010-09-01

    Snow is an important socio-economic factor in the Swiss Alpine region (tourism, hydro-electricity, drinking water) and responsible for considerable natural hazards such as avalanches. In addition, high-quality long-term snow series can be used as an excellent indicator of climate change. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, suitable long-term snow series from different altitudes and regions in Switzerland have been selected, missing data digitized and the entire series quality checked. Second, the long-term snow series have been used for trend analyses over a time period >100 years. Third, snow depth series have been reconstructed using daily new snow, temperature and precipitation as input variables. This made it possible to analyse snow depth related variables such as days with snow pack. Results show that the snow cover is varying substantially on seasonal and decadal time scales. The analyses of the decadal new snow trends during the last 100 years shows unprecedented low new snow sums in the winter seasons (DJF) of the 1990s. The 100 year trend of days with snow pack reveals a significant decrease for stations below 800 m asl in the winter season (DJF) and for stations around 1800 m asl in spring (MAM). Similar results were found for seasonal new snow sums. The results of the trend analyses are also discussed with respect to temperature and precipitation trends. Finally we will also shortly discuss how especially "precious" snow measurements have been identified and incorporated in a National Basic Climatological Network (NBCN) as well as in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).

  19. Winter Arctic sea ice growth: current variability and projections for the coming decades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petty, A.; Boisvert, L.; Webster, M.; Holland, M. M.; Bailey, D. A.; Kurtz, N. T.; Markus, T.

    2017-12-01

    Arctic sea ice increases in both extent and thickness during the cold winter months ( October to May). Winter sea ice growth is an important factor controlling ocean ventilation and winter water/deep water formation, as well as determining the state and vulnerability of the sea ice pack before the melt season begins. Key questions for the Arctic community thus include: (i) what is the current magnitude and variability of winter Arctic sea ice growth and (ii) how might this change in a warming Arctic climate? To address (i), our current best guess of pan-Arctic sea ice thickness, and thus volume, comes from satellite altimetry observations, e.g. from ESA's CryoSat-2 satellite. A significant source of uncertainty in these data come from poor knowledge of the overlying snow depth. Here we present new estimates of winter sea ice thickness from CryoSat-2 using snow depths from a simple snow model forced by reanalyses and satellite-derived ice drift estimates, combined with snow depth estimates from NASA's Operation IceBridge. To address (ii), we use data from the Community Earth System Model's Large Ensemble Project, to explore sea ice volume and growth variability, and how this variability might change over the coming decades. We compare and contrast the model simulations to observations and the PIOMAS ice-ocean model (over recent years/decades). The combination of model and observational analysis provide novel insight into Arctic sea ice volume variability.

  20. Tracking Snow Variations in the Northern Hemisphere Using Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data (2000–2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunlong Wang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Multi-source remote sensing data were used to generate 500-m resolution cloud-free daily snow cover images for the Northern Hemisphere. Simultaneously, the spatial and temporal dynamic variations of snow in the Northern Hemisphere were evaluated from 2000 to 2015. The results indicated that (1 the maximum, minimum, and annual average snow-covered area (SCA in the Northern Hemisphere exhibited a fluctuating downward trend; the variation of snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere had well-defined inter-annual and regional differences; (2 the average SCA in the Northern Hemisphere was the largest in January and the smallest in August; the SCA exhibited a downward trend for the monthly variations from February to April; and the seasonal variation in the SCA exhibited a downward trend in the spring, summer, and fall in the Northern Hemisphere (no pronounced variation trend in the winter was observed during the 2000–2015 period; (3 the spatial distribution of the annual average snow-covered day (SCD was related to the latitudinal zonality, and the areas exhibiting an upward trend were mainly at the mid to low latitudes with unstable SCA variations; and (4 the snow reduction was significant in the perennial SCA in the Northern Hemisphere, including high-latitude and high-elevation mountainous regions (between 35° and 50°N, such as the Tibetan Plateau, the Tianshan Mountains, the Pamir Plateau in Asia, the Alps in Europe, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Cordillera Mountains in North America.

  1. Ice fishing by wintering Bald Eagles in Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teryl G. Grubb; Roy G. Lopez

    1997-01-01

    Northern Arizona winters vary within and between years with occasional heavy snows (up to 0.6 m) and extreme cold (overnight lows -18 to -29°C) interspersed with dry periods, mild temperatures (daytime highs reaching 10°C), and general loss of snow cover at all but highest elevations. Lakes in the area may freeze and thaw partially or totally several times during a...

  2. Impacts of +2 °C global warming on winter tourism demand in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Damm, Andrea; Greuell, Wouter; Landgren, Oskar; Prettenthaler, Franz

    2017-01-01

    Increasing temperatures and snow scarce winter seasons challenge the winter tourism industry. In this study the impacts of +2 °C global warming on winter tourism demand in Europe's ski tourism related NUTS-3 regions are quantified. Using time series regression models, the relationship between

  3. Studies of diffuse and direct solar radiation over snow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wesely, M.L.; Everett, R.G.

    1976-01-01

    Two interesting questions can be addressed by examination of solar radiation records obtained while the surface is covered with snow. One concerns the extent to which airborne particulate matter affects solar radiation received at the surface during winter conditions that are typical of those in the northeastern quarter of the United States. The other relates to the importance of complicated light scatterng in the earth-atmosphere system when the surface albedo is large. With the snow surface reflecting 50% or more of the incident radiation, it is likely that a significant addition to diffuse radiation would result from light that is reflected from the surface and then scattered back to the earth by the atmosphere. Preliminary data from measurements made during the winter of 1975 to 1976 are reported

  4. Assessing the performance of winter footwear using a new maximum achievable incline method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Jennifer; Li, Yue; Dutta, Tilak; Fernie, Geoff

    2015-09-01

    More informative tests of winter footwear performance are required in order to identify footwear that will prevent injurious slips and falls on icy conditions. In this study, eight participants tested four styles of winter boots on smooth wet ice. The surface was progressively tilted to create increasing longitudinal and cross-slopes until participants could no longer continue standing or walking. Maximum achievable incline angles provided consistent measures of footwear slip resistance and demonstrated better resolution than mechanical tests. One footwear outsole material and tread combination outperformed the others on wet ice allowing participants to successfully walk on steep longitudinal slopes of 17.5° ± 1.9° (mean ± SD). By further exploiting the methodology to include additional surfaces and contaminants, such tests could be used to optimize tread designs and materials that are ideal for reducing the risk of slips and falls. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  5. Characteristics of Heavy Snowfall and Snow Crystal Habits in the ESSAY (Experiment on Snow Storms At Yeongdong) Campaign in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, D.

    2016-12-01

    The Yeongdong region in Korea has frequent heavy snowfall in winter, which usually results in societal and economic damages such as collapses of the greenhouse and the temporary building due to heavy snowfall weights and traffic accidents due to snow-slippery road condition. Therefore we have conducted an intensive measurement campaign of `Experiment on Snow Storms At Yeongdong (ESSAY)' using radiosonde soundings, several remote sensors and a digital camera with a magnifier for taking a photograph of snowfall crystals in the region. The analysis period is mainly limited to every winter from 2014 to 2016The typical synoptic situation for the heavy snowfall is Low pressure system passing by the far South of the Korean peninsula along with the Siberian High extending to northern Japan, leading to the northeasterly or easterly flows frequently accompanied by the long-lasting snowfall in the Yeongdong region. The snow crystal habits observed in the ESSAY campaign are mainly dendrite, consisting of about 70% of the entire habits, indicative of relatively warmer East Sea effect. Meanwhile, the rimed habits are frequently captured specifically when two-layered clouds are observed. The homogeneous habit such as dendrite is shown in case of shallow clouds with its thickness below 500 m, whereas various habits are captured such as graupel, dendrites, rimed dendrites, etc in the thicker cloud with its thickness greater than 1.5 km. The association of snow crystal habits with temperature and supersaturation in the cloud will be more discussed.

  6. Evaluation of probable maximum snow accumulation: Development of a methodology for climate change studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, Iris M.; Rousseau, Alain N.; Frigon, Anne; Freudiger, Daphné; Gagnon, Patrick

    2016-06-01

    Probable maximum snow accumulation (PMSA) is one of the key variables used to estimate the spring probable maximum flood (PMF). A robust methodology for evaluating the PMSA is imperative so the ensuing spring PMF is a reasonable estimation. This is of particular importance in times of climate change (CC) since it is known that solid precipitation in Nordic landscapes will in all likelihood change over the next century. In this paper, a PMSA methodology based on simulated data from regional climate models is developed. Moisture maximization represents the core concept of the proposed methodology; precipitable water being the key variable. Results of stationarity tests indicate that CC will affect the monthly maximum precipitable water and, thus, the ensuing ratio to maximize important snowfall events. Therefore, a non-stationary approach is used to describe the monthly maximum precipitable water. Outputs from three simulations produced by the Canadian Regional Climate Model were used to give first estimates of potential PMSA changes for southern Quebec, Canada. A sensitivity analysis of the computed PMSA was performed with respect to the number of time-steps used (so-called snowstorm duration) and the threshold for a snowstorm to be maximized or not. The developed methodology is robust and a powerful tool to estimate the relative change of the PMSA. Absolute results are in the same order of magnitude as those obtained with the traditional method and observed data; but are also found to depend strongly on the climate projection used and show spatial variability.

  7. Scaling precipitation input to spatially distributed hydrological models by measured snow distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Vögeli

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Accurate knowledge on snow distribution in alpine terrain is crucial for various applicationssuch as flood risk assessment, avalanche warning or managing water supply and hydro-power.To simulate the seasonal snow cover development in alpine terrain, the spatially distributed,physics-based model Alpine3D is suitable. The model is typically driven by spatial interpolationsof observations from automatic weather stations (AWS, leading to errors in the spatial distributionof atmospheric forcing. With recent advances in remote sensing techniques, maps of snowdepth can be acquired with high spatial resolution and accuracy. In this work, maps of the snowdepth distribution, calculated from summer and winter digital surface models based on AirborneDigital Sensors (ADS, are used to scale precipitation input data, with the aim to improve theaccuracy of simulation of the spatial distribution of snow with Alpine3D. A simple method toscale and redistribute precipitation is presented and the performance is analysed. The scalingmethod is only applied if it is snowing. For rainfall the precipitation is distributed by interpolation,with a simple air temperature threshold used for the determination of the precipitation phase.It was found that the accuracy of spatial snow distribution could be improved significantly forthe simulated domain. The standard deviation of absolute snow depth error is reduced up toa factor 3.4 to less than 20 cm. The mean absolute error in snow distribution was reducedwhen using representative input sources for the simulation domain. For inter-annual scaling, themodel performance could also be improved, even when using a remote sensing dataset from adifferent winter. In conclusion, using remote sensing data to process precipitation input, complexprocesses such as preferential snow deposition and snow relocation due to wind or avalanches,can be substituted and modelling performance of spatial snow distribution is improved.

  8. Velocity distribution in snow avalanches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishimura, K.; Ito, Y.

    1997-12-01

    In order to investigate the detailed structure of snow avalanches, we have made snow flow experiments at the Miyanomori ski jump in Sapporo and systematic observations in the Shiai-dani, Kurobe Canyon. In the winter of 1995-1996, a new device to measure static pressures was used to estimate velocities in the snow cloud that develops above the flowing layer of avalanches. Measurements during a large avalanche in the Shiai-dani which damaged and destroyed some instruments indicate velocities increased rapidly to more than 50 m/s soon after the front. Velocities decreased gradually in the following 10 s. Velocities of the lower flowing layer were also calculated by differencing measurement of impact pressure. Both recordings in the snow cloud and in the flowing layer changed with a similar trend and suggest a close interaction between the two layers. In addition, the velocity showed a periodic change. Power spectrum analysis of the impact pressure and the static pressure depression showed a strong peak at a frequency between 4 and 6 Hz, which might imply the existence of either ordered structure or a series of surges in the flow.

  9. ULUDAĞ WINTER TOURISM and ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sema AY

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Tourism that is a regional means of development is closely related with the local economic development. Winter tourism is a set of activities and relationships composed of trips made to the regions which are located in the heart of ski sports and accordingly with slopes and snow, accommodations and other services. Since winter tourism mainly consists of a number of activities depending on snowy environments, it requires locations with certain height and slope which will also allow the execution of other nature sports such as walking, climbing etc. besides skiing and snowboarding. Uludağ, the most popular winter sports center that is 30 km away from the Bursa city center has significant natural advantages in terms of winter tourism. However, with the recently changing tourism demands in winter tourism, developments have been taking place in the types of tourism. Uludağ having natural advantages have not been able to sufficiently benefit from these advantages and cannot make use of its existing potential. Besides the countries having sucessful snow resorts of Europe such as Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy and Andorra, Romania and Bulgaria are also increasing their competitiveness in the international markets in recent years with ambitious investments. When Uludağ that is in the location of the largest snow resort in Turkey is compared with these resorts, it is thought that there is a way to go in the field of winter tourism. Starting from this idea, in the research, it is aimed to identify the contribution of Uludağ to the local economic development and the potentials for increasing this contribution. Towards the mentioned aim, the study will be carried out based on field research. In the conclusion of the study, it is planned to submit the proposals focused on policy and strategy to be followed in terms of having Uludağ use its potential in the most efficient way and provide more contribution to the local economy. In addition, its

  10. Monitoring snow cover and its effect on runoff regime in the Jizera Mountains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulasova, Alena

    2015-04-01

    The Jizera Mountains in the northern Bohemia are known by its rich snow cover. Winter precipitation represents usually a half of the precipitation in the hydrological year. Gradual snow accumulation and melt depends on the course of the particular winter period, the topography of the catchments and the type of vegetation. During winter the snow depth, and especially the snow water equivalent, are affected by the changing character of the falling precipitation, air and soil temperatures and the wind. More rapid snowmelt occurs more on the slopes without forest oriented to the South, while a gradual snowmelt occurs on the locations turned to the North and in forest. Melting snow recharges groundwater and affects water quality in an important way. In case of extreme situation the snowmelt monitoring is important from the point of view of flood protection of communities and property. Therefore the immediate information on the amount of water in snow is necessary. The way to get this information is the continuous monitoring of the snow depth and snow water equivalent. In the Jizera Mountains a regular monitoring of snow cover has been going on since the end of the 19th century. In the 80s of the last century the Jizera Mountains were affected by the increased fallout of pollutants in the air. There followed a gradual dieback of the forest cover and cutting down the upper part of the ridges. In order to get data for the quantification of runoff regime changes in the changing natural environment, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) founded in the upper part of the Mountains several experimental catchments. One of the activities of the employees of the experimental basis is the regular measurement of snow cover at selected sites from 1982 up to now. At the same time snow cover is being observed using snow pillows, where its mass is monitored with the help of pressure sensors. In order to improve the reliability of the continuous measurement of the snow water

  11. Analysis of the Lake Superior Watershed Seasonal Snow Cover

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Daly, Steven F; Baldwin, Timothy B; Weyrick, Patricia

    2007-01-01

    Daily estimates of the snow water equivalent (SWE) distribution for the period from 1 December through 30 April for each winter season from 1979 80 through 2002 03 were calculated for the entire Lake Superior watershed...

  12. Science of Nowcasting Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10): a World Weather Research Programme Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isaac, G. A.; Joe, P. I.; Mailhot, J.; Bailey, M.; Bélair, S.; Boudala, F. S.; Brugman, M.; Campos, E.; Carpenter, R. L.; Crawford, R. W.; Cober, S. G.; Denis, B.; Doyle, C.; Reeves, H. D.; Gultepe, I.; Haiden, T.; Heckman, I.; Huang, L. X.; Milbrandt, J. A.; Mo, R.; Rasmussen, R. M.; Smith, T.; Stewart, R. E.; Wang, D.; Wilson, L. J.

    2014-01-01

    A World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) project entitled the Science of Nowcasting Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10) was developed to be associated with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games conducted between 12 February and 21 March 2010. The SNOW-V10 international team augmented the instrumentation associated with the Winter Games and several new numerical weather forecasting and nowcasting models were added. Both the additional observational and model data were available to the forecasters in real time. This was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate existing capability in nowcasting and to develop better techniques for short term (0-6 h) nowcasts of winter weather in complex terrain. Better techniques to forecast visibility, low cloud, wind gusts, precipitation rate and type were evaluated. The weather during the games was exceptionally variable with many periods of low visibility, low ceilings and precipitation in the form of both snow and rain. The data collected should improve our understanding of many physical phenomena such as the diabatic effects due to melting snow, wind flow around and over terrain, diurnal flow reversal in valleys associated with daytime heating, and precipitation reductions and increases due to local terrain. Many studies related to these phenomena are described in the Special Issue on SNOW-V10 for which this paper was written. Numerical weather prediction and nowcast models have been evaluated against the unique observational data set now available. It is anticipated that the data set and the knowledge learned as a result of SNOW-V10 will become a resource for other World Meteorological Organization member states who are interested in improving forecasts of winter weather.

  13. Factors Impacting Spatial Patterns of Snow Distribution in a Small Catchment near Nome, AK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, M.; Wilson, C. J.; Charsley-Groffman, L.; Busey, R.; Bolton, W. R.

    2017-12-01

    Snow cover plays an important role in the climate, hydrology and ecological systems of the Arctic due to its influence on the water balance, thermal regimes, vegetation and carbon flux. Thus, snow depth and coverage have been key components in all the earth system models but are often poorly represented for arctic regions, where fine scale snow distribution data is sparse. The snow data currently used in the models is at coarse resolution, which in turn leads to high uncertainty in model predictions. Through the DOE Office of Science Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment, NGEE-Arctic, high resolution snow distribution data is being developed and applied in catchment scale models to ultimately improve representation of snow and its interactions with other model components in the earth system models . To improve these models, it is important to identify key factors that control snow distribution and quantify the impacts of those factors on snow distribution. In this study, two intensive snow depth surveys (1 to 10 meters scale) were conducted for a 2.3 km2 catchment on the Teller road, near Nome, AK in the winter of 2016 and 2017. We used a statistical model to quantify the impacts of vegetation types, macro-topography, micro-topography, and meteorological parameters on measured snow depth. The results show that snow spatial distribution was similar between 2016 and 2017, snow depth was spatially auto correlated over small distance (2-5 meters), but not spatially auto correlated over larger distance (more than 2-5 meters). The coefficients of variation of snow depth was above 0.3 for all the snow survey transects (500-800 meters long). Variation of snow depth is governed by vegetation height, aspect, slope, surface curvature, elevation and wind speed and direction. We expect that this empirical statistical model can be used to estimate end of winter snow depth for the whole watershed and will further develop the model using data from other arctic regions to estimate

  14. rboricultural aspects of snow-damage in the citz of Ljubljana in the winter 1999

    OpenAIRE

    Marion, Leon; Torelli, Niko; Oven, Primož

    2005-01-01

    As a result of heavy snow in February 1999, trees were damaged in the City of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Of the investigated 624 trees, 195 (31%) were damaged by snow. On average, 1.7 branch and top per tree were broken. Snow damaged 17 tree species, affecting particularly Aesculus hippocastanum L. and, to a lesser extent, Betula pendula ROTH. and Salix x sepulcralis SIMONK. Decay was the most frequent defect at the failure location and was often associated withincluded bark and vicinity of old mec...

  15. Influence of snow cover distribution on soil temperature and nutrient dynamics in alpine pedoenvironments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ermanno Zanini

    Full Text Available In Alpine sites snow is present on the ground from six to eight months per year in relation to elevation and exposure. Water is therefore immobilized into the solid state for the greater part of the winter season and released to the ground in a short period during spring snowmelt. In these areas, snow distribution exercises a fundamental role in influencing soil temperature and nutrient dynamics, in particular of nitrogen, with great consequences on plant nutrition. The dormant vegetation period, the low temperatures and the persistent snow cover suggest that soil biological activity is only concentrated during summer. As a matter of fact, soils covered with a consistent snow cover are isolated from the air temperature and can not freeze during winter. A snowpack of sufficient thickness, accumulated early in winter, insulates the ground from the surrounding atmosphere maintaining soil temperature closed to 0 °C during the whole winter season. The elevation of the snow line and the shorter permanence of snow on the ground, as a result of global warming (IPCC, 1996, 2001, might reduce the insulation effect of the snowpack, exposing soils of the mountain belt to lower temperatures and to a greater frequency of freeze/thaw cycles, which might alter organic matter dynamics and soil nutrient availability. Such thermal stresses may determine the lysis of microbial cells and the consequent increase of nitrogen and carbon mineralization by the survived microorganisms. Moreover, the freeze/thaw cycles can determine the exposure of exchange surfaces not available before, with release of organic matter of non-microbial origin, which may become available to surviving microorganisms for respiration. The reduced or absent microbial immobilization may cause the accumulation of remarkable amounts of inorganic nitrogen in soil, potentially leachable during spring snowmelt, when plants have not still started the growing season. Changes of snow distribution in

  16. Surveying wolves without snow: a critical review of the methods used in Spain

    OpenAIRE

    Blanco, Juan Carlos; Cortés, Yolanda

    2011-01-01

    Wolves (Canis lupus) are difficult to survey, and in most countries, snow is used for identifying the species, counting individuals, recording movements and determining social position. However, in the Iberian peninsula and other southern regions of its gobal range, snow is very scarce in winter, so wolves must be surveyed without snow. In Spain and Portugal, wolves are surveyed through estimating number of wolf packs in summer by means of locating litters of pups when they are at rendezvous ...

  17. Snow as an accumulator of air pollutants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert T. Brown

    1976-01-01

    Using simple analytical techniques, the amounts of air pollutants accumulated in winter snow were determined and the results correlated with lichen survival on trees. Pollutants measured were particulate matter, sulfate, and chloride. An inverse relationship was found between amounts of each of these pollutants and the abundance of various lichens.

  18. EVALUATION OF THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT INFLUENCE ON POLLUTION OF SNOW COVER USING GEOINFORMATION AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. D. Korlyakov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The influence of urban development parameters on the pollution of snow with heavy metals and metalloids (HMM has been assessed.The aim of the work is to assess the barrier functions of urban development by means of a joint analysis of data on the content of HMM in the snow cover and the parameters of the artificial relief. The residential area of the Ulan-Ude city was chosen as an object of the study, where 27 snow samples were selected. According to the data of the snow survey in 2014, the total content of HMM in the snow suspension was determined, the priority pollutants of the snow were received and the total indicator of immission at the sampling points was calculated. Data processing in the OpenStreetMap, 2GIS, ArcGis 10.0 and Statistica 7.0 software packages made it possible to determine the main parameters of the buildings near the sampling points. Correlation analysis has shown a significant influence of building parameters on the HMM immission in the snow cover. With an increase in the total and average building area, proximity of buildings to the sampling point, an increase in the immission of most or all HMMs has been observed. The height of houses is a secondary factor which positively affects the immission of Cu and Bi. The maximum correlation links are established in radii of 50, 100 and 150 m. The parameters of development affect the total precipitation of pollutants both in all cardinal directions, and in the south-western, northeast, southeast directions, which can be explained by the wind regime features during the winter season. 

  19. "no snow - no skiing excursion - consequences of climatic change?"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neunzig, Thilo

    2014-05-01

    Climatology and climate change have become central topics in Geography at our school. Because of that we set up a climatological station at our school. The data are an important basis to observe sudden changes in the weather. The present winter (2013/2014) shows the importance of climate change in Alzey / Germany. In winter many students think of the yearly skiing trip to Schwaz / Austria which is part of our school programme. Due to that the following questions arise: Will skiing still be possible if climate change accelerates? How are the skiing regions in the Alpes going to change? What will happen in about 20 years? How does artificial snow change the landscape and the skiing sport? Students have to be aware of the ecological damage of skiing trips. Each class has to come up with a concept how these trips can be as environmentally friendly as possible. - the trip is for a restricted number of students only (year 8 only) - a small skiing region is chosen which is not overcrowded - snow has to be guaranteed in the ski area to avoid the production of artificial snow (avoidance of high water consumption) - the bus arrives with a class and returns with the one that had been there before These are but a few ideas of students in order to make their trip as environmentally friendly as possible. What is missing is only what is going to happen in the future. What will be the effect of climate change for skiing regions in the secondary mountains? How is the average temperature for winter going to develop? Are there possibilities for summer tourism (e.g. hiking) instead of skiing in winter? The students are going to try to find answers to these questions which are going to be presented on a poster on the GIFT-Workshop in Vienna.

  20. SWEAT: Snow Water Equivalent with AlTimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agten, Dries; Benninga, Harm-Jan; Diaz Schümmer, Carlos; Donnerer, Julia; Fischer, Georg; Henriksen, Marie; Hippert Ferrer, Alexandre; Jamali, Maryam; Marinaci, Stefano; Mould, Toby JD; Phelan, Liam; Rosker, Stephanie; Schrenker, Caroline; Schulze, Kerstin; Emanuel Telo Bordalo Monteiro, Jorge

    2017-04-01

    To study how the water cycle changes over time, satellite and airborne remote sensing missions are typically employed. Over the last 40 years of satellite missions, the measurement of true water inventories stored in sea and land ice within the cryosphere have been significantly hindered by uncertainties introduced by snow cover. Being able to determine the thickness of this snow cover would act to reduce such error, improving current estimations of hydrological and climate models, Earth's energy balance (albedo) calculations and flood predictions. Therefore, the target of the SWEAT (Snow Water Equivalent with AlTimetry) mission is to directly measure the surface Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) on sea and land ice within the polar regions above 60°and below -60° latitude. There are no other satellite missions currently capable of directly measuring SWE. In order to achieve this, the proposed mission will implement a novel combination of Ka- and Ku-band radioaltimeters (active microwave sensors), capable of penetrating into the snow microstructure. The Ka-band altimeter (λ ≈ 0.8 cm) provides a low maximum snow pack penetration depth of up to 20 cm for dry snow at 37 GHz, since the volume scattering of snow dominates over the scattering caused by the underlying ice surface. In contrast, the Ku-band altimeter (λ ≈ 2 cm) provides a high maximum snowpack penetration depth of up to 15 m in high latitudes regions with dry snow, as volume scattering is decreased by a factor of 55. The combined difference in Ka- and Ku-band signal penetration results will provide more accurate and direct determination of SWE. Therefore, the SWEAT mission aims to improve estimations of global SWE interpreted from passive microwave products, and improve the reliability of numerical snow and climate models.

  1. Winter carbon dioxide effluxes from Arctic ecosystems: An overview and comparison of methodologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Björkman, M.P.; Morgner, E.; Cooper, E.J.

    2010-01-01

    removal, (3) diffusion measurements, F2-point, within the snowpack, and (4) a trace gas technique, FSF6, with multiple gas sampling within the snowpack. According to measurements collected from shallow and deep snow cover in High Arctic Svalbard and subarctic Sweden during the winter of 2007......The winter CO2 efflux from subnivean environments is an important component of annual C budgets in Arctic ecosystems and consequently makes prediction and estimations of winter processes as well as incorporations of these processes into existing models important. Several methods have been used......, Fsoil is assumed to measure soil production, whereas FSF6, Fsnow, and F2-point are considered better approaches for quantifying exchange processes between the soil, snow, and the atmosphere. This study indicates that estimates of winter CO2 emissions may vary more as a result of the method used than...

  2. Evaluation of NVE's snow station network; Subreport in R et D project 302H15 Good snow data; Evaluering av NVE sitt snoestasjonsnettverk

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ree, Bjoerg Lirhus; Landroe, Hilde; Trondsen, Elise; Moeen, Knut M.

    2011-03-15

    NVE has measured snow water equivalent of snow pillow in forty years. Our snow station network has risen since 1997 from 6 to 25 stations. It was therefore absolutely necessary to do a review and quality assurance of NVE's snow data. This report discusses the snow data measured continuously - snow water equivalent and snow depth. Each station and the parameters it measures are described and evaluated. It is concluded in relation to whether stations should be continued or not. Stations technical solutions are well described, both of NVE's standard stations and the two test stations, Filefjell and Svarttjoernbekken. It has been o importance to bring out what problems the instruments have or may have and provide suggestions for solutions to them. Problems related to measure the water equivalent under Norwegian conditions, with the challenges and winter rain and re-freezing provides, is also reviewed. Alternatives to water equivalent measurements with a snow pillow, which is the traditional way in this country, are presented. Some of the alternative methods NVE tests out, for the others only description and our opinion is given. (Author)

  3. Winter warming as an important co-driver for Betula nana growth in western Greenland during the past century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollesen, Jørgen; Buchwal, Agata; Rachlewicz, Grzegorz; Hansen, Birger U; Hansen, Marc O; Stecher, Ole; Elberling, Bo

    2015-06-01

    Growing season conditions are widely recognized as the main driver for tundra shrub radial growth, but the effects of winter warming and snow remain an open question. Here, we present a more than 100 years long Betula nana ring-width chronology from Disko Island in western Greenland that demonstrates a highly significant and positive growth response to both summer and winter air temperatures during the past century. The importance of winter temperatures for Betula nana growth is especially pronounced during the periods from 1910-1930 to 1990-2011 that were dominated by significant winter warming. To explain the strong winter importance on growth, we assessed the importance of different environmental factors using site-specific measurements from 1991 to 2011 of soil temperatures, sea ice coverage, precipitation and snow depths. The results show a strong positive growth response to the amount of thawing and growing degree-days as well as to winter and spring soil temperatures. In addition to these direct effects, a strong negative growth response to sea ice extent was identified, indicating a possible link between local sea ice conditions, local climate variations and Betula nana growth rates. Data also reveal a clear shift within the last 20 years from a period with thick snow depths (1991-1996) and a positive effect on Betula nana radial growth, to a period (1997-2011) with generally very shallow snow depths and no significant growth response towards snow. During this period, winter and spring soil temperatures have increased significantly suggesting that the most recent increase in Betula nana radial growth is primarily triggered by warmer winter and spring air temperatures causing earlier snowmelt that allows the soils to drain and warm quicker. The presented results may help to explain the recently observed 'greening of the Arctic' which may further accelerate in future years due to both direct and indirect effects of winter warming. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons

  4. Estimating Snow Water Equivalent with Backscattering at X and Ku Band Based on Absorption Loss

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yurong Cui

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Snow water equivalent (SWE is a key parameter in the Earth’s energy budget and water cycle. It has been demonstrated that SWE can be retrieved using active microwave remote sensing from space. This necessitates the development of forward models that are capable of simulating the interactions of microwaves and the snow medium. Several proposed models have described snow as a collection of sphere- or ellipsoid-shaped ice particles embedded in air, while the microstructure of snow is, in reality, more complex. Natural snow usually forms a sintered structure following mechanical and thermal metamorphism processes. In this research, the bi-continuous vector radiative transfer (bi-continuous-VRT model, which firstly constructs snow microstructure more similar to real snow and then simulates the snow backscattering signal, is used as the forward model for SWE estimation. Based on this forward model, a parameterization scheme of snow volume backscattering is proposed. A relationship between snow optical thickness and single scattering albedo at X and Ku bands is established by analyzing the database generated from the bi-continuous-VRT model. A cost function with constraints is used to solve effective albedo and optical thickness, while the absorption part of optical thickness is obtained from these two parameters. SWE is estimated after a correction for physical temperature. The estimated SWE is correlated with the measured SWE with an acceptable accuracy. Validation against two-year measurements, using the SnowScat instrument from the Nordic Snow Radar Experiment (NoSREx, shows that the estimated SWE using the presented algorithm has a root mean square error (RMSE of 16.59 mm for the winter of 2009–2010 and 19.70 mm for the winter of 2010–2011.

  5. An electrostatic charge measurement of blowing snow particles focusing on collision frequency to the snow surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omiya, S.; Sato, A.

    2010-12-01

    Blowing snow particles are known to have an electrostatic charge. This charge may be a contributing factor in the formation of snow drifts and snow cornices and changing of the trajectory of blowing snow particles. These formations and phenomena can cause natural disaster such as an avalanche and a visibility deterioration, and obstruct transportation during winter season. Therefore, charging phenomenon of the blowing snow particles is an important issue in terms of not only precise understanding of the particle motion but disaster prevention. The primary factor of charge accumulation to the blowing snow particles is thought to be due to “saltation” of them. The “saltation” is one of movement forms of blowing snow: when the snow particles are transported by the wind, they repeat frictional collisions with the snow surface. In previous studies, charge-to-mass ratios measured in the field were approximately -50 to -10 μC/kg, and in the wind tunnel were approximately -0.8 to -0.1 μC/kg. While there were qualitatively consistent in sign, negative, there were huge gaps quantitatively between them. One reason of those gaps is speculated to be due to differences in fetch. In other words, the difference of the collision frequency of snow particles to the snow surface has caused the gaps. But it is merely a suggestion and that has not been confirmed. The purpose of this experiment is to measure the charge of blowing snow particles focusing on the collision frequency and clarify the relationship between them. Experiments were carried out in the cryogenic wind tunnel of Snow and Ice Research Center (NIED, JAPAN). A Faraday cage and an electrometer were used to measure the charge of snow particles. These experiments were conducted over the hard snow surface condition to prevent the erosion of the snow surface and the generation of new snow particles from the surface. The collision frequency of particle was controlled by changing the wind velocity (4.5 to 7 m/s) under

  6. Seasonal snow of arctic Alaska R4D investigations. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benson, C.S.

    1993-02-01

    Seasonal snow is present on the Arctic Slope of Alaska for nine months each year. Its presence or absence determines whether 80% of the solar radiation is reflected or absorbed, respectively. Although life on the Arctic Slope is adapted to, and in some cases dependent upon seasonal snow, little is known about it from a scientific point of view. Its quantity has been grossly underestimated, and knowledge of its distribution and the extent of wind transport and redistribution is very limited. This research project dealt with the amount, regional distribution and physical properties of wind blown snow and its biological role in the R4D area of the Arctic Slope. Physical processes which operate within the snow that were studied included the flux of heat and vapor and the fractionation of stable isotopes through it during fall and winter, and the complex heat and mass transfer within the snow and between snow, its substrate and the overlying atmosphere during the melt period.

  7. Hydrologic response across a snow persistence gradient on the west and east slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard, G. A.; Hammond, J. C.; Kampf, S. K.; Moore, C. D.; Eurich, A.

    2017-12-01

    Snowpack trend analyses and modeling studies suggest that lower elevation snowpacks in mountain regions are most sensitive to drought and warming temperatures, however, in Colorado, most snow monitoring occurs in the high elevations where snow lasts throughout the winter and most streamflow monitoring occurs at lower elevations. The lack of combined snow and streamflow monitoring in watersheds along the transition from intermittent to persistent snow creates a gap in our understanding of snowmelt and runoff within the intermittent-persistent snow transition. Expanded hydrologic monitoring that spans the gradient of snow conditions in Colorado can help improve streamflow prediction and inform land and water managers. This study established hydrologic monitoring watersheds in intermittent, transitional, and persistent snow zones on the east slope and west slope of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and uses this monitoring network to improve understanding of how snow accumulation and melt affect soil moisture and streamflow generation under different snow conditions. We monitored six small watersheds (three west slope, three east slope) (0.8 to 3.9 km2) that drain intermittent, transitional, and persistent snow zones. At each site, we measured: streamflow, snow depth, soil moisture, precipitation, air temperature, and snow water equivalent (SWE). In our first season of monitoring, the west slope persistent and transitional sites had more mid-winter melt and infiltration, shorter snowpack duration, and lower peak SWE than the east slope sites. Snow cover remained at the east slope persistent site into June, whereas much of the snow at the persistent site on the west slope had already melted by early June. The difference in soil water input likely has consequences for streamflow response that we will continue to examine in future years. At the west slope intermittent site, the stream did not flow during the entire first year of monitoring, while at the east slope

  8. Quantifying forest mortality with the remote sensing of snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Emily Hewitt

    Greenhouse gas emissions have altered global climate significantly, increasing the frequency of drought, fire, and pest-related mortality in forests across the western United States, with increasing area affected each year. Associated changes in forests are of great concern for the public, land managers, and the broader scientific community. These increased stresses have resulted in a widespread, spatially heterogeneous decline of forest canopies, which in turn exerts strong controls on the accumulation and melt of the snowpack, and changes forest-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, and energy. Most satellite-based retrievals of summer-season forest data are insufficient to quantify canopy, as opposed to the combination of canopy and undergrowth, since the signals of the two types of vegetation greenness have proven persistently difficult to distinguish. To overcome this issue, this research develops a method to quantify forest canopy cover using winter-season fractional snow covered area (FSCA) data from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow covered area and grain size (MODSCAG) algorithm. In areas where the ground surface and undergrowth are completely snow-covered, a pixel comprises only forest canopy and snow. Following a snowfall event, FSCA initially rises, as snow is intercepted in the canopy, and then falls, as snow unloads. A select set of local minima in a winter F SCA timeseries form a threshold where canopy is snow-free, but forest understory is snow-covered. This serves as a spatially-explicit measurement of forest canopy, and viewable gap fraction (VGF) on a yearly basis. Using this method, we determine that MODIS-observed VGF is significantly correlated with an independent product of yearly crown mortality derived from spectral analysis of Landsat imagery at 25 high-mortality sites in northern Colorado. (r =0.96 +/-0.03, p =0.03). Additionally, we determine the lag timing between green-stage tree mortality and

  9. Siberia snow depth climatology derived from SSM/I data using a combined dynamic and static algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grippa, M.; Mognard, N.; Le, Toan T.; Josberger, E.G.

    2004-01-01

    One of the major challenges in determining snow depth (SD) from passive microwave measurements is to take into account the spatiotemporal variations of the snow grain size. Static algorithms based on a constant snow grain size cannot provide accurate estimates of snow pack thickness, particularly over large regions where the snow pack is subjected to big spatial temperature variations. A recent dynamic algorithm that accounts for the dependence of the microwave scattering on the snow grain size has been developed to estimate snow depth from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) over the Northern Great Plains (NGP) in the US. In this paper, we develop a combined dynamic and static algorithm to estimate snow depth from 13 years of SSM/I observations over Central Siberia. This region is characterised by extremely cold surface air temperatures and by the presence of permafrost that significantly affects the ground temperature. The dynamic algorithm is implemented to take into account these effects and it yields accurate snow depths early in the winter, when thin snowpacks combine with cold air temperatures to generate rapid crystal growth. However, it is not applicable later in the winter when the grain size growth slows. Combining the dynamic algorithm to a static algorithm, with a temporally constant but spatially varying coefficient, we obtain reasonable snow depth estimates throughout the entire snow season. Validation is carried out by comparing the satellite snow depth monthly averages to monthly climatological data. We show that the location of the snow depth maxima and minima is improved when applying the combined algorithm, since its dynamic portion explicitly incorporate the thermal gradient through the snowpack. The results obtained are presented and evaluated for five different vegetation zones of Central Siberia. Comparison with in situ measurements is also shown and discussed. ?? 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Aircraft gamma-ray spectrometry in snow-water equivalent measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuittinen, R.; Vironmaeki, J.

    1979-01-01

    During the winter periods 1976-1977 and 1977-1978 the Hydrological Office at the National Board of Waters and the Geological Survey of Finland carried out a joint study to evaluate usefuluess of gamma-ray spectrometry in snow-water equivalent measurement. A multichannel gamma-ray spectrometer was fitted in a DC-3 aircraft. Fourteen snow courses were operated using both the gravimetric method and the gamma-ray method. The snow courses were located in southern Finland in forest, swamp and agricultural land. The results shows that the gamma ray method can be considered suitable for use in Finnish conditions and the accuracy of the gamma-ray method is almost of the same magnitude as the accuracy of the gravimetric method. (Auth.)

  11. Aircraft gamma-ray spectrometry in snow-water equivalent measurement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuittinen, R [National Board of Waters (Finland); Vironmaeki, J [Geological Survey of Finland

    1979-01-01

    During the winter periods 1976-1977 and 1977-1978 the Hydrological Office at the National Board of Waters and the Geological Survey of Finland carried out a joint study to evaluate usefuluess of gamma-ray spectrometry in snow-water equivalent measurement. A multichannel gamma-ray spectrometer was fitted in a DC-3 aircraft. Fourteen snow courses were operated using both the gravimetric method and the gamma-ray method. The snow courses were located in southern Finland in forest, swamp and agricultural land. The results shows that the gamma ray method can be considered suitable for use in Finnish conditions and the accuracy of the gamma-ray method is almost of the same magnitude as the accuracy of the gravimetric method.

  12. Validation of MODIS snow cover images over Austria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Parajka

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available This study evaluates the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS snow cover product over the territory of Austria. The aims are (a to analyse the spatial and temporal variability of the MODIS snow product classes, (b to examine the accuracy of the MODIS snow product against in situ snow depth data, and (c to identify the main factors that may influence the MODIS classification accuracy. We use daily MODIS grid maps (version 4 and daily snow depth measurements at 754 climate stations in the period from February 2000 to December 2005. The results indicate that, on average, clouds obscured 63% of Austria, which may significantly restrict the applicability of the MODIS snow cover images to hydrological modelling. On cloud-free days, however, the classification accuracy is very good with an average of 95%. There is no consistent relationship between the classification errors and dominant land cover type and local topographical variability but there are clear seasonal patterns to the errors. In December and January the errors are around 15% while in summer they are less than 1%. This seasonal pattern is related to the overall percentage of snow cover in Austria, although in spring, when there is a well developed snow pack, errors tend to be smaller than they are in early winter for the same overall percent snow cover. Overestimation and underestimation errors balance during most of the year which indicates little bias. In November and December, however, there appears to exist a tendency for overestimation. Part of the errors may be related to the temporal shift between the in situ snow depth measurements (07:00 a.m. and the MODIS acquisition time (early afternoon. The comparison of daily air temperature maps with MODIS snow cover images indicates that almost all MODIS overestimation errors are caused by the misclassification of cirrus clouds as snow.

  13. Survival of rapidly fluctuating natural low winter temperatures by High Arctic soil invertebrates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Convey, Peter; Abbandonato, Holly; Bergan, Frode

    2015-01-01

    The extreme polar environment creates challenges for its resident invertebrate communities and the stress tolerance of some of these animals has been examined over many years. However, although it is well appreciated that standard air temperature records often fail to describe accurately conditions...... microhabitats. To assess survival of natural High Arctic soil invertebrate communities contained in soil and vegetation cores to natural winter temperature variations, the overwintering temperatures they experienced were manipulated by deploying cores in locations with varying snow accumulation: No Snow...... and did not decrease below -12. °C. Those under deep snow were even more stable and did not decline below -2. °C. Despite these striking differences in winter thermal regimes, there were no clear differences in survival of the invertebrate fauna between treatments, including oribatid, prostigmatid...

  14. Mass balance re-analysis of Findelengletscher, Switzerland; benefits of extensive snow accumulation measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leo eSold

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available A re-analysis is presented here of a 10-year mass balance series at Findelengletscher, a temperate mountain glacier in Switzerland. Calculating glacier-wide mass balance from the set of glaciological point balance observations using conventional approaches, such as the profile or contour method, resulted in significant deviations from the reference value given by the geodetic mass change over a five-year period. This is attributed to the sparsity of observations at high elevations and to the inability of the evaluation schemes to adequately estimate accumulation in unmeasured areas. However, measurements of winter mass balance were available for large parts of the study period from snow probings and density pits. Complementary surveys by helicopter-borne ground-penetrating radar (GPR were conducted in three consecutive years. The complete set of seasonal observations was assimilated using a distributed mass balance model. This model-based extrapolation revealed a substantial mass loss at Findelengletscher of -0.43m w.e. a^-1 between 2004 and 2014, while the loss was less pronounced for its former tributary, Adlergletscher (-0.30m w.e. a^-1. For both glaciers, the resulting time series were within the uncertainty bounds of the geodetic mass change. We show that the model benefited strongly from the ability to integrate seasonal observations. If no winter mass balance measurements were available and snow cover was represented by a linear precipitation gradient, the geodetic mass balance was not matched. If winter balance measurements by snow probings and snow density pits were taken into account, the model performance was substantially improved but still showed a significant bias relative to the geodetic mass change. Thus the excellent agreement of the model-based extrapolation with the geodetic mass change was owed to an adequate representation of winter accumulation distribution by means of extensive GPR measurements.

  15. Limited dietary overlap amongst resident Arctic herbivores in winter: complementary insights from complementary methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Niels M; Mosbacher, Jesper B; Vesterinen, Eero J; Roslin, Tomas; Michelsen, Anders

    2018-04-26

    Snow may prevent Arctic herbivores from accessing their forage in winter, forcing them to aggregate in the few patches with limited snow. In High Arctic Greenland, Arctic hare and rock ptarmigan often forage in muskox feeding craters. We therefore hypothesized that due to limited availability of forage, the dietary niches of these resident herbivores overlap considerably, and that the overlap increases as winter progresses. To test this, we analyzed fecal samples collected in early and late winter. We used molecular analysis to identify the plant taxa consumed, and stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen to quantify the dietary niche breadth and dietary overlap. The plant taxa found indicated only limited dietary differentiation between the herbivores. As expected, dietary niches exhibited a strong contraction from early to late winter, especially for rock ptarmigan. This may indicate increasing reliance on particular plant resources as winter progresses. In early winter, the diet of rock ptarmigan overlapped slightly with that of muskox and Arctic hare. Contrary to our expectations, no inter-specific dietary niche overlap was observed in late winter. This overall pattern was specifically revealed by combined analysis of molecular data and stable isotope contents. Hence, despite foraging in the same areas and generally feeding on the same plant taxa, the quantitative dietary overlap between the three herbivores was limited. This may be attributable to species-specific consumption rates of plant taxa. Yet, Arctic hare and rock ptarmigan may benefit from muskox opening up the snow pack, thereby allowing them to access the plants.

  16. Effect assessment of Future Climate Change on Water Resource and Snow Quality in cold snowy regions in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taniguchi, Y.; Nakatsugawa, M.; Kudo, K.

    2017-12-01

    It is predicted that the effects of global warming on everyday life will be clearly seen in cold, snowy regions such as Hokkaido. In relation to climate change, there is the concern that the warmer climate will affect not only water resources, but also local economies, in snowy areas, when air temperature increases and snowfall decreases become more marked in the future. Communities whose economies are greatly dependent on snow as a tourism resource, such as for winter sports and snow events, will lose large numbers of visitors because of the shortened winter season. This study was done as a basic study to provide basic ideas for planning adaptation strategies against climate change based on the local characteristics of a cold, snowy region. By taking dam catchment basins in Hokkaido as the subject areas and by using the climate change prediction data that correspond to IPCCAR5, the local-level influence of future climate change on snowfall and snow quality in relation to water resources and winter sports was quantitatively assessed. The water budget was examined for a dam catchment basin in Hokkaido under the present climate (September 1984 to August 2004) and under the future climate (September 2080 to August 2100) by using rainfall, snowfall and evapotranspiration estimated by the LoHAS heat and water balance analysis model.The examination found that, under the future climate, the net annual precipitation will decrease by up to 200 mm because of decreases in precipitation and in runoff height that will result from increased evapotranspiration. The predicted decrease in annual hydro potential of snowfall was considered to greatly affect the dam reservoir operation during the snowmelt season. The snow quality analysis by SNOWPACK revealed that the future snow would become granular earlier than it does at present. Most skiers' snow preferences, from best to worst, are light dry snow (i.e., fresh snow), lightly compacted snow, compacted snow and, finally, granular

  17. Winter: Public Enemy #1 for Accessibility EXPLORING NEW SOLUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernesto Morales

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Winter is expensive. For countries situated in the northern hemisphere, closer to the north pole, such as Canada, Russia and Scandinavia, winter requires the acquisition of special clothing, car tires, and sports equipment, snow removal or plowing from the streets, and is associated with the presence of ice patches, along with accidents and illnesses associated with cold weather. Fall-related injuries due to winter conditions have been estimated to cost the Canadian health care system $ 2.8 billion a year. However, the greatest cost snow entails every year is the social isolation of seniors as well as wheelchair and walker users. This results from the lack of accessibility, as it is difficult to circulate on snow-covered streets even for the able-bodied. Social isolation has been associated with other negative consequences such as depression and even suicide. This exploratory pilot study aimed at finding possible and feasible design solutions for improving the accessibility of sidewalks during winter conditions. For this project we used a Co-Design methodology. Stakeholders (City of Quebec representatives, designers, urban planners, occupational therapists, and adults with motor, visual and aural disabilities were invited to participate in the design process. In order to meet the objectives, two main steps were carried out: 1. Conception of the design solutions (through Co-design sessions in a Focus-group format with seniors, designers and researchers; and 2. Validation of the design solutions (consultation with experts and stakeholders. The results are a wide variety of possible and feasible solutions, including the reorganisation of the snow-removal procedure and the development of heated curb cuts. This project was funded by the City of Quebec in partnership with the Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS. Ultimately, the project sought to explore possible solutions to be implemented

  18. Intercomparison and validation of snow albedo parameterization schemes in climate models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pedersen, Christina A.; Winther, Jan-Gunnar [Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsoe (Norway)

    2005-09-01

    Snow albedo is known to be crucial for heat exchange at high latitudes and high altitudes, and is also an important parameter in General Circulation Models (GCMs) because of its strong positive feedback properties. In this study, seven GCM snow albedo schemes and a multiple linear regression model were intercompared and validated against 59 years of in situ data from Svalbard, the French Alps and six stations in the former Soviet Union. For each site, the significant meteorological parameters for modeling the snow albedo were identified by constructing the 95% confidence intervals. The significant parameters were found to be: temperature, snow depth, positive degree day and a dummy of snow depth, and the multiple linear regression model was constructed to include these. Overall, the intercomparison showed that the modeled snow albedo varied more than the observed albedo for all models, and that the albedo was often underestimated. In addition, for several of the models, the snow albedo decreased at a faster rate or by a greater magnitude during the winter snow metamorphosis than the observed albedo. Both the temperature dependent schemes and the prognostic schemes showed shortcomings. (orig.)

  19. Comparison of the Spatiotemporal Variability of Temperature, Precipitation, and Maximum Daily Spring Flows in Two Watersheds in Quebec Characterized by Different Land Use

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali A. Assani

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We compared the spatiotemporal variability of temperatures and precipitation with that of the magnitude and timing of maximum daily spring flows in the geographically adjacent L’Assomption River (agricultural and Matawin River (forested watersheds during the period from 1932 to 2013. With regard to spatial variability, fall, winter, and spring temperatures as well as total precipitation are higher in the agricultural watershed than in the forested one. The magnitude of maximum daily spring flows is also higher in the first watershed as compared with the second, owing to substantial runoff, given that the amount of snow that gives rise to these flows is not significantly different in the two watersheds. These flows occur early in the season in the agricultural watershed because of the relatively high temperatures. With regard to temporal variability, minimum temperatures increased over time in both watersheds. Maximum temperatures in the fall only increased in the agricultural watershed. The amount of spring rain increased over time in both watersheds, whereas total precipitation increased significantly in the agricultural watershed only. However, the amount of snow decreased in the forested watershed. The magnitude of maximum daily spring flows increased over time in the forested watershed.

  20. Prevalence of Pure Versus Mixed Snow Cover Pixels across Spatial Resolutions in Alpine Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David J. Selkowitz

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Remote sensing of snow-covered area (SCA can be binary (indicating the presence/absence of snow cover at each pixel or fractional (indicating the fraction of each pixel covered by snow. Fractional SCA mapping provides more information than binary SCA, but is more difficult to implement and may not be feasible with all types of remote sensing data. The utility of fractional SCA mapping relative to binary SCA mapping varies with the intended application as well as by spatial resolution, temporal resolution and period of interest, and climate. We quantified the frequency of occurrence of partially snow-covered (mixed pixels at spatial resolutions between 1 m and 500 m over five dates at two study areas in the western U.S., using 0.5 m binary SCA maps derived from high spatial resolution imagery aggregated to fractional SCA at coarser spatial resolutions. In addition, we used in situ monitoring to estimate the frequency of partially snow-covered conditions for the period September 2013–August 2014 at 10 60-m grid cell footprints at two study areas with continental snow climates. Results from the image analysis indicate that at 40 m, slightly above the nominal spatial resolution of Landsat, mixed pixels accounted for 25%–93% of total pixels, while at 500 m, the nominal spatial resolution of MODIS bands used for snow cover mapping, mixed pixels accounted for 67%–100% of total pixels. Mixed pixels occurred more commonly at the continental snow climate site than at the maritime snow climate site. The in situ data indicate that some snow cover was present between 186 and 303 days, and partial snow cover conditions occurred on 10%–98% of days with snow cover. Four sites remained partially snow-free throughout most of the winter and spring, while six sites were entirely snow covered throughout most or all of the winter and spring. Within 60 m grid cells, the late spring/summer transition from snow-covered to snow-free conditions lasted 17–56 days

  1. Impact of the snow cover scheme on snow distribution and energy budget modeling over the Tibetan Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Zhipeng; Hu, Zeyong; Xie, Zhenghui; Jia, Binghao; Sun, Genhou; Du, Yizhen; Song, Haiqing

    2018-02-01

    This paper presents the impact of two snow cover schemes (NY07 and SL12) in the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5) on the snow distribution and surface energy budget over the Tibetan Plateau. The simulated snow cover fraction (SCF), snow depth, and snow cover days were evaluated against in situ snow depth observations and a satellite-based snow cover product and snow depth dataset. The results show that the SL12 scheme, which considers snow accumulation and snowmelt processes separately, has a higher overall accuracy (81.8%) than the NY07 (75.8%). The newer scheme performs better in the prediction of overall accuracy compared with the NY07; however, SL12 yields a 15.1% underestimation rate while NY07 overestimated the SCF with a 15.2% overestimation rate. Both two schemes capture the distribution of the maximum snow depth well but show large positive biases in the average value through all periods (3.37, 3.15, and 1.48 cm for NY07; 3.91, 3.52, and 1.17 cm for SL12) and overestimate snow cover days compared with the satellite-based product and in situ observations. Higher altitudes show larger root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) in the simulations of snow depth and snow cover days during the snow-free period. Moreover, the surface energy flux estimations from the SL12 scheme are generally superior to the simulation from NY07 when evaluated against ground-based observations, in particular for net radiation and sensible heat flux. This study has great implications for further improvement of the subgrid-scale snow variations over the Tibetan Plateau.

  2. Cartographic modelling of aerotechnogenic pollution in snow cover in the landscapes of the Kola Peninsula.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratkin, N E; Asming, V E; Koshkin, V V

    2001-01-01

    The goal of this work was to develop computational techniques for sulphates, nickel and copper accumulation in the snow in the local pollution zone. The main task was to reveal the peculiarities of formation and pollution of snow cover on the region with complex cross-relief. A digital cartographic model of aerotechnogenic pollution of snow cover in the landscapes of the local zone has been developed, based on five-year experimental data. Data regarding annual emissions from the industrial complex, information about distribution of wind and the sum of precipitation from meteostation "Nikel" for the winter period, allowed the model to ensure: * material presentation in the form of maps of water capacity and accumulation of sulphates, nickel and copper in the snow over any winter period in retrospective; * calculation of water capacity and accumulation of pollutants for watersheds and other natural-territorial complexes; * solution of the opposite problem about the determination of the emissions of sulphates, nickel and copper from the enterprise by measuring snow pollution in datum points. The model can be used in other northern regions of the Russian Federation with similar physical-geographical and climatic conditions. The relationships between the sum of precipitation and water capacity in the landscapes of the same type and also the relationships between pollution content in snow and relief, pollution content in snow and distance from the source of emissions, were used as the basis for the model.

  3. How much of stream and groundwater comes from snow? A stable isotope perspective in the Swiss Alps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beria, H.; Schaefli, B.; Ceperley, N. C.; Michelon, A.; Larsen, J.

    2017-12-01

    Precipitation which once fell as snow is predicted to fall more often as liquid rain now that climate is, and continues, warming. Within snow dominated areas, preferential winter groundwater recharge has been observed, however a shorter winter season and smaller snow fraction results in earlier snowmelt and thinner snowpacks. This has the potential to change the supply of snow water sources to both streams and groundwater, which has important implications for flow regimes and water resources. Stable isotopes of water (2H and 18O) allow us to discriminate rain vs snow signatures within water flowing in the stream or the subsurface. Using one year of isotope data collected in a Swiss Alpine catchment (Vallon de Nant, Vaud), we developed novel forward Bayesian mixing models, based on statistical and empirical likelihoods, to quantify source contributions and uncertainty estimates. To account for the spatial heterogeneity in precipitation isotopes, we parameterized the model accounting for elevation effects on isotopes, calculated using the network of GNIP stations in Switzerland. Instead of sampling meltwater, we sampled snowpack throughout the season and across a steep elevation gradient (1241m to 2455m) to infer the snowmelt transformation factor. Due to continuous mixing within the snowpack, the snowmelt water shows much lower variability in its isotopic range which is reflected in the snow transformation factor. Snowmelt yield to groundwater recharge per unit amount of precipitation was found to be greater than rainfall in Vallon de Nant, suggesting strongly preferential winter recharge. Seasonal dynamics of stream responses to rain-on-snow events, fog deposition, snowmelt and summer rain were also explored. Innovative monitoring and sampling with tools such as stable isotopes and forward Bayesian mixing models are key to improved comprehension of global recharge mechanisms.

  4. Scales of snow depth variability in high elevation rangeland sagebrush

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tedesche, Molly E.; Fassnacht, Steven R.; Meiman, Paul J.

    2017-09-01

    In high elevation semi-arid rangelands, sagebrush and other shrubs can affect transport and deposition of wind-blown snow, enabling the formation of snowdrifts. Datasets from three field experiments were used to investigate the scales of spatial variability of snow depth around big mountain sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) at a high elevation plateau rangeland in North Park, Colorado, during the winters of 2002, 2003, and 2008. Data were collected at multiple resolutions (0.05 to 25 m) and extents (2 to 1000 m). Finer scale data were collected specifically for this study to examine the correlation between snow depth, sagebrush microtopography, the ground surface, and the snow surface, as well as the temporal consistency of snow depth patterns. Variograms were used to identify the spatial structure and the Moran's I statistic was used to determine the spatial correlation. Results show some temporal consistency in snow depth at several scales. Plot scale snow depth variability is partly a function of the nature of individual shrubs, as there is some correlation between the spatial structure of snow depth and sagebrush, as well as between the ground and snow depth. The optimal sampling resolution appears to be 25-cm, but over a large area, this would require a multitude of samples, and thus a random stratified approach is recommended with a fine measurement resolution of 5-cm.

  5. Performance tests of snow-related variables over the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas using a new version of NASA GEOS-5 land surface model that includes the snow darkening effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasunari, T. J.; Lau, W. K.; Koster, R. D.; Suarez, M.; Mahanama, S. P.; da Silva, A.; Colarco, P. R.

    2011-12-01

    used. During winter over the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas, the three simulations performed similarly due to frequent snowfalls that reduced snow darkening at the snow surface. In spring, both Case (2) and Case (3) outperformed Case (1) (compared to MODIS-based snow cover fractions [SCFs]), presumably because the original LSM used maximum snow albedos that were too low, leading to excessive melting. The aerosol depositions used in Case (3) are probably overestimated, since they are based on mean GOCART deposition rates in the pre-monsoon period; even so, Case (3) still outperforms Case (1), indicating that the new snow albedo code improves the treatment of snow processes over the Tibetan and Himalayan regions. On the day of the presentation, we also intend to show additional results that address time-varying aerosol depositions from GOCART on the simulation of snow.

  6. A Prognostic Methodology for Precipitation Phase Detection using GPM Microwave Observations —With Focus on Snow Cover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takbiri, Z.; Ebtehaj, A.; Foufoula-Georgiou, E.; Kirstetter, P.

    2017-12-01

    Improving satellite retrieval of precipitation requires increased understanding of its passive microwave signature over different land surfaces. Passive microwave signals over snow-covered surfaces are notoriously difficult to interpret because they record both emission from the land below and absorption/scattering from the liquid/ice crystals. Using data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core satellite, we demonstrate that the microwave brightness temperatures of rain and snowfall shifts from a scattering to an emission regime from summer to winter, due to expansion of the less emissive snow cover underneath. We present evidence that the combination of low- (10-19 GHz) and high-frequency (89-166 GHz) channels provides the maximum amount of information for snowfall detection. The study also examines a prognostic nearest neighbor matching method for the detection of precipitation and its phase from passive microwave observations using GPM data. The nearest neighbor uses the weighted Euclidean distance metric to search through an a priori database that is populated with coincident GPM radiometer and radar data as well as ancillary snow cover fraction. The results demonstrate prognostic capabilities of the proposed method in detection of terrestrial snowfall. At the global scale, the average probability of hit and false alarm reaches to 0.80 and remains below 0.10, respectively. Surprisingly, the results show that the snow cover may help to better detect precipitation as the detection rate of terrestrial precipitation is increased from 0.75 (no snow cover) to 0.84 (snow-covered surfaces). For solid precipitation, this increased rate of detection is larger than its liquid counterpart by almost 8%. The main reasons are found to be related to the multi-frequency capabilities of the nearest neighbor matching that can properly isolate the atmospheric signal from the background emission and the fact that the precipitation can exhibit an emission-like (warmer

  7. New Perspectives on Blowing Snow Transport, Sublimation, and Layer Thermodynamic Structure over Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palm, Steve; Kayetha, Vinay; Yang, Yuekui; Pauly, Rebecca M.

    2017-01-01

    Blowing snow over Antarctica is a widespread and frequent event. Satellite remote sensing using lidar has shown that blowing snow occurs over 70% of the time over large areas of Antarctica in winter. The transport and sublimation of blowing snow are important terms in the ice sheet mass balance equation and the latter is also an important part of the hydrological cycle. Until now the only way to estimate the magnitude of these processes was through model parameterization. We present a technique that uses direct satellite observations of blowing snow and model (MERRA-2) temperature and humidity fields to compute both transport and sublimation of blowing snow over Antarctica for the period 2006 to 2016. The results show a larger annual continent-wide integrated sublimation than current published estimates and a significant transport of snow from continent to ocean. The talk will also include the lidar backscatter structure of blowing snow layers that often reach heights of 200 to 300 m as well as the first dropsonde measurements of temperature, moisture and wind through blowing snow layers.

  8. Shielding effect of snow cover on indoor exposure due to terrestrial gamma radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujimoto, Kenzo; Kobayashi, Sadayoshi

    1988-01-01

    Many people in the world live in high latitude region where it snows frequently in winter. When snow covers the ground, it considerably reduces the external exposure from the radiation sources in the ground. Therefore, the evaluation of snow effect on exposure due to terrestrial gamma radiation is necessary to obtain the population dose as well as the absorbed dose in air in snowy regions. Especially the shielding effect on indoor exposure is essentially important in the assessment of population dose since most individuals spend a large portion of their time indoors. The snow effect, however, has been rather neglected or assumed to be the same both indoors and outdoors in the population dose calculation. Snow has been recognized only as a cause of temporal variation of outdoor exposure rate due firstly to radon daughters deposition with snow fall and secondly to the shielding effect of snow cover. This paper describes an approach to the evaluation of shielding effect of snow cover on exposure and introduces population dose calculation as numerical example for the people who live in wooden houses in Japan

  9. The Impacts of Pine Tree Die-Off on Snow Accumulation and Distribution at Plot to Catchment Scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biederman, J. A.; Harpold, A. A.; Gutmann, E. D.; Reed, D. E.; Gochis, D. J.; Brooks, P. D.

    2011-12-01

    Seasonal snow cover is a primary water source throughout much of Western North America, where insect-induced tree die-off is changing the montane landscape. Widespread mortality from insects or drought differs from well-studied cases of fire and logging in that tree mortality is not accompanied by other immediate biophysical changes. Much of the impacted landscape is a mosaic of stands of varying species, structure, management history and health overlain on complex terrain. To address the challenge of predicting the effects of forest die-off on snow water input, we quantified snow accumulation and ablation at scales ranging from individual trees, through forest stands, to nested small catchments. Our study sites in Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming are dominated by lodgepole pine, but they include forest stands that are naturally developed, managed and clear-cut with varying mortality from Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB). Our record for winters 2010 and 2011 includes continuous meteorological data and snow depth in plots with varying MPB impact as well as stand- to catchment-scale snow surveys mid-winter and near maximal accumulation. At the plot scale, snow depth sensors in healthy stands recorded greater inputs during storms (21-42% of depth) and greater seasonal accumulation (15-40%) in canopy gaps than under trees, whereas no spatial effects of canopy geometry were observed in stands with heavy mortality. Similar patterns were observed in snow surveys near peak accumulation. At both impacted and thinned sites, spatial variability in snow depth was more closely associated with larger scale topography and changes in stand structure than with canopy cover. The role of aspect in ablation was observed to increase in impacted stands as both shading and wind attenuation decreased. Evidence of wind-controlled snow distribution was found 80-100 meters from exposed stand edges in impacted forest as compared to 10-15 meters in healthy forest. Integrating from the scale of

  10. Spatiotemporal variability in surface energy balance across tundra, snow and ice in Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Magnus; Stiegler, Christian; Abermann, Jakob

    2017-01-01

    The surface energy balance (SEB) is essential for understanding the coupled cryosphere–atmosphere system in the Arctic. In this study, we investigate the spatiotemporal variability in SEB across tundra, snow and ice. During the snow-free period, the main energy sink for ice sites is surface melt....... For tundra, energy is used for sensible and latent heat flux and soil heat flux leading to permafrost thaw. Longer snow-free period increases melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and glaciers and may promote tundra permafrost thaw. During winter, clouds have a warming effect across surface types whereas during...

  11. Investigation of some regularities of the contamination of the surface snow in the ChAPP region in January-February 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glazunov, V.O.; Amosov, M.M.; Eldashev, V.V.; Draj, O.N.; Pashevich, V.I.

    1989-01-01

    The data on the surface snow radioactivity inspection obtained in winter 1987 are analyzed. A share of individual radionuclides in the general pollution of surface snow is considered. Changes in general and individual nuclide contamination dependent of the azimuth and distance are presented. A disperse content of contaminants in the surface snow is analyzed. The sampling techniques and snow sample preparation for γ-spectrometry are reported. 5 refs., 8 figs., 7 tabs

  12. Identification and evaluation of slip and fall risk on ice and snow

    OpenAIRE

    Gao, Chuansi

    2001-01-01

    Roads and pavements covered with ice and snow during winter in the Nordic and other cold regions are slippery, which result in the prevalence of slip and fall accidents among not only the public, but also outdoor workers. Literature and injury statistics revealed that the most frequently specified contributory factor for occupational slip, trip and fall accidents in Sweden is snow and ice. Road accident research showed that the largest numbers of traffic casualties occurred during walking, fo...

  13. Snow management practices in French ski resorts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spandre, Pierre; Francois, Hugues; George-Marcelpoil, Emmanuelle; Morin, Samuel

    2016-04-01

    Winter tourism plays a fundamental role in the economy of French mountain regions but also in other countries such as Austria, USA or Canada. Ski operators originally developed grooming methods to provide comfortable and safe skiing conditions. The interannual variability of snow conditions and the competition with international destinations and alternative tourism activities encouraged ski resorts to mitigate their dependency to weather conditions through snowmaking facilities. However some regions may not be able to produce machine made snow due to inadequate conditions and low altitude resorts are still negatively impacted by low snow seasons. In the meantime, even though the operations of high altitude resorts do not show any dependency to the snow conditions they invest in snowmaking facilities. Such developments of snowmaking facilities may be related to a confused and contradictory perception of climate change resulting in individualistic evolutions of snowmaking facilities, also depending on ski resorts main features such as their altitude and size. Concurrently with the expansion of snowmaking facilities, a large range of indicators have been used to discuss the vulnerability of ski resorts such as the so-called "100 days rule" which was widely used with specific thresholds (i.e. minimum snow depth, dates) and constraints (i.e. snowmaking capacity). The present study aims to provide a detailed description of snow management practices and major priorities in French ski resorts with respect to their characteristics. We set up a survey in autumn 2014, collecting data from 56 French ski operators. We identify the priorities of ski operators and describe their snowmaking and grooming practices and facilities. The operators also provided their perception of the ski resort vulnerability to snow and economic challenges which we could compare with the actual snow conditions and ski lift tickets sales during the period from 2001 to 2012.

  14. Optical Benson: Following the Impact of Melt Season Progression Using Landsat and Sentinel 2 - Snow Zone Formation Imaged

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fahnestock, M. A.; Shuman, C. A.; Alley, K. E.

    2017-12-01

    Snow pit observations on a glaciologically-focussed surface traverse in Greenland allowed Benson [1962, SIPRE (now CRREL) Research Report 70] to define a series of snow zones based on the extent of post-depositional diagenesis of the snowpack. At high elevations, Benson found fine-grained "dry snow" where melt (at that time) was absent year-round, followed down-elevation by a "percolation zone" where surface melt penetrated the snowpack, then a "wet snow zone" where firn became saturated during the peak of the melt season, and finally "superimposed ice" and "bare ice" zones where refrozen surface melt and glacier ice were exposed in the melt season. These snow zones can be discriminated in winter synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery of the ice sheet (e.g. Fahnestock et al. 2001), but summer melt reduces radar backscatter and makes it difficult to follow the progression of diagenesis beyond the initial indications of surface melting. While some of the impacts of surface melt (especially bands of blue water-saturated firn) are observed from time to time in optical satellite imagery, it has only become possible to map effects of melt over the course of a summer season with the advent of large-data analysis tools such as Google Earth Engine and the inclusion of Landsat and Sentinel-2 data streams in these tools. A map of the maximum extent of this blue saturated zone through the 2016 melt season is shown in the figure. This image is a true color (RGB) composite, but each pixel in the image shows the color of the surface when the "blueness" of the pixel was at a maximum. This means each pixel can be from a different satellite image acquisition than adjacent pixels - but it also means that the maximum extent of the saturated firn (Benson's wet snow zone) is visible. Also visible are percolation, superimposed and bare ice zones. This analysis, using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager data, was performed using Google Earth Engine to access and analyze the entire melt

  15. Snow and ice blocking of tunnels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lia, Leif

    1998-12-31

    Hydroelectric power development in cold regions causes much concern about operational reliability and dam safety. This thesis studies the temperature distribution in tunnels by means of air temperature measurements in six tunnel spillways and five diversion tunnels. The measurements lasted for two consecutive winters. The air through flow tunnel is used as it causes cooling of both rock and water. In open spillway tunnels, frost reaches the entire tunnel. In spillway tunnels with walls, the frost zones reach about 100 m from the downstream end. In mildly-inclined diversion tunnels, a frost free zone is located in the middle of the tunnel and snow and ice problems were only observed in the inlet and outlet. Severe aufeis is accumulation is observed in the frost zones. The heat transfer from rock to air, water and ice is calculated and used in a prediction model for the calculation of aufeis build-up together with local field observation data. The water penetration of snow plugs is also calculated, based on the heat balance. It takes 20 to 50 days for water to enter the blocked tunnel. The empirical values are 30 to 60 days, but only 1 day if the temperature of the snow pack is 0{sup o}C. Sensitivity analyses are carried out for temperature variations in rock, snow, water and ice. Systematic field observation shows that it is important for hydropower companies to know about the effects of snow and ice blocking in an area. A risk analysis of dam safety is presented for a real case. Finally, the thesis proposes solutions which can reduce the snow and ice problems. 79 refs., 63 figs., 11 tabs.

  16. Statistical downscaling of regional climate scenarios for the French Alps : Impacts on snow cover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rousselot, M.; Durand, Y.; Giraud, G.; Mérindol, L.; Déqué, M.; Sanchez, E.; Pagé, C.; Hasan, A.

    2010-12-01

    Mountain areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Owing to the complexity of mountain terrain, climate research at scales relevant for impacts studies and decisive for stakeholders is challenging. A possible way to bridge the gap between these fine scales and those of the general circulation models (GCMs) consists of combining high-resolution simulations of Regional Climate Models (RCMs) to statistical downscaling methods. The present work is based on such an approach. It aims at investigating the impacts of climate change on snow cover in the French Alps for the periods 2021-2050 and 2071-2100 under several IPCC hypotheses. An analogue method based on high resolution atmospheric fields from various RCMs and climate reanalyses is used to simulate local climate scenarios. These scenarios, which provide meteorological parameters relevant for snowpack evolution, subsequently feed the CROCUS snow model. In these simulations, various sources of uncertainties are thus considered (several greenhouse gases emission scenarios and RCMs). Results are obtained for different regions of the French Alps at various altitudes. For all scenarios, temperature increase is relatively uniform over the Alps. This regional warming is larger than that generally modeled at the global scale (IPCC, 2007), and particularly strong in summer. Annual precipitation amounts seem to decrease, mainly as a result of decreasing precipitation trends in summer and fall. As a result of these climatic evolutions, there is a general decrease of the mean winter snow depth and seasonal snow duration for all massifs. Winter snow depths are particularly reduced in the Northern Alps. However, the impact on seasonal snow duration is more significant in the Southern and Extreme Southern Alps, since these regions are already characterized by small winter snow depths at low elevations. Reference : IPCC (2007a). Climate change 2007 : The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the

  17. Snow and Ice Crust Changes over Northern Eurasia since 1966

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulygina, O.; Groisman, P. Y.; Razuvaev, V.; Radionov, V.

    2009-12-01

    When temperature of snow cover reaches zero Celsius first time since its establishment, snowmelt starts. In many parts of the world this process can be lengthy. The initial amount of heat that “arrives” to the snowpack might be insufficient for complete snowmelt, during the colder nights re-freeze of the melted snow may occur (thus creating the ice crust layers), and a new cold front (or the departure of the warm front that initiated melt) can decrease temperatures below the freezing point again and stop the snowmelt completely. It well can be that first such snowmelt occurs in winter (thaw day) and for several months thereafter snowpack stays on the ground. However, even the first such melt initiates a process of snow metamorphosis on its surface changing snow albedo and generating snow crust as well as on its bottom generating ice crust. Once emerged, the crusts will not disappear until the complete snowmelt. Furthermore, these crusts have numerous pathways of impact on the wild birds and animals in the Arctic environment as well as on domesticated reindeers. In extreme cases, the crusts may kill some wild species and prevent reindeers’ migration and feeding. Ongoing warming in high latitudes created situations when in the western half of Eurasian continent days with thaw became more frequent. Keeping in mind potential detrimental impacts of winter thaws and associated with them snow/ice crust development, it is worthwhile to study directly what are the major features of snow and ice crust over Eurasia and what is their dynamics. For the purpose of this study, we employed the national snow survey data set archived at the Russian Institute for Hydrometeorological Information. The dataset has routine snow surveys run throughout the cold season each decade (during the intense snowmelt, each 5 days) at all meteorological stations of the former USSR, thereafter, in Russia since 1966. Prior to 1966 snow surveys are also available but the methodology of

  18. Travel in adverse winter weather conditions by blind pedestrians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-08-31

    Winter weather creates many orientation and mobility (O&M) challenges for people who are visually impaired. Getting the cane tip stuck is one of the noticeable challenges when traveling in snow, particularly when the walking surface is covered in dee...

  19. Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. P. Palm

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Blowing snow processes commonly occur over the earth's ice sheets when the 10 m wind speed exceeds a threshold value. These processes play a key role in the sublimation and redistribution of snow thereby influencing the surface mass balance. Prior field studies and modeling results have shown the importance of blowing snow sublimation and transport on the surface mass budget and hydrological cycle of high-latitude regions. For the first time, we present continent-wide estimates of blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica for the period 2006–2016 based on direct observation of blowing snow events. We use an improved version of the blowing snow detection algorithm developed for previous work that uses atmospheric backscatter measurements obtained from the CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization lidar aboard the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite. The blowing snow events identified by CALIPSO and meteorological fields from MERRA-2 are used to compute the blowing snow sublimation and transport rates. Our results show that maximum sublimation occurs along and slightly inland of the coastline. This is contrary to the observed maximum blowing snow frequency which occurs over the interior. The associated temperature and moisture reanalysis fields likely contribute to the spatial distribution of the maximum sublimation values. However, the spatial pattern of the sublimation rate over Antarctica is consistent with modeling studies and precipitation estimates. Overall, our results show that the 2006–2016 Antarctica average integrated blowing snow sublimation is about 393 ± 196 Gt yr−1, which is considerably larger than previous model-derived estimates. We find maximum blowing snow transport amount of 5 Mt km−1 yr−1 over parts of East Antarctica and estimate that the average snow transport from continent to ocean is about 3.7 Gt yr−1. These

  20. Learn Mac OS X Snow Leopard

    CERN Document Server

    Meyers, Scott

    2009-01-01

    You're smart and savvy, but also busy. This comprehensive guide to Apple's Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard, gives you everything you need to know to live a happy, productive Mac life. Learn Mac OS X Snow Leopard will have you up and connected lickity split. With a minimum of overhead and a maximum of useful information, you'll cover a lot of ground in the time it takes other books to get you plugged in. If this isn't your first experience with Mac OS X, skip right to the "What's New in Snow Leopard" sections. You may also find yourself using this book as a quick refresher course or a way

  1. Snow measurement Using P-Band Signals of Opportunity Reflectometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, R.; Yueh, S. H.; Xu, X.; Elder, K.

    2017-12-01

    Snow water storage in land is a critical parameter of the water cycle. In this study, we develop methods for estimating reflectance from bistatic scattering of digital communication Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) across the available microwave spectrum from VHF to Ka band and show results from proof-of-concept experiments at the Fraser Experimental Forest, Colorado to acquire measurements to relate the SoOp phase and reflectivity to a snow-covered soil surface. The forward modeling of this scenario will be presented and multiple sensitivities were conducted. Available SoOp receiver data along with a network of in situ sensor measurements collected since January 2016 will be used to validate theoretical modeling results. In the winter season of 2016 and 2017, we conducted a field experiment using VHF/UHF-band illuminating sources to detect SWE and surface reflectivity. The amplitude of the reflectivity showed sensitivity to the wetness of snow pack and ground reflectivity while the phase showed sensitivity to SWE. This use of this concept can be helpful to measure the snow water storage in land globally.

  2. Influence of winter season climate variability on snow-precipitation ratio in the western United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammad Safeeq; Shraddhanand Shukla; Ivan Arismendi; Gordon E. Grant; Sarah L. Lewis; Anne Nolin

    2015-01-01

    In the western United States, climate warming poses a unique threat to water and snow hydrology because much of the snowpack accumulates at temperatures near 0 °C. As the climate continues to warm, much of the region's precipitation is expected to switch from snow to rain, causing flashier hydrographs, earlier inflow to reservoirs, and reduced spring and summer...

  3. Evaluation of the Viking-Cives towplow for winter maintenance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    To maximize efficiency while minimizing costs within ODOTs winter maintenance budget, ODOT is : evaluating new methods of snow and ice removal. One method is the use of the Viking-Cives TowPlow. The : TowPlow is pulled behind a tandem axle truck a...

  4. SWANN: The Snow Water Artificial Neural Network Modelling System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broxton, P. D.; van Leeuwen, W.; Biederman, J. A.

    2017-12-01

    Snowmelt from mountain forests is important for water supply and ecosystem health. Along Arizona's Mogollon Rim, snowmelt contributes to rivers and streams that provide a significant water supply for hydro-electric power generation, agriculture, and human consumption in central Arizona. In this project, we are building a snow monitoring system for the Salt River Project (SRP), which supplies water and power to millions of customers in the Phoenix metropolitan area. We are using process-based hydrological models and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to generate information about both snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow cover. The snow-cover data is generated with ANNs that are applied to Landsat and MODIS satellite reflectance data. The SWE data is generated using a combination of gridded SWE estimates generated by process-based snow models and ANNs that account for variations in topography, forest cover, and solar radiation. The models are trained and evaluated with snow data from SNOTEL stations as well as from aerial LiDAR and field data that we collected this past winter in northern Arizona, as well as with similar data from other sites in the Southwest US. These snow data are produced in near-real time, and we have built a prototype decision support tool to deliver them to SRP. This tool is designed to provide daily-to annual operational monitoring of spatial and temporal changes in SWE and snow cover conditions over the entire Salt River Watershed (covering 17,000 km2), and features advanced web mapping capabilities and watershed analytics displayed as graphical data.

  5. Snow cover dynamics in Andean watersheds of Chile (32.0-39.5° S) during the years 2000-2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stehr, Alejandra; Aguayo, Mauricio

    2017-10-01

    Andean watersheds present important snowfall accumulation mainly during the winter, which melts during the spring and part of the summer. The effect of snowmelt on the water balance can be critical to sustain agriculture activities, hydropower generation, urban water supplies and wildlife. In Chile, 25 % of the territory between the region of Valparaiso and Araucanía comprises areas where snow precipitation occurs. As in many other difficult-to-access regions of the world, there is a lack of hydrological data of the Chilean Andes related to discharge, snow courses, and snow depths, which complicates the analysis of important hydrological processes (e.g. water availability). Remote sensing provides a promising opportunity to enhance the assessment and monitoring of the spatial and temporal variability of snow characteristics, such as the snow cover area (SCA) and snow cover dynamic (SCD). With regards to the foregoing questions, the objective of the study is to evaluate the spatiotemporal dynamics of the SCA at five watersheds (Aconcagua, Rapel, Maule, Biobío and Toltén) located in the Chilean Andes, between latitude 32.0 and 39.5° S, and to analyse its relationship with the precipitation regime/pattern and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Those watersheds were chosen because of their importance in terms of their number of inhabitants, and economic activities depending on water resources. The SCA area was obtained from MOD10A2 for the period 2000-2016, and the SCD was analysed through a number of statistical tests to explore observed trends. In order to verify the SCA for trend analysis, a validation of the MOD10A2 product was done, consisting of the comparison of snow presence predicted by MODIS with ground observations. Results indicate that there is an overall agreement of 81 to 98 % between SCA determined from ground observations and MOD10A2, showing that the MODIS snow product can be taken as a feasible remote sensing tool for SCA estimation in

  6. Research of Snow-Melt Process on a Heated Platform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasilyev Gregory P.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article has shown the results of experimental researches of the snow-melt on a heated platform-near building heat-pump snow-melt platform. The near-building (yard heat pump platforms for snow melt with the area up to 10-15 m2 are a basis of the new ideology of organization of the street cleaning of Moscow from snow in the winter period which supposes the creation in the megalopolis of the «distributed snow-melt system» (DSMS using non-traditional energy sources. The results of natural experimental researches are presented for the estimation of efficiency of application in the climatic conditions of Moscow of heat pumps in the snow-melt systems. The researches were conducted on a model sample of the near-building heat-pump platform which uses the low-potential thermal energy of atmospheric air. The conducted researches have confirmed experimentally in the natural conditions the possibility and efficiency of using of atmospheric air as a source of low-potential thermal energy for evaporation of the snow-melt heat pump systems in the climatic conditions of Moscow. The results of laboratory researches of snow-melt process on a heated horizontal platform are presented. The researches have revealed a considerable dependence of efficiency of the snow-melt process on its piling mode (form-building and the organization of the process of its piling mode (form-building and the organization of the process of its (snow mass heat exchange with the surface of the heated platform. In the process of researches the effect of formation of an «ice dome» under the melting snow mass called by the fact that in case of the thickness of snow loaded on the platform more than 10 cm the water formed from the melting snow while the contact with the heating surface don’t spread on it, but soaks into the snow, wets it due to capillary effect and freezes. The formation of «ice dome» leads to a sharp increase of snow-melt period and decreases the operating

  7. Terra Data Confirm Warm, Dry U.S. Winter

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-01-01

    New maps of land surface temperature and snow cover produced by NASA's Terra satellite show this year's winter was warmer than last year's, and the snow line stayed farther north than normal. The observations confirm earlier National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that the United States was unusually warm and dry this past winter. (Click to read the NASA press release and to access higher-resolution images.) For the last two years, a new sensor aboard Terra has been collecting the most detailed global measurements ever made of our world's land surface temperatures and snow cover. The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is already giving scientists new insights into our changing planet. Average temperatures during December 2001 through February 2002 for the contiguous United States appear to have been unseasonably warm from the Rockies eastward. In the top image the coldest temperatures appear black, while dark green, blue, red, yellow, and white indicate progressively warmer temperatures. MODIS observes both land surface temperature and emissivity, which indicates how efficiently a surface absorbs and emits thermal radiation. Compared to the winter of 2000-01, temperatures throughout much of the U.S. were warmer in 2001-02. The bottom image depicts the differences on a scale from dark blue (colder this year than last) to red (warmer this year than last). A large region of warm temperatures dominated the northern Great Plains, while the area around the Great Salt Lake was a cold spot. Images courtesy Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC, based upon data courtesy Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Science Team member at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Institute for Computational Earth System Science

  8. Arctic Sea Ice, Eurasia Snow, and Extreme Winter Haze in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Y.; Wang, Y.; Xie, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Koo, J. H.

    2017-12-01

    Eastern China is experiencing more severe haze pollution in winter during recent years. Though the environmental deterioration in this region is usually attributed to the high intensity of anthropogenic emissions and large contributions from secondary aerosol formation, the impact of climate variability is also indispensable given its significant influence on regional weather systems and pollution ventilation. Here we analyzed the air quality related winter meteorological conditions over Eastern China in the last four decades and showed a worsening trend in poor regional air pollutant ventilation. Such variations increased the probability of extreme air pollution events, which is in good agreement with aerosol observations of recent years. We further identified the key circulation pattern that is conducive to the weakening ventilation and investigated the relationship between synoptic circulation changes and multiple climate forcing variables. Both statistical analysis and numerical sensitivity experiments suggested that the poor ventilation condition is linked to boreal cryosphere changes including Arctic sea ice in preceding autumn and Eurasia snowfall in earlier winter. We conducted comprehensive dynamic diagnosis and proposed a physical mechanism to explain the observed and simulated circulation changes. At last, we examined future projections of winter extreme stagnation events based on the CMIP5 projection data.

  9. The origin of sea salt in snow on Arctic sea ice and in coastal regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Domine

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Snow, through its trace constituents, can have a major impact on lower tropospheric chemistry, as evidenced by ozone depletion events (ODEs in oceanic polar areas. These ODEs are caused by the chemistry of bromine compounds that originate from sea salt bromide. Bromide may be supplied to the snow surface by upward migration from sea ice, by frost flowers being wind-blown to the snow surface, or by wind-transported aerosol generated by sea spray. We investigate here the relative importance of these processes by analyzing ions in snow near Alert and Ny-Ålesund (Canadian and European high Arctic in winter and spring. Vertical ionic profiles in the snowpack on sea ice are measured to test upward migration of sea salt ions and to seek evidence for ion fractionation processes. Time series of the ionic composition of surface snow layers are investigated to quantify wind-transported ions. Upward migration of unfractionated sea salt to heights of at least 17cm was observed in winter snow, leading to Cl- concentration of several hundred µM. Upward migration thus has the potential to supply ions to surface snow layers. Time series show that wind can deposit aerosols to the top few cm of the snow, leading also to Cl- concentrations of several hundred µM, so that both diffusion from sea ice and wind transport can significantly contribute ions to snow. At Ny-Ålesund, sea salt transported by wind was unfractionated, implying that it comes from sea spray rather than frost flowers. Estimations based on our results suggest that the marine snowpack contains about 10 times more Na+ than the frost flowers, so that both the marine snowpack and frost flowers need to be considered as sea salt sources. Our data suggest that ozone depletion chemistry can significantly enhance the Br- content of snow. We speculate that this can also take place in coastal regions and contribute to propagate ODEs inland. Finally, we stress the need to measure snow physical parameters

  10. Snow Cover Monitoring Using MODIS Data in Liaoning Province, Northeastern China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Lu

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of snow cover monitoring studies in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, using MODIS data. Snow cover plays an important role in both the regional water balance and soil moisture properties during the early spring in northeastern China. In addition, heavy snowfalls commonly trigger hazards such as flooding, caused by rapid snow melt, or crop failure, resulting from fluctuations in soil temperature associated with changes in the snow cover. The latter is a function of both regional, or global, climatic changes, as well as fluctuations in the albedo resulting from variations in the Snow Covered Area (SCA. These impacts are crucial to human activities, especially to those living in middle-latitude areas such as Liaoning Province. Thus, SCA monitoring is currently an important tool in studies of global climate change, particularly because satellite remote sensing data provide timely and efficient snow cover information for large areas. In this study, MODIS L1B data, MODIS Daily Snow Products (MOD10A1 and MODIS 8-day Snow Products (MOD10A2 were used to monitor the SCA of Liaoning Province over the winter months of November–April, 2006–2008. The effects of cloud masking and forest masking on the snow monitoring results were also assessed. The results show that the SCA percentage derived from MODIS L1B data is relatively consistent, but slightly higher than that obtained from MODIS Snow Products. In situ data from 25 snow stations were used to assess the accuracy of snow cover monitoring from the SCA compared to the results from MODIS Snow Products. The studies found that the SCA results were more reliable than MODIS Snow Products in the study area.

  11. The History of Winter: teachers as scientists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenig, L.; Courville, Z.; Wasilewski, P. J.; Gow, T.; Bender, K. J.

    2013-12-01

    The History of Winter (HOW) is a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center-funded teacher enrichment program that was started by Dr. Peter Wasilewski (NASA), Dr. Robert Gabrys (NASA) and Dr. Tony Gow (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, or CRREL) in 2001 and continues with support and involvement of scientists from both the NASA Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory and CREEL. The program brings educators mostly from middle and high schools but also from state parks, community colleges and other institutions from across the US to the Northwood School (a small, private boarding school) in Lake Placid, NY for one week to learn about several facets of winter, polar, and snow research, including the science and history of polar ice core research, lake ice formation and structure, snow pack science, winter ecology, and remote sensing including current and future NASA cryospheric missions. The program receives support from the Northwood School staff to facilitate the program. The goal of the program is to create 'teachers as scientists' which is achieved through several hands-on field experiences in which the teachers have the opportunity to work with polar researchers from NASA, CRREL and partner Universities to dig and sample snow pits, make ice thin sections from lake ice, make snow shelters, and observe under-ice lake ecology. The hands-on work allows the teachers to use the same tools and techniques used in polar research while simultaneously introducing science concepts and activities to support their classroom work. The ultimate goal of the program is to provide the classroom teachers with the opportunity to learn about current and timely cryospheric research as well as to engage in real fieldwork experiences. The enthusiasm generated during the week-long program is translated into classroom activities with guidance from scientists, teachers and educational professionals. The opportunity to engage with polar researchers, both young investigators and renowned

  12. A Distributed Snow Evolution Modeling System (SnowModel)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liston, G. E.; Elder, K.

    2004-12-01

    A spatially distributed snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel) has been specifically designed to be applicable over a wide range of snow landscapes, climates, and conditions. To reach this goal, SnowModel is composed of four sub-models: MicroMet defines the meteorological forcing conditions, EnBal calculates surface energy exchanges, SnowMass simulates snow depth and water-equivalent evolution, and SnowTran-3D accounts for snow redistribution by wind. While other distributed snow models exist, SnowModel is unique in that it includes a well-tested blowing-snow sub-model (SnowTran-3D) for application in windy arctic, alpine, and prairie environments where snowdrifts are common. These environments comprise 68% of the seasonally snow-covered Northern Hemisphere land surface. SnowModel also accounts for snow processes occurring in forested environments (e.g., canopy interception related processes). SnowModel is designed to simulate snow-related physical processes occurring at spatial scales of 5-m and greater, and temporal scales of 1-hour and greater. These include: accumulation from precipitation; wind redistribution and sublimation; loading, unloading, and sublimation within forest canopies; snow-density evolution; and snowpack ripening and melt. To enhance its wide applicability, SnowModel includes the physical calculations required to simulate snow evolution within each of the global snow classes defined by Sturm et al. (1995), e.g., tundra, taiga, alpine, prairie, maritime, and ephemeral snow covers. The three, 25-km by 25-km, Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) mesoscale study areas (MSAs: Fraser, North Park, and Rabbit Ears) are used as SnowModel simulation examples to highlight model strengths, weaknesses, and features in forested, semi-forested, alpine, and shrubland environments.

  13. Influence of Western Tibetan Plateau Summer Snow Cover on East Asian Summer Rainfall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhibiao; Wu, Renguang; Chen, Shangfeng; Huang, Gang; Liu, Ge; Zhu, Lihua

    2018-03-01

    The influence of boreal winter-spring eastern Tibetan Plateau snow anomalies on the East Asian summer rainfall variability has been the focus of previous studies. The present study documents the impacts of boreal summer western and southern Tibetan Plateau snow cover anomalies on summer rainfall over East Asia. Analysis shows that more snow cover in the western and southern Tibetan Plateau induces anomalous cooling in the overlying atmospheric column. The induced atmospheric circulation changes are different corresponding to more snow cover in the western and southern Tibetan Plateau. The atmospheric circulation changes accompanying the western Plateau snow cover anomalies are more obvious over the midlatitude Asia, whereas those corresponding to the southern Plateau snow cover anomalies are more prominent over the tropics. As such, the western and southern Tibetan Plateau snow cover anomalies influence the East Asian summer circulation and precipitation through different pathways. Nevertheless, the East Asian summer circulation and precipitation anomalies induced by the western and southern Plateau snow cover anomalies tend to display similar distribution so that they are more pronounced when the western and southern Plateau snow cover anomalies work in coherence. Analysis indicates that the summer snow cover anomalies over the Tibetan Plateau may be related to late spring snow anomalies due to the persistence. The late spring snow anomalies are related to an obvious wave train originating from the western North Atlantic that may be partly associated with sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic Ocean.

  14. Snow sublimation in mountain environments and its sensitivity to forest disturbance and climate warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sexstone, Graham A.; Clow, David W.; Fassnacht, Steven R.; Liston, Glen E.; Hiemstra, Christopher A.; Knowles, John F.; Penn, Colin A.

    2018-01-01

    Snow sublimation is an important component of the snow mass balance, but the spatial and temporal variability of this process is not well understood in mountain environments. This study combines a process‐based snow model (SnowModel) with eddy covariance (EC) measurements to investigate (1) the spatio‐temporal variability of simulated snow sublimation with respect to station observations, (2) the contribution of snow sublimation to the ablation of the snowpack, and (3) the sensitivity and response of snow sublimation to bark beetle‐induced forest mortality and climate warming across the north‐central Colorado Rocky Mountains. EC‐based observations of snow sublimation compared well with simulated snow sublimation at stations dominated by surface and canopy sublimation, but blowing snow sublimation in alpine areas was not well captured by the EC instrumentation. Water balance calculations provided an important validation of simulated sublimation at the watershed scale. Simulated snow sublimation across the study area was equivalent to 28% of winter precipitation on average, and the highest relative snow sublimation fluxes occurred during the lowest snow years. Snow sublimation from forested areas accounted for the majority of sublimation fluxes, highlighting the importance of canopy and sub‐canopy surface sublimation in this region. Simulations incorporating the effects of tree mortality due to bark‐beetle disturbance resulted in a 4% reduction in snow sublimation from forested areas. Snow sublimation rates corresponding to climate warming simulations remained unchanged or slightly increased, but total sublimation losses decreased by up to 6% because of a reduction in snow covered area and duration.

  15. Canadian snow and sea ice: historical trends and projections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mudryk, Lawrence R.; Derksen, Chris; Howell, Stephen; Laliberté, Fred; Thackeray, Chad; Sospedra-Alfonso, Reinel; Vionnet, Vincent; Kushner, Paul J.; Brown, Ross

    2018-04-01

    The Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution (CanSISE) Network is a climate research network focused on developing and applying state of the art observational data to advance dynamical prediction, projections, and understanding of seasonal snow cover and sea ice in Canada and the circumpolar Arctic. Here, we present an assessment from the CanSISE Network on trends in the historical record of snow cover (fraction, water equivalent) and sea ice (area, concentration, type, and thickness) across Canada. We also assess projected changes in snow cover and sea ice likely to occur by mid-century, as simulated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) suite of Earth system models. The historical datasets show that the fraction of Canadian land and marine areas covered by snow and ice is decreasing over time, with seasonal and regional variability in the trends consistent with regional differences in surface temperature trends. In particular, summer sea ice cover has decreased significantly across nearly all Canadian marine regions, and the rate of multi-year ice loss in the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic Archipelago has nearly doubled over the last 8 years. The multi-model consensus over the 2020-2050 period shows reductions in fall and spring snow cover fraction and sea ice concentration of 5-10 % per decade (or 15-30 % in total), with similar reductions in winter sea ice concentration in both Hudson Bay and eastern Canadian waters. Peak pre-melt terrestrial snow water equivalent reductions of up to 10 % per decade (30 % in total) are projected across southern Canada.

  16. Arctic sea ice, Eurasia snow, and extreme winter haze in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yufei; Wang, Yuhang; Zhang, Yuzhong; Koo, Ja-Ho

    2017-03-01

    The East China Plains (ECP) region experienced the worst haze pollution on record for January in 2013. We show that the unprecedented haze event is due to the extremely poor ventilation conditions, which had not been seen in the preceding three decades. Statistical analysis suggests that the extremely poor ventilation conditions are linked to Arctic sea ice loss in the preceding autumn and extensive boreal snowfall in the earlier winter. We identify the regional circulation mode that leads to extremely poor ventilation over the ECP region. Climate model simulations indicate that boreal cryospheric forcing enhances the regional circulation mode of poor ventilation in the ECP region and provides conducive conditions for extreme haze such as that of 2013. Consequently, extreme haze events in winter will likely occur at a higher frequency in China as a result of the changing boreal cryosphere, posing difficult challenges for winter haze mitigation but providing a strong incentive for greenhouse gas emission reduction.

  17. Impacts of Recent Climatic Wetting on Distributed Snow and Streamflow Responses in a Terminal Lake Basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Hoy, D.; Mahmood, T. H.; Jeannotte, T.; Todhunter, P. E.

    2017-12-01

    The recent shift in hydroclimatic conditions in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) has led to an increase in precipitation, rainfall rate, and wetland connectivity over the last few decades. These changes yield an integrated response resulting in high mean annual streamflow and subsequent flooding in many NGP basins such as the terminal Devils Lake Basin (DLB). In this study, we investigate the impacts of recent climatic wetting on distributed hydrologic responses such as snow processes and streamflow using a field-tested and physically-based cold region hydrologic model (CRHM). CHRM is designed for cold prairie regions and has modules to simulate major processes such as blowing snow transport, sublimation, interception, frozen soil infiltration, snowmelt and subsequent streamflow generation. Our modeling focuses on a tributary basin of the DLB known as the Mauvais Coulee Basin (MCB). Since there were no snow observations in the MCB, we conducted a detailed snow survey at distributed locations estimating snow depth, density, and snow water equivalent (SWE) using a prairie snow tube four times during winter of 2016-17. The MCB model was evaluated against distributed snow observations and streamflow measured at the basin outlet (USGS) for the year 2016-2017. Preliminary results indicate that the simulated SWEs at distributed locations and streamflow (NSE ≈ 0.70) are in good agreement with observations. The simulated SWE maps exhibit large spatiotemporal variation during 2016-17 winter due to spatial variability in precipitation, snow redistribution from stubble field to wooded areas, and snow accumulations in small depressions across the subbasins. The main source of snow appears to be the hills and ridges of the eastern and western edges of the basin, while the main sink is the large flat central valleys. The model will be used to examine the effect of recent changes to precipitation and temperature on snow processes and subsequent streamflow for 2004-2017 season. We

  18. Using Snow Fences to Augument Fresh Water Supplies in Shallow Arctic Lakes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stuefer, Svetlana

    2013-03-31

    This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to address environmental research questions specifically related to Alaska's oil and gas natural resources development. The focus of this project was on the environmental issues associated with allocation of water resources for construction of ice roads and ice pads. Earlier NETL projects showed that oil and gas exploration activities in the U.S. Arctic require large amounts of water for ice road and ice pad construction. Traditionally, lakes have been the source of freshwater for this purpose. The distinctive hydrological regime of northern lakes, caused by the presence of ice cover and permafrost, exerts influence on lake water availability in winter. Lakes are covered with ice from October to June, and there is often no water recharge of lakes until snowmelt in early June. After snowmelt, water volumes in the lakes decrease throughout the summer, when water loss due to evaporation is considerably greater than water gained from rainfall. This balance switches in August, when air temperature drops, evaporation decreases, and rain (or snow) is more likely to occur. Some of the summer surface storage deficit in the active layer and surface water bodies (lakes, ponds, wetlands) is recharged during this time. However, if the surface storage deficit is not replenished (for example, precipitation in the fall is low and near‐surface soils are dry), lake recharge is directly affected, and water availability for the following winter is reduced. In this study, we used snow fences to augment fresh water supplies in shallow arctic lakes despite unfavorable natural conditions. We implemented snow‐control practices to enhance snowdrift accumulation (greater snow water equivalent), which led to increased meltwater production and an extended melting season that resulted in lake recharge despite low precipitation during the years of the experiment. For three years (2009

  19. First Satellite-detected Perturbations of Outgoing Longwave Radiation Associated with Blowing Snow Events over Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yuekui; Palm, Stephen P.; Marshak, Alexander; Wu, Dong L.; Yu, Hongbin; Fu, Qiang

    2014-01-01

    We present the first satellite-detected perturbations of the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) associated with blowing snow events over the Antarctic ice sheet using data from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System. Significant cloud-free OLR differences are observed between the clear and blowing snow sky, with the sign andmagnitude depending on season and time of the day. During nighttime, OLRs are usually larger when blowing snow is present; the average difference in OLRs between without and with blowing snow over the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is about 5.2 W/m2 for the winter months of 2009. During daytime, in contrast, the OLR perturbation is usually smaller or even has the opposite sign. The observed seasonal variations and day-night differences in the OLR perturbation are consistent with theoretical calculations of the influence of blowing snow on OLR. Detailed atmospheric profiles are needed to quantify the radiative effect of blowing snow from the satellite observations.

  20. SNOW THICKNESS ON AUSTRE GRØNFJORDBREEN, SVALBARD, FROM RADAR MEASUREMENTS AND STANDARD SNOW SURVEYS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. I. Lavrentiev

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Summary Comparison of two methods of measurements of snow cover thickness on the glacier Austre Grønfjordbreen, Svalbard was performed in the spring of 2014. These methods were the radar (500 MHz observations and standard snow surveys. Measurements were conducted in 77 different points on the surface of the glacier. A good correlation (R2 = 0.98 was revealed. In comparison with the data of snow surveys, the radar measurements show a similar but more detailed pattern of the distribution of the snow cover depth. The discrepancy between the depths of snow cover on maps plotted from data of both methods did not exceed 30 cm in most parts of the glacier. The standard error of interpolation of the radar data onto the entire glacier surface amounts, on average, to 18 cm. This corresponds to the error of radar measurements of 18.8% when an average snow depth is about 160 cm and 9.4% at its maximum thickness of 320 cm. The distance between the measurement points at which the spatial covariance of the snow depth disappears falls between 236 and 283 m along the glacier, and between 117 and 165 m across its position. We compared the results of radar measurements of the pulse-delay time of reflections from the base of the snow cover with the data of manual probe measurements at 10 points and direct measurements of snow depth and average density in 12 snow pits. The average speed of radio waves propagation in the snow was determined as Vcr = 23.4±0.2 cm ns−1. This magnitude and the Looyenga and Kovacs formulas allowed estimating the average density of snow cover ρL = 353.1±13.1 kg m−3 and ρK = 337.4±12.9 kg m−3. The difference from average density measured in 12 pits ρav.meas = 387.4±12.9 kg m−3 amounts to −10.8% and −14.8%. In 2014, according to snow and radar measurements, altitudinal gradient of snow accumulation on the glacier Austre Grønfjordbreen was equal to 0.21 m/100 m, which is smaller than the

  1. Improving snow water equivalent simulations in an alpine basin using blended gage precipitation and snow pillow measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sohrabi, M.; Safeeq, M.; Conklin, M. H.

    2017-12-01

    Snowpack is a critical freshwater reservoir that sustains ecosystem, natural habitat, hydropower, agriculture, and urban water supply in many areas around the world. Accurate estimation of basin scale snow water equivalent (SWE), through both measurement and modeling, has been significantly recognized to improve regional water resource management. Recent advances in remote data acquisition techniques have improved snow measurements but our ability to model snowpack evolution is largely hampered by poor knowledge of inherently variable high-elevation precipitation patterns. For a variety of reasons, majority of the precipitation gages are located in low and mid-elevation range and function as drivers for basin scale hydrologic modeling. Here, we blend observed gage precipitation from low and mid-elevation with point observations of SWE from high-elevation snow pillow into a physically based snow evolution model (SnowModel) to better represent the basin-scale precipitation field and improve snow simulations. To do this, we constructed two scenarios that differed in only precipitation. In WTH scenario, we forced the SnowModel using spatially distributed gage precipitation data. In WTH+SP scenario, the model was forced with spatially distributed precipitation data derived from gage precipitation along with observed precipitation from snow pillows. Since snow pillows do not directly measure precipitation, we uses positive change in SWE as a proxy for precipitation. The SnowModel was implemented at daily time step and 100 m resolution for the Kings River Basin, USA over 2000-2014. Our results show an improvement in snow simulation under WTH+SP as compared to WTH scenario, which can be attributed to better representation in high-elevation precipitation patterns under WTH+SP. The average Nash Sutcliffe efficiency over all snow pillow and course sites was substantially higher for WTH+SP (0.77) than for WTH scenario (0.47). The maximum difference in observed and simulated

  2. Run-off of strontium with melting snow in spring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quenild, C.; Tveten, U.

    1986-09-01

    When assessing the consequences of atmospheric releases caused by a large reactor accident, one usually finds that the major contributions to the dose are via nutrition and from exposure to radiation from radioactive materials deposited on ground. The experiment described is concerned with run-off from agricultural surface which has been contaminated with strontiom while covered with snow. Migration experiments show a significant difference between summer and winter conditions. Roughly 54% of the strontium with which the experimental area was contaminated, ran off with the melt-water. Under winter conditions, portions of the contaminant will flow with the melt-water without coming in contact with the soil

  3. ESA GlobSnow Snow Water Equivalent (SWE)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The European Space Agency (ESA) Global Snow Monitoring for Climate Research (GlobSnow) snow water equivalent (SWE) v2.0 data record contains snow information derived...

  4. Guidelines to Facilitate the Evaluation of Brines for Winter Roadway Maintenance Operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-09-19

    This document presents guidelines to facilitate the evaluation of brines for winter weather roadway maintenance applications in Texas. Brines are used in anti-icing applications which typically consist of placing liquid snow and ice control chemicals...

  5. A distributed snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glen E. Liston; Kelly. Elder

    2006-01-01

    SnowModel is a spatially distributed snow-evolution modeling system designed for application in landscapes, climates, and conditions where snow occurs. It is an aggregation of four submodels: MicroMet defines meteorological forcing conditions, EnBal calculates surface energy exchanges, SnowPack simulates snow depth and water-equivalent evolution, and SnowTran-3D...

  6. Experimental investigation of ice and snow melting process on pavement utilizing geothermal tail water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Huajun; Zhao Jun; Chen Zhihao

    2008-01-01

    Road ice and snow melting based on low temperature geothermal tail water is of significance to realize energy cascading utilization. A small scale ice and snow melting system is built in this work. Experiments of dynamic melting processes of crushed ice, solid ice, artificial snow and natural snow are conducted on concrete pavement. The results show that the melting process of ice and snow includes three phases: a starting period, a linear period and an accelerated period. The critical value of the snow free area ratio between the linear period and the accelerated period is about 0.6. The physical properties of ice and snow, linked with ambient conditions, have an obvious effect on the melting process. The difference of melting velocity and melting time between ice and snow is compared. To reduce energy consumption, the formation of ice on roads should be avoided if possible. The idling process is an effective pathway to improve the performance of melting systems. It is feasible to utilize geothermal tail water of about 40 deg. C for melting ice and snow on winter roads, and it is unnecessary to keep too high fluid temperatures during the practical design and applications. Besides, with the exception of solid ice, the density and porosity of snow and ice tend to be decreasing and increasing, respectively, as the ambient temperature decreases

  7. Climatic change and tourism. Research into the consequences of climatic change on winter tourism in the Swiss alps; Klimaaenderung und Tourismus. Klimafolgenforschung am Beispiel des Wintertourismus in den schweizer Alpen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abegg, B.

    1996-12-31

    Swiss winter tourism is highly dependent on the ski industry and therefore relies on favourable snow conditions. An investigation of the snow-deficient winters at the end of the 1980`s indicated that lack of snow severely impacts the industry. Climate change (global warming) is a new challenge for Swiss winter tourism. It is demonstrated that a rising snowline would have a wide range of serious consequences. Under current climate conditions, ski fields higher than 1200 m are considered to be snow abundant. Assuming that temperatures increase by about 2{sup o}C, this line of snow-reliability would rise by 300 m up to 1500 m. Today 85% of Swiss ski areas are snow reliable. If climate change occurred as outlined above, the number of snow reliable ski areas would drop to 63%. The number of suitable days for skiing, defined as days with a snow depth of {>=} 30 cm, would also decrease - in Einsiedeln (910 m) for example, from today`s average of 51 days to 24 days in the future. Furthermore it is possible that the frequency and distribution of the weather patterns would change. If the currently observed trends (increasing occurrence of high pressure systems in winter) continue, negative effects on ski tourism have to be expected. A survey undertaken in the canton of Grisons shows that climate change is perceived as a potential problem for tourism. The tourism managers are well aware of the relationships between the snow conditions and their businesses, and they can imagine what the consequences of increasingly poor snow conditions would be. With regard to the projected climate change, tourism managers are not destined to play an inactive role. There is a whole set of strategies, especially in the short term, that can help sustain ski tourism. Best known is the increased use of artificial snow. Others are a better snow management or the development of new facilities in higher areas. In the medium and long term however, more sophisticated strategies need to be taken into

  8. Obtaining sub-daily new snow density from automated measurements in high mountain regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helfricht, Kay; Hartl, Lea; Koch, Roland; Marty, Christoph; Olefs, Marc

    2018-05-01

    The density of new snow is operationally monitored by meteorological or hydrological services at daily time intervals, or occasionally measured in local field studies. However, meteorological conditions and thus settling of the freshly deposited snow rapidly alter the new snow density until measurement. Physically based snow models and nowcasting applications make use of hourly weather data to determine the water equivalent of the snowfall and snow depth. In previous studies, a number of empirical parameterizations were developed to approximate the new snow density by meteorological parameters. These parameterizations are largely based on new snow measurements derived from local in situ measurements. In this study a data set of automated snow measurements at four stations located in the European Alps is analysed for several winter seasons. Hourly new snow densities are calculated from the height of new snow and the water equivalent of snowfall. Considering the settling of the new snow and the old snowpack, the average hourly new snow density is 68 kg m-3, with a standard deviation of 9 kg m-3. Seven existing parameterizations for estimating new snow densities were tested against these data, and most calculations overestimate the hourly automated measurements. Two of the tested parameterizations were capable of simulating low new snow densities observed at sheltered inner-alpine stations. The observed variability in new snow density from the automated measurements could not be described with satisfactory statistical significance by any of the investigated parameterizations. Applying simple linear regressions between new snow density and wet bulb temperature based on the measurements' data resulted in significant relationships (r2 > 0.5 and p ≤ 0.05) for single periods at individual stations only. Higher new snow density was calculated for the highest elevated and most wind-exposed station location. Whereas snow measurements using ultrasonic devices and snow

  9. Regional meteorological drivers and long term trends of winter-spring nitrate dynamics across watersheds in northeastern North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crossman, Jill; Eimers, M Catherine; Casson, Nora J.; Burns, Douglas A.; Campbell, John L.; Likens, Gene E; Mitchell, Myron J; Nelson, Sarah J.; Shanley, James B.; Watmough, Shaun A.; Webster, Kara L

    2016-01-01

    This study evaluated the contribution of winter rain-on-snow (ROS) events to annual and seasonal nitrate (N-NO3) export and identified the regional meteorological drivers of inter-annual variability in ROS N-NO3 export (ROS-N) at 9 headwater streams located across Ontario, Canada and the northeastern United States. Although on average only 3.3 % of annual precipitation fell as ROS during winter over the study period, these events contributed a significant proportion of annual and winter N-NO3 export at the majority of sites (average of 12 and 42 %, respectively); with the exception of the most northern catchment, where total winter precipitation was exceptionally low (average 77 mm). In years with a greater magnitude of ROS events, the timing of the peak N-NO3 export period (during spring melt) was redistributed to earlier in the year. Variability in ROS frequency and magnitude amongst sites was high and a generalised linear model demonstrated that this spatial variability could be explained by interactive effects between regional and site-specific drivers. Snowpack coverage was particularly important for explaining the site-specific ROS response. Specifically, ROS events were less common when higher temperatures eliminated snow cover despite increasing the proportion of winter rainfall, whereas ROS event frequency was greater at sites where sufficient snow cover remained. This research suggests that catchment response to changes in N deposition is sensitive to climate change; a vulnerability which appears to vary in intensity throughout the seasonally snow-covered temperate region. Furthermore, the sensitivity of stream N-NO3 export to ROS events and potential shifts (earlier) in the timing of N-NO3 export relative to other nutrients affect downstream nutrient stoichiometry and the community composition of phytoplankton and other algae.

  10. Assessment of the economic risk for the ski resorts of changes in snow cover duration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. A. Sokratov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Winter tourism that is intensively developed in the Russian Federation in recent years strongly depends on the snow availability and properties in the region. Climate changes exert significant influence on the functioning of mountain ski resorts, especially if they are located in areas with relatively high air temperatures in winter season. At the present time, a snowy cluster of mountain ski resorts is intensively progressing in vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana. This region in the West Caucasus (Russia is characterized by relatively warm climate conditions. The snow cover thickness (of 1% insurance in area of the Aibga mountain range may reach 8.1 m. But the snow cover thickness is not the only characteristic of the mountain skiing attractiveness. According to the Swiss standards a mountain ski resort can be considered reliable if during seven seasons of ten ones the snow cover with minimal thickness of 30–50 cm exists for a time not shorter than 100 days during a period from 1st December till 15th April.According to the forecast, during future decades the calculated amount of solid precipitation should reduce by 25–30% in mountain regions on the south macro-slope of the Great Caucasus. As the calculations show, by 2041–2050 the maximal decade thickness of snow cover will decrease by 29–35% while a number of days with snow – by 35–40%. If this is the case, artificial snow will be needed in addition to the natural one. But, under warm climate conditions using of plants for artificial snow production will require a certain perfecting of the nowadays technologies, and very likely, with use of chemicals. That is why a shadowing of existing mountain ski routes by means of the tree planting along them could be ecologically more promising. As for the mountain ski resorts of the West Caucasus, we should mention a possible weakening of the avalanche activity as a potential positive effect of the climate warming predicted by models.

  11. Snow cover dynamics in Andean watersheds of Chile (32.0–39.5° S during the years 2000–2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Stehr

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Andean watersheds present important snowfall accumulation mainly during the winter, which melts during the spring and part of the summer. The effect of snowmelt on the water balance can be critical to sustain agriculture activities, hydropower generation, urban water supplies and wildlife. In Chile, 25 % of the territory between the region of Valparaiso and Araucanía comprises areas where snow precipitation occurs. As in many other difficult-to-access regions of the world, there is a lack of hydrological data of the Chilean Andes related to discharge, snow courses, and snow depths, which complicates the analysis of important hydrological processes (e.g. water availability. Remote sensing provides a promising opportunity to enhance the assessment and monitoring of the spatial and temporal variability of snow characteristics, such as the snow cover area (SCA and snow cover dynamic (SCD. With regards to the foregoing questions, the objective of the study is to evaluate the spatiotemporal dynamics of the SCA at five watersheds (Aconcagua, Rapel, Maule, Biobío and Toltén located in the Chilean Andes, between latitude 32.0 and 39.5° S, and to analyse its relationship with the precipitation regime/pattern and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO events. Those watersheds were chosen because of their importance in terms of their number of inhabitants, and economic activities depending on water resources. The SCA area was obtained from MOD10A2 for the period 2000–2016, and the SCD was analysed through a number of statistical tests to explore observed trends. In order to verify the SCA for trend analysis, a validation of the MOD10A2 product was done, consisting of the comparison of snow presence predicted by MODIS with ground observations. Results indicate that there is an overall agreement of 81 to 98 % between SCA determined from ground observations and MOD10A2, showing that the MODIS snow product can be taken as a feasible remote sensing

  12. Seasonal variation in the input of atmospheric selenium to northwestern Greenland snow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Khanghyun; Hong, Sang-Bum [Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 406–840 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jeonghoon [Department of Science Education, Ewha womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-750 (Korea, Republic of); Chung, Jiwoong; Hur, Soon-Do [Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 406–840 (Korea, Republic of); Hong, Sungmin, E-mail: smhong@inha.ac.kr [Department of Ocean Sciences, Inha University, 100 Inharo, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751 (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-09-01

    Oxygen isotope ratio (δ{sup 18}O) and concentrations of Al, Na{sup +}, methanesulfonic acid (MSA), SO{sub 4}{sup 2−}, and selenium (Se) in a continuous series of 70 snow samples from a 3.2-m snow pit at a site in northwestern Greenland were determined using ultraclean procedures. Well-defined depth profiles of δ{sup 18}O, Al, and sea-salt-Na{sup +} allowed the determination of chronology of the snow pit that spanned approximately 6 years from spring 2003 to summer 2009. Se concentrations were at a low pg/g level, ranging from 7.2 to 45 pg/g, and exhibited high variability with generally higher values during winter and spring and lower values during summer and fall. Very high crustal enrichment factors (EF{sub c}) of Se averaging approximately 26,600 for the entire time period indicate a small contribution from crust dust. High Se/MSA ratios are generally observed in the winter and spring snow layers, in which the Se concentrations were relatively high (> 20 pg/g). This suggests that a significant component of the Se present in the snow layers is of anthropogenic origin. During the summer season, however, high EF{sub c} values are accompanied with low Se/MSA, indicating an increased contribution of marine biogenic sources. Significant correlations between Se, Al, and non-sea-salt SO{sub 4}{sup 2−} highlight that significant inputs of Se to the snow are likely controlled by the seasonality in the transport efficiency of anthropogenic Se from the source regions to the site. Based on the seasonal changes in Se concentrations, Se/MSA, and Se/S ratios observed in the samples, the input of anthropogenic Se to the site appears to be governed by the long-range transportation of Se emitted from coal combustion in East Asian countries, especially in China. - Highlights: • The first comprehensive seasonal variation of Se in Greenland snow is presented. • Data exhibit pronounced seasonality in the fallout of Se to Greenland. • High Se/MSA ratios indicate a

  13. Seasonal variation in the input of atmospheric selenium to northwestern Greenland snow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Khanghyun; Hong, Sang-Bum; Lee, Jeonghoon; Chung, Jiwoong; Hur, Soon-Do; Hong, Sungmin

    2015-01-01

    Oxygen isotope ratio (δ 18 O) and concentrations of Al, Na + , methanesulfonic acid (MSA), SO 4 2− , and selenium (Se) in a continuous series of 70 snow samples from a 3.2-m snow pit at a site in northwestern Greenland were determined using ultraclean procedures. Well-defined depth profiles of δ 18 O, Al, and sea-salt-Na + allowed the determination of chronology of the snow pit that spanned approximately 6 years from spring 2003 to summer 2009. Se concentrations were at a low pg/g level, ranging from 7.2 to 45 pg/g, and exhibited high variability with generally higher values during winter and spring and lower values during summer and fall. Very high crustal enrichment factors (EF c ) of Se averaging approximately 26,600 for the entire time period indicate a small contribution from crust dust. High Se/MSA ratios are generally observed in the winter and spring snow layers, in which the Se concentrations were relatively high (> 20 pg/g). This suggests that a significant component of the Se present in the snow layers is of anthropogenic origin. During the summer season, however, high EF c values are accompanied with low Se/MSA, indicating an increased contribution of marine biogenic sources. Significant correlations between Se, Al, and non-sea-salt SO 4 2− highlight that significant inputs of Se to the snow are likely controlled by the seasonality in the transport efficiency of anthropogenic Se from the source regions to the site. Based on the seasonal changes in Se concentrations, Se/MSA, and Se/S ratios observed in the samples, the input of anthropogenic Se to the site appears to be governed by the long-range transportation of Se emitted from coal combustion in East Asian countries, especially in China. - Highlights: • The first comprehensive seasonal variation of Se in Greenland snow is presented. • Data exhibit pronounced seasonality in the fallout of Se to Greenland. • High Se/MSA ratios indicate a significant contribution from anthropogenic sources.

  14. High Resolution Insights into Snow Distribution Provided by Drone Photogrammetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redpath, T.; Sirguey, P. J.; Cullen, N. J.; Fitzsimons, S.

    2017-12-01

    Dynamic in time and space, New Zealand's seasonal snow is largely confined to remote alpine areas, complicating ongoing in situ measurement and characterisation. Improved understanding and modeling of the seasonal snowpack requires fine scale resolution of snow distribution and spatial variability. The potential of remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) photogrammetry to resolve spatial and temporal variability of snow depth and water equivalent in a New Zealand alpine catchment is assessed in the Pisa Range, Central Otago. This approach yielded orthophotomosaics and digital surface models (DSM) at 0.05 and 0.15 m spatial resolution, respectively. An autumn reference DSM allowed mapping of winter (02/08/2016) and spring (10/09/2016) snow depth at 0.15 m spatial resolution, via DSM differencing. The consistency and accuracy of the RPAS-derived surface was assessed by comparison of snow-free regions of the spring and autumn DSMs, while accuracy of RPAS retrieved snow depth was assessed with 86 in situ snow probe measurements. Results show a mean vertical residual of 0.024 m between DSMs acquired in autumn and spring. This residual approximated a Laplace distribution, reflecting the influence of large outliers on the small overall bias. Propagation of errors associated with successive DSMs saw snow depth mapped with an accuracy of ± 0.09 m (95% c.l.). Comparing RPAS and in situ snow depth measurements revealed the influence of geo-location uncertainty and interactions between vegetation and the snowpack on snow depth uncertainty and bias. Semi-variogram analysis revealed that the RPAS outperformed systematic in situ measurements in resolving fine scale spatial variability. Despite limitations accompanying RPAS photogrammetry, this study demonstrates a repeatable means of accurately mapping snow depth for an entire, yet relatively small, hydrological basin ( 0.5 km2), at high resolution. Resolving snowpack features associated with re-distribution and preferential

  15. Aircraft gamma-ray spectrometry in snow-water equivalent measurement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuittinen, R; Vironmaeki, J

    1979-01-01

    During the winter periods of 1976 to 1977 and 1977 to 1978, the Hydrological Office at the National Boards of Waters and the Geological Survey of Finland carried out a joint study to evaluate usefulness of gamma-ray spectrometry in snowwater equivalent measurement. A multichannel gamma-ray spectrometry was fitted out in a DC-3 aircraft. Fourteen snow courses were operated using gravimetric method and gamma-ray method. The snow courses were located in southern Finland in forest, swamp and agricultural land. The results show that the gamma ray method can be considered suitable for use in Finnish conditions and the accuracy of the gamma-ray method is almost of the same magnitude of the accuracy of the gravimetric method.

  16. Hydrological Implications of Covering Wind-Blown Snow Accumulations with Geotextiles on Mount Aragats, Armenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Nestler

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Snow is an excellent water reservoir, naturally storing large quantities of water at time scales from a few days to several months. In summer-dry countries, like Armenia, runoff due to snow melt from mountain regions is highly important for a sustained water supply (irrigation, hydropower. Snow fields on Mount Aragats, Armenia’s highest peak, often persist until July, providing vital amounts of melt water. Artificially managing these wind-driven snow accumulations as a natural water reservoir might have considerable potential. In the context of the Swiss-Armenian joint venture, Freezwater, snow fields are covered with geotextiles in order to delay snow melt long enough to provide additional melt water in the dry season of the year. In this study, we analyze the hydrological effectiveness of the artificial management of the natural snow cover on Mount Aragats based on various field measurements acquired over a three-year period and numerical modeling. Over the winter season, partly more than five meter-thick snow deposits are formed supported by snow redistribution by strong wind. Repeated mappings of snow fields indicate that snow cover patterns remain highly consistent over time. Measurements of ablation below manually applied geotextiles show a considerable reduction of melt rates by more than 50%. Simulations with an energy-balance model and a distributed temperature-index model allow assessing the hydrological effect of artificial snow management for different initial snow depths and elevations and suggest that coverage is needed at a large scale in order to generate a significant impact on discharge.

  17. Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Winter Tourism: Challenges for Ski Area Operators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damm, A.; Köberl, J.; Prettenthaler, F.; Töglhofer, C.

    2012-04-01

    Increasing temperatures and snow scarce winter seasons pose a big challenge for the winter tourism industry. Changing natural snow reliability influences tourism demand and ski area operators are faced with an enhanced need of technical snow production. The goal of the present research work is to analyze the economic effects of technical snow production under future climate conditions. Snowmaking as an adaptation strategy to climate change impacts on the ski tourism industry is already taken into consideration in several studies from a scientific perspective concerning snowmaking potentials under future climate conditions and the impacts on ski season length (e.g. Scott et al. 2003; Scott & McBoyle 2007; Hennessy et al. 2008; Steiger 2010). A few studies considered economic aspects of technical snowmaking (e.g. Teich et al. 2007; Gonseth 2008). However, a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits of snowmaking under future climate and snow conditions based on sophisticated climate and snow models has not been carried out yet. The present study addresses the gap of knowledge concerning the economic profitability of prospective snowmaking requirements under future climate scenarios. We carry out a detailed cost-revenue analysis of snowmaking under current and future climate conditions for a case study site in Styria (Austria) using dynamic investment models. The starting point of all economic calculations is the daily demand for artificial snow that determines the requirements for additional snowmaking investments and additional operating costs. The demand for artificial snow is delivered by the snow cover model AMUNDSEN (see Strasser et al. 2011) and is driven by four climate scenarios. Apart from future climate conditions the profitability of snowmaking depends on changes in costs and visitor numbers. The results of a ski tourism demand model analyzing daily visitor numbers and their dependencies of prevailing weather conditions enter the cost-revenue analysis of

  18. Rainwater propagation through snowpack during rain-on-snow sprinkling experiments under different snow conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Juras

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The mechanisms of rainwater propagation and runoff generation during rain-on-snow (ROS events are still insufficiently known. Understanding storage and transport of liquid water in natural snowpacks is crucial, especially for forecasting of natural hazards such as floods and wet snow avalanches. In this study, propagation of rainwater through snow was investigated by sprinkling experiments with deuterium-enriched water and applying an alternative hydrograph separation technique on samples collected from the snowpack runoff. This allowed us to quantify the contribution of rainwater, snowmelt and initial liquid water released from the snowpack. Four field experiments were carried out during winter 2015 in the vicinity of Davos, Switzerland. Blocks of natural snow were isolated from the surrounding snowpack to inhibit lateral exchange of water and were exposed to artificial rainfall using deuterium-enriched water. The experiments were composed of four 30 min periods of sprinkling, separated by three 30 min breaks. The snowpack runoff was continuously gauged and sampled periodically for the deuterium signature. At the onset of each experiment antecedent liquid water was first pushed out by the sprinkling water. Hydrographs showed four pronounced peaks corresponding to the four sprinkling bursts. The contribution of rainwater to snowpack runoff consistently increased over the course of the experiment but never exceeded 86 %. An experiment conducted on a non-ripe snowpack suggested the development of preferential flow paths that allowed rainwater to efficiently propagate through the snowpack limiting the time for mass exchange processes to take effect. In contrast, experiments conducted on ripe isothermal snowpack showed a slower response behaviour and resulted in a total runoff volume which consisted of less than 50 % of the rain input.

  19. Quantifying small-scale spatio-temporal variability of snow stratigraphy in forests based on high-resolution snow penetrometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teich, M.; Hagenmuller, P.; Bebi, P.; Jenkins, M. J.; Giunta, A. D.; Schneebeli, M.

    2017-12-01

    Snow stratigraphy, the characteristic layering within a seasonal snowpack, has important implications for snow remote sensing, hydrology and avalanches. Forests modify snowpack properties through interception, wind speed reduction, and changes to the energy balance. The lack of snowpack observations in forests limits our ability to understand the evolution of snow stratigraphy and its spatio-temporal variability as a function of forest structure and to observe snowpack response to changes in forest cover. We examined the snowpack under canopies of a spruce forest in the central Rocky Mountains, USA, using the SnowMicroPen (SMP), a high resolution digital penetrometer. Weekly-repeated penetration force measurements were recorded along 10 m transects every 0.3 m in winter 2015 and bi-weekly along 20 m transects every 0.5 m in 2016 in three study plots beneath canopies of undisturbed, bark beetle-disturbed and harvested forest stands, and an open meadow. To disentangle information about layer hardness and depth variabilities, and to quantitatively compare the different SMP profiles, we applied a matching algorithm to our dataset, which combines several profiles by automatically adjusting their layer thicknesses. We linked spatial and temporal variabilities of penetration force and depth, and thus snow stratigraphy to forest and meteorological conditions. Throughout the season, snow stratigraphy was more heterogeneous in undisturbed but also beneath bark beetle-disturbed forests. In contrast, and despite remaining small diameter trees and woody debris, snow stratigraphy was rather homogenous at the harvested plot. As expected, layering at the non-forested plot varied only slightly over the small spatial extent sampled. At the open and harvested plots, persistent crusts and ice lenses were clearly present in the snowpack, while such hard layers barely occurred beneath undisturbed and disturbed canopies. Due to settling, hardness significantly increased with depth at

  20. Effects of winter road grooming on bison in YNP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjornlie, Daniel D.; Garrott, R.A.

    2001-01-01

    The effects of winter recreation—specifically snowmobiling—on wildlife in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have become high-profile management issues. The road grooming needed to support oversnow travel in YNP is also being examined for its effects on bison (Bison bison) ecology. Data were collected from November 1997 through May 1998 and from December 1998 through May 1999 on the effects of road grooming on bison in Madison–Gibbon–Firehole (MGF) area of YNP Peak bison numbers occurred during late March—early April and were strongly correlated with the snow water equivalent measurements in the Hayden Valley area (1997–1998: r* = 0.62, p:0.001: 1998–1999: r2 = 0.64, P-0.001). Data from an infrared trail monitor on the Mary Mountain trail between the Hayden and Firehole valleys suggest that this trail is the sole corridor for major bison distributional shifts between these locations. Of the 28,293 observations of individual bison made during the study, 8% were traveling and 69% were foraging. These percentages were nearly identical during the period of winter road grooming (7% and 68%, respectively). During this period, 77% of bison foraging activity and 12% of bison traveling activity involved displacing snow. Most travel took place off roads (Pgrooming, with peak use in April and lowest use during the road-grooming period. Bison in the MGF area of YNF neither seek out nor avoid groomed roads. The minimal use of roads compared to off-road areas, the short distances traveled on the roads, the decreased use of roads during the over snow vehicle (OSV) season, and the increased costs of negative interactions with OSVs suggest that grooming roads during winter does not have a major influence on bison ecology.

  1. The History of Winter: A Professional Development "Teacher as Scientist" Experiential Learning Field Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabrys, R. E.

    2007-12-01

    Each year since 2000, the NASA Goddard History of Winter (HOW) program has allowed teachers to develop an understanding of the consequences of one segment of the orbit of the tilted Earth in its path around the sun. Scientists from NASA, CRREL, and Michigan Tech, supported by the Whiteface Observatory, and the science program at Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York, use the weather and the stratigraphy in the ice and snow, consequences of the weather changes, as "teachers" in a team study of the winter record. Snow in the air and on the ground, ice, its crystal structure and axial orientation, and the ecosystem consequences of snow and ice constitute the weeklong content package. Teacher Professional Development Standards A, B, C, and D were the guiding principles in developing HOW with a content structure formulated as protocols to serve as inserts into lesson plans and inquiry guides. The concept of HOW within NASA is to provide understanding of the WHY? and WHAT? of satellite remote sensing. The content is appropriate ground validation in that techniques presented in protocols are identical to those used by professionals who study snow pits, evaluate features in snow metamorphism, and study thin sections of ice cores drilled in ice caps and glaciers. The HOW Teacher as scientist (TAS) model is a flexible model. HOW enables teachers who are required to use inquiry-based facilitation in the classroom to experience inquiry themselves. Teachers with little science content background as well as those with Science degrees have participated in HOW working alongside of the science team. Accommodations are made through differentiation of instruction so that each group leaves with a mastery of the content that is appropriate for the transition to presentation in the classroom. Each year builds on the previous year ensuring a time series record of the history of winter-by itself a learning experience. An offshoot of the NASA Goddard Center History of Winter (HOW

  2. Detection of damaged areas caused by the oil extraction in a steppe region using winter landsat imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mjachina, Ksenya; Hu, Zhiyong; Chibilyev, Alexander

    2018-01-01

    Oil production in a steppe region disturbs the landscape and damages the steppe ecosystem. The objective of this research was to detect areas damaged by oil production in an oil field within the Russian Volga-Ural steppe region using winter Landsat imagery. We developed a practicable and effective approach using winter snow season multispectral Landsat satellite imagery. To this end, we applied seven algorithms of spectral or texture-based transformation: K-means, maximum likelihood estimation, topsoil grain size index, soil brightness, normalized differential snow index, tasselled cap, and co-occurrence measures. The co-occurrence texture measure variance shows the optimal result of identifying damaged areas. The unique feature of our method is that it can differentiate damaged areas from the bare soil of cropland within a cold steppe region where the area damaged by oil production is mixed with bare (fallow) croplands that have a polygonal shape similar to well pads. Such similarities can lead to confusion in object-based classification. Using the co-occurrence measures, we found that from 1988 to 2015, damaged area is nearly three times as big in the peak period of the oil field development (2001 and 2009) as in 1988. Landscape fragmentation also peaked in 2001 and 2009. Our approach for this project is useful and cost effective regular monitoring of damages from oil production for both the Volga-Ural steppe region and other cold steppe regions.

  3. Use Of Snow And Ice Melting Heating Cables On Roofs Of Existing Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metin ONAL

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Roofs are construction elements which form the upper part of a building and protect it from the all kinds of fall wind and sun lights. They are made as inclined or terrace shaped according to the climatic characteristics of the area they are located and their intended use. Inclined type roofs are preferred for aesthetic and or functionality. It is in interest of mechanical engineering that falling snow on long and effective regions of winter conditions accumulate on the roof surfaces with low inclination due to adhesion force between snowflakes and the roof covering. The mass of snow that turns into ice due to cold weather and wind creates stalactites in the eaves due to gravity. This snow mass leavesbreaks off from inclined surfaces due to the effect of the sun or any vibration and can damage to people or other objects around the building. Falling snow and ice masses from rooftops in urban areas where winter months are intense are also a matter for engineering applications of landscape architecture. In order to prevent snow and icing on the roofs of the buildings located especially in busy human and vehicle traffic routes the use of heating cables is a practical method. The icing can be prevented by means of the heating cables selected according to the installed power to be calculated based on the type of roof and the current country. The purpose of this study is to introduce heating systems to be mounted on the roofs with a lesser workmanship in a short period instead of difficulties and costs that would occur by increasing the roof inclination in present buildings as well as explaining their working principles.

  4. Next Generation Snow Cover Mapping: Can Future Hyperspectral Satellite Spectrometer Systems Improve Subpixel Snow-covered Area and Grain Size in the Sierra Nevada?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, R.; Calvin, W. M.; Harpold, A.

    2017-12-01

    Mountain snow storage is the dominant source of water for humans and ecosystems in western North America. Consequently, the spatial distribution of snow-covered area is fundamental to both hydrological, ecological, and climate models. Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data were collected along the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range extending from north of Lake Tahoe to south of Mt. Whitney during the 2015 and 2016 snow-covered season. The AVIRIS dataset used in this experiment consists of 224 contiguous spectral channels with wavelengths ranging 400-2500 nanometers at a 15-meter spatial pixel size. Data from the Sierras were acquired on four days: 2/24/15 during a very low snow year, 3/24/16 near maximum snow accumulation, and 5/12/16 and 5/18/16 during snow ablation and snow loss. Building on previous retrieval of subpixel snow-covered area algorithms that take into account varying grain size we present a model that analyzes multiple endmembers of varying snow grain size, vegetation, rock, and soil in segmented regions along the Sierra Nevada to determine snow-cover spatial extent, snow sub-pixel fraction, and approximate grain size. In addition, varying simulated models of the data will compare and contrast the retrieval of current snow products such as MODIS Snow-Covered Area and Grain Size (MODSCAG) and the Airborne Space Observatory (ASO). Specifically, does lower spatial resolution (MODIS), broader resolution bandwidth (MODIS), and limited spectral resolution (ASO) affect snow-cover area and grain size approximations? The implications of our findings will help refine snow mapping products for planned hyperspectral satellite spectrometer systems such as EnMAP (slated to launch in 2019), HISUI (planned for inclusion on the International Space Station in 2018), and HyspIRI (currently under consideration).

  5. Daily snow depth measurements from 195 stations in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Allison, L.J. [ed.] [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center; Easterling, D.R.; Jamason, P.; Bowman, D.P.; Hughes, P.Y.; Mason, E.H. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Asheville, NC (United States). National Climatic Data Center

    1997-02-01

    This document describes a database containing daily measurements of snow depth at 195 National Weather Service (NWS) first-order climatological stations in the United States. The data have been assembled and made available by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina. The 195 stations encompass 388 unique sampling locations in 48 of the 50 states; no observations from Delaware or Hawaii are included in the database. Station selection criteria emphasized the quality and length of station records while seeking to provide a network with good geographic coverage. Snow depth at the 388 locations was measured once per day on ground open to the sky. The daily snow depth is the total depth of the snow on the ground at measurement time. The time period covered by the database is 1893--1992; however, not all station records encompass the complete period. While a station record ideally should contain daily data for at least the seven winter months (January through April and October through December), not all stations have complete records. Each logical record in the snow depth database contains one station`s daily data values for a period of one month, including data source, measurement, and quality flags.

  6. Distribution and variability of total mercury in snow cover?a case study from a semi-urban site in Pozna?, Poland

    OpenAIRE

    Siudek, Patrycja

    2016-01-01

    In the present paper, the inter-seasonal Hg variability in snow cover was examined based on multivariate statistical analysis of chemical and meteorological data. Samples of freshly fallen snow cover were collected at the semi-urban site in Pozna? (central Poland), during 3-month field measurements in winter 2013. It was showed that concentrations of atmospherically deposited Hg were highly variable in snow cover, from 0.43 to 12.5?ng?L?1, with a mean value of 4.62?ng?L?1. The highest Hg conc...

  7. Simulation of wind-induced snow transport in alpine terrain using a fully coupled snowpack/atmosphere model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vionnet, V.; Martin, E.; Masson, V.; Guyomarc'h, G.; Naaim-Bouvet, F.; Prokop, A.; Durand, Y.; Lac, C.

    2013-06-01

    In alpine regions, wind-induced snow transport strongly influences the spatio-temporal evolution of the snow cover throughout the winter season. To gain understanding on the complex processes that drive the redistribution of snow, a new numerical model is developed. It couples directly the detailed snowpack model Crocus with the atmospheric model Meso-NH. Meso-NH/Crocus simulates snow transport in saltation and in turbulent suspension and includes the sublimation of suspended snow particles. A detailed representation of the first meters of the atmosphere allows a fine reproduction of the erosion and deposition process. The coupled model is evaluated against data collected around the experimental site of Col du Lac Blanc (2720 m a.s.l., French Alps). For this purpose, a blowing snow event without concurrent snowfall has been selected and simulated. Results show that the model captures the main structures of atmospheric flow in alpine terrain, the vertical profile of wind speed and the snow particles fluxes near the surface. However, the horizontal resolution of 50 m is found to be insufficient to simulate the location of areas of snow erosion and deposition observed by terrestrial laser scanning. When activated, the sublimation of suspended snow particles causes a reduction in deposition of 5.3%. Total sublimation (surface + blowing snow) is three times higher than surface sublimation in a simulation neglecting blowing snow sublimation.

  8. Climate model assessment of changes in winter-spring streamflow timing over North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kam, Jonghun; Knutson, Thomas R.; Milly, Paul C. D.

    2018-01-01

    Over regions where snow-melt runoff substantially contributes to winter-spring streamflows, warming can accelerate snow melt and reduce dry-season streamflows. However, conclusive detection of changes and attribution to anthropogenic forcing is hindered by brevity of observational records, model uncertainty, and uncertainty concerning internal variability. In this study, a detection/attribution of changes in mid-latitude North American winter-spring streamflow timing is examined using nine global climate models under multiple forcing scenarios. In this study, robustness across models, start/end dates for trends, and assumptions about internal variability is evaluated. Marginal evidence for an emerging detectable anthropogenic influence (according to four or five of nine models) is found in the north-central U.S., where winter-spring streamflows have been coming earlier. Weaker indications of detectable anthropogenic influence (three of nine models) are found in the mountainous western U.S./southwestern Canada and in extreme northeastern U.S./Canadian Maritimes. In the former region, a recent shift toward later streamflows has rendered the full-record trend toward earlier streamflows only marginally significant, with possible implications for previously published climate change detection findings for streamflow timing in this region. In the latter region, no forced model shows as large a shift toward earlier streamflow timing as the detectable observed shift. In other (including warm, snow-free) regions, observed trends are typically not detectable, although in the U.S. central plains we find detectable delays in streamflow, which are inconsistent with forced model experiments.

  9. Natural variations in snow cover do not affect the annual soil CO2 efflux from a mid-elevation temperate forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schindlbacher, Andreas; Jandl, Robert; Schindlbacher, Sabine

    2014-02-01

    Climate change might alter annual snowfall patterns and modify the duration and magnitude of snow cover in temperate regions with resultant impacts on soil microclimate and soil CO2 efflux (Fsoil ). We used a 5-year time series of Fsoil measurements from a mid-elevation forest to assess the effects of naturally changing snow cover. Snow cover varied considerably in duration (105-154 days) and depth (mean snow depth 19-59 cm). Periodically shallow snow cover (soil freezing or increased variation in soil temperature. This was mostly not reflected in Fsoil which tended to decrease gradually throughout winter. Progressively decreasing C substrate availability (identified by substrate induced respiration) likely over-rid the effects of slowly changing soil temperatures and determined the overall course of Fsoil . Cumulative CO2 efflux from beneath snow cover varied between 0.46 and 0.95 t C ha(-1)  yr(-1) and amounted to between 6 and 12% of the annual efflux. When compared over a fixed interval (the longest period of snow cover during the 5 years), the cumulative CO2 efflux ranged between 0.77 and 1.18 t C ha(-1) or between 11 and 15% of the annual soil CO2 efflux. The relative contribution (15%) was highest during the year with the shortest winter. Variations in snow cover were not reflected in the annual CO2 efflux (7.44-8.41 t C ha(-1) ) which did not differ significantly between years and did not correlate with any snow parameter. Regional climate at our site was characterized by relatively high amounts of precipitation. Therefore, snow did not play a role in terms of water supply during the warm season and primarily affected cold season processes. The role of changing snow cover therefore seems rather marginal when compared to potential climate change effects on Fsoil during the warm season. © 2013 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Direct observations of atmosphere - sea ice - ocean interactions during Arctic winter and spring storms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, R. M.; Itkin, P.; Granskog, M. A.; Assmy, P.; Cohen, L.; Duarte, P.; Doble, M. J.; Fransson, A.; Fer, I.; Fernandez Mendez, M.; Frey, M. M.; Gerland, S.; Haapala, J. J.; Hudson, S. R.; Liston, G. E.; Merkouriadi, I.; Meyer, A.; Muilwijk, M.; Peterson, A.; Provost, C.; Randelhoff, A.; Rösel, A.; Spreen, G.; Steen, H.; Smedsrud, L. H.; Sundfjord, A.

    2017-12-01

    To study the thinner and younger sea ice that now dominates the Arctic the Norwegian Young Sea ICE expedition (N-ICE2015) was launched in the ice-covered region north of Svalbard, from January to June 2015. During this time, eight local and remote storms affected the region and rare direct observations of the atmosphere, snow, ice and ocean were conducted. Six of these winter storms passed directly over the expedition and resulted in air temperatures rising from below -30oC to near 0oC, followed by abrupt cooling. Substantial snowfall prior to the campaign had already formed a snow pack of approximately 50 cm, to which the February storms contributed an additional 6 cm. The deep snow layer effectively isolated the ice cover and prevented bottom ice growth resulting in low brine fluxes. Peak wind speeds during winter storms exceeded 20 m/s, causing strong snow re-distribution, release of sea salt aerosol and sea ice deformation. The heavy snow load caused widespread negative freeboard; during sea ice deformation events, level ice floes were flooded by sea water, and at least 6-10 cm snow-ice layer was formed. Elevated deformation rates during the most powerful winter storms damaged the ice cover permanently such that the response to wind forcing increased by 60 %. As a result of a remote storm in April deformation processes opened about 4 % of the total area into leads with open water, while a similar amount of ice was deformed into pressure ridges. The strong winds also enhanced ocean mixing and increased ocean heat fluxes three-fold in the pycnocline from 4 to 12 W/m2. Ocean heat fluxes were extremely large (over 300 W/m2) during storms in regions where the warm Atlantic inflow is located close to surface over shallow topography. This resulted in very large (5-25 cm/day) bottom ice melt and in cases flooding due to heavy snow load. Storm events increased the carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and ocean but also affected the pCO2 in surface waters

  11. Global warming: Sea ice and snow cover

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walsh, J.E.

    1993-01-01

    In spite of differences among global climate simulations under scenarios where atmospheric CO 2 is doubled, all models indicate at least some amplification of greenouse warming at the polar regions. Several decades of recent data on air temperature, sea ice, and snow cover of the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are summarized to illustrate the general compatibility of recent variations in those parameters. Despite a data void over the Arctic Ocean, some noteworthy patterns emerge. Warming dominates in winter and spring, as projected by global climate models, with the warming strongest over subpolar land areas of Alaska, northwestern Canada, and northern Eurasia. A time-longitude summary of Arctic sea ice variations indicates that timescales of most anomalies range from several months to several years. Wintertime maxima of total sea ice extent contain no apparent secular trends. The statistical significance of trends in recent sea ice variations was evaluated by a Monte Carlo procedure, showing a statistically significant negative trend in the summer. Snow cover data over the 20-y period of record show a noticeable decrease of Arctic snow cover in the late 1980s. This is of potential climatic significance since the accompanying decrease of surface albedo leads to a rapid increase of solar heating. 21 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

  12. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INDIVIDUAL SNOW AVALANCHE RISK ASSESSMENT IN THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandr Shnyparkov

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, the Government of the Russian Federation considerably increased attention to the exploitation of the Russian Arctic territories. Simultaneously, the evaluation of snow avalanches danger was enhanced with the aim to decrease fatalities and reduce economic losses. However, it turned out that solely reporting the degree of avalanche danger is not sufficient. Instead, quantitative information on probabilistic parameters of natural hazards, the characteristics of their effects on the environment and possibly resulting losses is increasingly needed. Such information allows for the estimation of risk, including risk related to snow avalanches. Here, snow avalanche risk is quantified for the Khibiny Mountains, one of the most industrialized parts of the Russian Arctic: Major parts of the territory have an acceptable degree of individual snow avalanche risk (<1×10-6. The territories with an admissible (10-4–10-6 or unacceptable (>1×10-4 degree of individual snow avalanche risk (0.5 and 2% of the total area correspond to the Southeast of the Khibiny Mountains where settlements and mining industries are situated. Moreover, due to an increase in winter tourism, some traffic infrastructure is located in valleys with an admissible or unacceptable degree of individual snow avalanches risk.

  13. Snow cover setting-up dates in the north of Eurasia: relations and feedback to the macro-scale atmospheric circulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Popova

    2014-01-01

    values –0.82 ÷ –0.85 in 1973–1994 (Fig. 4, а, б. Results of numerical experiments on simulation of observed October snow cover anomaly in 1976 and its impact on Northern Hemisphere sea level pressure in winter months approved potential ability of abrupt increase of albedo caused by snow cover onset to influence on weakening of westerly and negative temperature anomalies in North Eurasia (Fig. 5. Evidently, based on observational data and results of modeling one should conclude that autumn snow cover anomalies in North are able to effect on macro-scale circulation regime in winter, but in condition of weakening of other major factors influencing on circulation, for example sea surface temperature over the oceans. In any case, correlation analysis of earth observations shows that snow cover extent anomalies could not be recognized as cause of negative AO anomalies and severe winters in North Eurasia in last decade.

  14. Simulating the Dependence of Aspen on Redistributed Snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderquist, B.; Kavanagh, K.; Link, T. E.; Seyfried, M. S.; Winstral, A. H.

    2013-12-01

    In mountainous regions across the western USA, the distribution of aspen (Populus tremuloides) is often directly related to heterogeneous soil moisture subsidies resulting from redistributed snow. With decades of climate and precipitation data across elevational and precipitation gradients, the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW) in southwest Idaho provides a unique opportunity to study the relationship between aspen and redistributed snow. Within the RCEW, the total amount of precipitation has not changed in the past 50 years, but there are sharp declines in the percentage of the precipitation falling as snow. As shifts in the distribution of available moisture continue, future trends in aspen net primary productivity (NPP) remain uncertain. In order to assess the importance of snowdrift subsidies, NPP of three aspen stands was simulated at sites spanning elevational and precipitation gradients using the biogeochemical process model BIOME-BGC. At the aspen site experiencing the driest climate and lowest amount of precipitation from snow, approximately 400 mm of total precipitation was measured from November to March of 2008. However, peak measured snow water equivalent (SWE) held in drifts directly upslope of this stand was approximately 2100 mm, 5 times more moisture than the uniform winter precipitation layer initially assumed by BIOME-BGC. BIOME-BGC simulations in dry years forced by adjusted precipitation data resulted in NPP values approximately 30% higher than simulations assuming a uniform precipitation layer. Using BIOME-BGC and climate data from 1985-2011, the relationship between simulated NPP and measured basal area increments (BAI) improved after accounting for redistributed snow, indicating increased simulation representation. In addition to improved simulation capabilities, soil moisture data, diurnal branch water potential, and stomatal conductance observations at each site detail the use of soil moisture in the rooting zone and the onset

  15. Energy balance of a sparse coniferous high-latitude forest under winter conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gryning, S.E.; Batchvarova, E.; DeBruin, H.A.R.

    2001-01-01

    Measurements carried out in Northern Finland on radiation and turbulent fluxes over a sparse, sub-arctic boreal forest with snow covered ground were analysed. The measurements represent late winter conditions characterised by low solar elevation angles. During the experiment (12-24 March 1997) day

  16. MODIS Snow Cover Recovery Using Variational Interpolation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, H.; Nguyen, P.; Hsu, K. L.; Sorooshian, S.

    2017-12-01

    Cloud obscuration is one of the major problems that limit the usages of satellite images in general and in NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) global Snow-Covered Area (SCA) products in particular. Among the approaches to resolve the problem, the Variational Interpolation (VI) algorithm method, proposed by Xia et al., 2012, obtains cloud-free dynamic SCA images from MODIS. This method is automatic and robust. However, computational deficiency is a main drawback that degrades applying the method for larger scales (i.e., spatial and temporal scales). To overcome this difficulty, this study introduces an improved version of the original VI. The modified VI algorithm integrates the MINimum RESidual (MINRES) iteration (Paige and Saunders., 1975) to prevent the system from breaking up when applied to much broader scales. An experiment was done to demonstrate the crash-proof ability of the new algorithm in comparison with the original VI method, an ability that is obtained when maintaining the distribution of the weights set after solving the linear system. After that, the new VI algorithm was applied to the whole Contiguous United States (CONUS) over four winter months of 2016 and 2017, and validated using the snow station network (SNOTEL). The resulting cloud free images have high accuracy in capturing the dynamical changes of snow in contrast with the MODIS snow cover maps. Lastly, the algorithm was applied to create a Cloud free images dataset from March 10, 2000 to February 28, 2017, which is able to provide an overview of snow trends over CONUS for nearly two decades. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe would like to acknowledge NASA, NOAA Office of Hydrologic Development (OHD) National Weather Service (NWS), Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), Army Research Office (ARO), ICIWaRM, and UNESCO for supporting this research.

  17. Rapid responses of permafrost and vegetation to experimentally increased snow cover in sub-arctic Sweden

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johansson, Margareta; Bosiö, Julia; Akerman, H Jonas; Jackowicz-Korczynski, Marcin; Christensen, Torben R; Callaghan, Terry V

    2013-01-01

    Increased snow depth already observed, and that predicted for the future are of critical importance to many geophysical and biological processes as well as human activities. The future characteristics of sub-arctic landscapes where permafrost is particularly vulnerable will depend on complex interactions between snow cover, vegetation and permafrost. An experimental manipulation was, therefore, set up on a lowland peat plateau with permafrost, in northernmost Sweden, to simulate projected future increases in winter precipitation and to study their effects on permafrost and vegetation. After seven years of treatment, statistically significant differences between manipulated and control plots were found in mean winter ground temperatures, which were 1.5 ° C higher in manipulated plots. During the winter, a difference in minimum temperatures of up to 9 ° C higher could be found in individual manipulated plots compared with control plots. Active layer thicknesses increased at the manipulated plots by almost 20% compared with the control plots and a mean surface subsidence of 24 cm was recorded in the manipulated plots compared to 5 cm in the control plots. The graminoid Eriophorum vaginatum has expanded in the manipulated plots and the vegetation remained green longer in the season. (letter)

  18. Persistent reduction of segment growth and photosynthesis in a widespread and important sub-Arctic moss species after cessation of three years of experimental winter warming

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bjerke, J.W.; Bokhorst, S.F.; Callaghan, T.V.; Phoenix, G.K.

    2017-01-01

    Winter is a period of dormancy for plants of cold environments. However, winter climate is changing, leading to an increasing frequency of stochastic warm periods (winter warming events) and concomitant reductions in snow cover. These conditions can break dormancy for some plants and expose them to

  19. Flood Losses Associated with Winter Storms in the U.S. Northeast

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ting, M.; Shimkus, C.

    2015-12-01

    Winter storms pose a number of hazards to coastal communities in the U.S. Northeast including heavy rain, snow, strong wind, cold temperatures, and flooding. These hazards can cause millions in property damages from one storm alone. This study addresses the impacts of winter storms from 2001 - 2012 on coastal counties in the U.S. Northeast and underscores the significant economic consequences extreme winter storms have on property. The analysis on the types of hazards (floods, strong wind, snow, etc.) and associated damage from the National Climatic Data Center Storm Events Database indicates that floods were responsible for the highest damages. This finding suggests that winter storm vulnerability could grow in the future as precipitation intensity increases and sea level rise exacerbate flood losses. Flood loss maps are constructed based on damage amount, which can be compared to the flood exposure maps constructed by the NOAA Office of Coastal Management. Interesting agreements and discrepancies exist between the two methods, which warrant further examination. Furthermore, flood losses often came from storms characterized as heavy precipitation storms and strong surge storms, and sometimes both, illustrating the compounding effect of flood risks in the region. While New Jersey counties experienced the most damage per unit area, there is no discernable connection between population density and damage amount, which suggests that societal impacts may rely less on population characteristics and more on infrastructure types and property values, which vary throughout the region.

  20. Seasonal comparison of moss bag technique against vertical snow samples for monitoring atmospheric pollution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salo, Hanna; Berisha, Anna-Kaisa; Mäkinen, Joni

    2016-03-01

    This is the first study seasonally applying Sphagnum papillosum moss bags and vertical snow samples for monitoring atmospheric pollution. Moss bags, exposed in January, were collected together with snow samples by early March 2012 near the Harjavalta Industrial Park in southwest Finland. Magnetic, chemical, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), K-means clustering, and Tomlinson pollution load index (PLI) data showed parallel spatial trends of pollution dispersal for both materials. Results strengthen previous findings that concentrate and slag handling activities were important (dust) emission sources while the impact from Cu-Ni smelter's pipe remained secondary at closer distances. Statistically significant correlations existed between the variables of snow and moss bags. As a summary, both methods work well for sampling and are efficient pollutant accumulators. Moss bags can be used also in winter conditions and they provide more homogeneous and better controlled sampling method than snow samples. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  1. Winter concrete; Kanchu kunkurito. Gijutsu no genjo to shorai tenbo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kamata, Eiji [Hokkaido University, Hokkaido (Japan)

    1998-11-10

    Much energy is consumed in order to carry out the winter concrete, and it becomes not always the work in the work environment of the amenity. Therefore, it wants to avoid it, if such work is possible. The winter concrete is a basis in carrying out the construction in cold region in all year. Large role is very much fulfilled for efficient operation of the construction industry in which foot of maintain is wide, activation of the regional economy of snows cold region such as the constant employment of construction worker, improvement in the social environment. Therefore, the popularization of the winter concrete technology is indispensable in the chilly snowy area, and it becomes the importance that the efficiency improvement is attempted. (NEDO)

  2. MODIS Snow Cover Mapping Decision Tree Technique: Snow and Cloud Discrimination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riggs, George A.; Hall, Dorothy K.

    2010-01-01

    Accurate mapping of snow cover continues to challenge cryospheric scientists and modelers. The Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow data products have been used since 2000 by many investigators to map and monitor snow cover extent for various applications. Users have reported on the utility of the products and also on problems encountered. Three problems or hindrances in the use of the MODIS snow data products that have been reported in the literature are: cloud obscuration, snow/cloud confusion, and snow omission errors in thin or sparse snow cover conditions. Implementation of the MODIS snow algorithm in a decision tree technique using surface reflectance input to mitigate those problems is being investigated. The objective of this work is to use a decision tree structure for the snow algorithm. This should alleviate snow/cloud confusion and omission errors and provide a snow map with classes that convey information on how snow was detected, e.g. snow under clear sky, snow tinder cloud, to enable users' flexibility in interpreting and deriving a snow map. Results of a snow cover decision tree algorithm are compared to the standard MODIS snow map and found to exhibit improved ability to alleviate snow/cloud confusion in some situations allowing up to about 5% increase in mapped snow cover extent, thus accuracy, in some scenes.

  3. Investigations on socio economic indicators of French Alps ski industry from an explicit spatial modelling of managed snow on ski slopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spandre, Pierre; François, Hugues; Morin, Samuel; George-Marcelpoil, Emmanuelle; Lafaysse, Matthieu

    2017-04-01

    Investigations of the capacity of ski resorts to anticipate, cope with and recover from the impact of natural snow scarcity through snow management (grooming, snowmaking) have been realized in most of the major regions in terms of international ski offer although not in the French Alps hitherto. The present work therefore introduces an innovative approach for the investigation of socio economic implications of changes in snow conditions for the French Alps ski resorts based on a panel of 129 resorts representing 96% of the total French Alps ski lifts infrastructures. We integrated detailed spatial representations of ski resorts (including priority areas for snowmaking equipment) along with physically based snowpack modelling (including the physical impact of grooming and snowmaking). The viability of ski resorts was further adressed thanks to a commonly used rule based on the snow season duration at the village and ski lifts average elevations along with the development of original viability indicators of snow conditions in the French Alps ski resorts based on the specific periods for the economic success of winter sports: Christmas and February school holidays. Such indicators were correlated to the number of ski lifts tickets sales over the 2001 - 2014 period and proved to be relevant to investigate and predict the evolutions of ski lifts tickets sales under the current ski market conditions in the French Alps. Our results outlined the contrast of snow conditions between French Alps ski resorts, even when accounting for snow management, particularly regarding the geographical location of resorts (Southern versus Northern Alps), the size and related elevation range of ski resorts. Our physically based approach also allowed to compute the water and energy requirements for the production of Machine Made snow since the start of the development of snowguns in the French Alps. Our computations proved to be strongly correlated to the observed amounts of water from the

  4. Tow plows could help Michigan save time and money on winter maintenance : research spotlight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-11-01

    As winter maintenance costs rise, MDOT is looking into innovative approaches to increase snow removal efficiency. As part of this effort, the department recently estimated the costs and benefits of incorporating tow plows into its equipment fleet. Re...

  5. Prevalence of pure versus mixed snow cover pixels across spatial resolutions in alpine environments: implications for binary and fractional remote sensing approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selkowitz, David J.; Forster, Richard; Caldwell, Megan K.

    2014-01-01

    Remote sensing of snow-covered area (SCA) can be binary (indicating the presence/absence of snow cover at each pixel) or fractional (indicating the fraction of each pixel covered by snow). Fractional SCA mapping provides more information than binary SCA, but is more difficult to implement and may not be feasible with all types of remote sensing data. The utility of fractional SCA mapping relative to binary SCA mapping varies with the intended application as well as by spatial resolution, temporal resolution and period of interest, and climate. We quantified the frequency of occurrence of partially snow-covered (mixed) pixels at spatial resolutions between 1 m and 500 m over five dates at two study areas in the western U.S., using 0.5 m binary SCA maps derived from high spatial resolution imagery aggregated to fractional SCA at coarser spatial resolutions. In addition, we used in situ monitoring to estimate the frequency of partially snow-covered conditions for the period September 2013–August 2014 at 10 60-m grid cell footprints at two study areas with continental snow climates. Results from the image analysis indicate that at 40 m, slightly above the nominal spatial resolution of Landsat, mixed pixels accounted for 25%–93% of total pixels, while at 500 m, the nominal spatial resolution of MODIS bands used for snow cover mapping, mixed pixels accounted for 67%–100% of total pixels. Mixed pixels occurred more commonly at the continental snow climate site than at the maritime snow climate site. The in situ data indicate that some snow cover was present between 186 and 303 days, and partial snow cover conditions occurred on 10%–98% of days with snow cover. Four sites remained partially snow-free throughout most of the winter and spring, while six sites were entirely snow covered throughout most or all of the winter and spring. Within 60 m grid cells, the late spring/summer transition from snow-covered to snow-free conditions lasted 17–56 days and averaged 37

  6. Scaling and Numerical Model Evaluation of Snow-Cover Effects on the Generation and Modification of Daytime Mesoscale Circulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segal, M.; Garratt, J. R.; Pielke, R. A.; Ye, Z.

    1991-04-01

    Consideration of the sensible heat flux characteristics over a snow surface suggests a significant diminution in the magnitude of the flux, compared to that over a snow-free surface under the same environmental conditions. Consequently, the existence of snow-covered mesoscale areas adjacent to snow-free areas produces horizontal thermal gradients in the lower atmosphere during the daytime, possibly resulting in a `snow breeze.' In addition, suppression of the daytime thermally induced upslope flow over snow-covered slopes is likely to occur. The present paper provides scaling and modeling evaluations of these situations, with quantification of the generated and modified circulations. These evaluations suggest that under ideal situations involved with uniform snow cover over large areas, particularly in late winter and early spring, a noticeable `snow breeze' is likely to develop. Additionally: suppression of the daytime thermally induced upslope flow is significant and may even result in a daytime drainage flow. The effects of bare ground patchiness in the snow cover on these circulations are also explored, both for flat terrain and slope-flow situations. A patchiness fraction greater than 0.5 is found to result in a noticeably reduced snow-breeze circulation, while a patchiness fraction of only 0.1 caused the simulated daytime drainage flow over slopes to he reversed.

  7. The changing impact of snow conditions and refreezing on the mass balance of an idealized Svalbard glacier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ward Van Pelt

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Glacier surface melt and runoff depend strongly on seasonal and perennial snow (firn conditions. Not only does the presence of snow and firn directly affect melt rates by reflecting solar radiation, it may also act as a buffer against mass loss by storing melt water in refrozen or liquid form. In Svalbard, ongoing and projected amplified climate change with respect to the global mean change has severe implications for the state of snow and firn and its impact on glacier mass loss. Model experiments with a coupled surface energy balance - firn model were done to investigate the surface mass balance and the changing role of snow and firn conditions for an idealized Svalbard glacier. A climate forcing for the past, present and future (1984-2104 is constructed, based on observational data from Svalbard Airport and a seasonally dependent projection scenario. Results illustrate ongoing and future firn degradation in response to an elevational retreat of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA of 31 m decade−1. The temperate firn zone is found to retreat and expand, while cold ice in the ablation zone warms considerably. In response to pronounced winter warming and an associated increase in winter rainfall, the current prevalence of refreezing during the melt season gradually shifts to the winter season in a future climate. Sensitivity tests reveal that in a present and future climate the density and thermodynamic structure of Svalbard glaciers are heavily influenced by refreezing. Refreezing acts as a net buffer against mass loss. However, the net mass balance change after refreezing is substantially smaller than the amount of refreezing itself, which can be ascribed to melt-enhancing effects after refreezing, which partly offset the primary mass-retaining effect of refreezing.

  8. The dynamics of avian influenza in western Arctic snow geese: implications for annual and migratory infection patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuel, Michael D.; Hall, Jeffrey S.; Brown, Justin D.; Goldberg, Diana R.; Ip, Hon S.; Baranyuk, Vasily V.

    2015-01-01

    Wild water birds are the natural reservoir for low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses (AIV). However, our ability to investigate the epizootiology of AIV in these migratory populations is challenging, and despite intensive worldwide surveillance, remains poorly understood. We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective analysis in Pacific Flyway lesser snow geese Chen caerulescens to investigate AIV serology and infection patterns. We collected nearly 3,000 sera samples from snow geese at 2 breeding colonies in Russia and Canada during 1993-1996 and swab samples from > 4,000 birds at wintering and migration areas in the United States during 2006-2011. We found seroprevalence and annual seroconversion varied considerably among years. Seroconversion and infection rates also differed between snow goose breeding colonies and wintering areas, suggesting that AIV exposure in this gregarious waterfowl species is likely occurring during several phases (migration, wintering and potentially breeding areas) of the annual cycle. We estimated AIV antibody persistence was longer (14 months) in female geese compared to males (6 months). This relatively long period of AIV antibody persistence suggests that subtype-specific serology may be an effective tool for detection of exposure to subtypes associated with highly-pathogenic AIV. Our study provides further evidence of high seroprevalence in Arctic goose populations, and estimates of annual AIV seroconversion and antibody persistence for North American waterfowl. We suggest future AIV studies include serology to help elucidate the epizootiological dynamics of AIV in wild bird populations.

  9. Physical activity levels of community-dwelling older adults are influenced by winter weather variables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, G R; Brandon, C; Gill, D P

    2017-07-01

    Winter weather conditions may negatively influence participation of older adults in daily physical activity (PA). Assess the influence of winter meteorological variables, day-time peak ambient temperature, windchill, humidity, and snow accumulation on the ground to accelerometer measured PA values in older adults. 50 community-dwelling older adults (77.4±4.7yrs; range 71-89; 12 females) living in Southwestern Ontario (Latitude 42.9°N Longitude 81.2° W) Canada, wore a waist-borne accelerometer during active waking hours (12h) for 7 consecutive days between February and April 2007. Hourly temperature, windchill, humidity, and snowfall accumulation were obtained from meteorological records and time locked to hourly accelerometer PA values. Regression analysis revealed significant relationships between time of day, ambient daytime high temperature and a humidity for participation in PA. Windchill temperature added no additional influence over PA acclamation already influenced by ambient day-time temperature and the observed variability in PA patterns relative to snow accumulation over the study period was too great to warrant its inclusion in the model. Most PA was completed in the morning hours and increased as the winter month's transitioned to spring (February through April). An equation was developed to adjust for winter weather conditions using temperature, humidity and time of day. Accurate PA assessment during the winter months must account for the ambient daytime high temperatures, humidity, and time of day. These older adults were more physically active during the morning hours and became more active as the winter season transitioned to spring. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Photovoltaic cell electrical heating system for removing snow on panel including verification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, Agnes; Weiss, Helmut

    2017-11-16

    Small photovoltaic plants in private ownership are typically rated at 5 kW (peak). The panels are mounted on roofs at a decline angle of 20° to 45°. In winter time, a dense layer of snow at a width of e.g., 10 cm keeps off solar radiation from the photovoltaic cells for weeks under continental climate conditions. Practically, no energy is produced over the time of snow coverage. Only until outside air temperature has risen high enough for a rather long-time interval to allow partial melting of snow; the snow layer rushes down in an avalanche. Following this proposal, snow removal can be arranged electrically at an extremely positive energy balance in a fast way. A photovoltaic cell is a large junction area diode inside with a threshold voltage of about 0.6 to 0.7 V (depending on temperature). This forward voltage drop created by an externally driven current through the modules can be efficiently used to provide well-distributed heat dissipation at the cell and further on at the glass surface of the whole panel. The adhesion of snow on glass is widely reduced through this heating in case a thin water film can be produced by this external short time heating. Laboratory experiments provided a temperature increase through rated panel current of more than 10 °C within about 10 min. This heating can initiate the avalanche for snow removal on intention as described before provided the clamping effect on snow at the edge of the panel frame is overcome by an additional heating foil. Basics of internal cell heat production, heating thermal effects in time course, thermographic measurements on temperature distribution, power circuit opportunities including battery storage elements and snow-removal under practical conditions are described.

  11. Snow cover, freeze-thaw, and the retention of nutrients in an oceanic mountain ecosystem

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wipf, Sonja; Sommerkorn, Martin; Stutter, Marc I.; Wubs, E. R. Jasper; van der Wal, René

    2015-01-01

    As the climate warms, winters with less snow and therefore more soil freeze-thaw cycles are likely to become more frequent in oceanic mountain areas. It is a concern that this might impair the soil's ability to store carbon and nutrients, and lead to increased leaching losses of dissolved C and

  12. Snow Cover Maps from MODIS Images at 250 m Resolution, Part 2: Validation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Zebisch

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The performance of a new algorithm for binary snow cover monitoring based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS satellite images at 250 m resolution is validated using snow cover maps (SCA based on Landsat 7 ETM+ images and in situ snow depth measurements from ground stations in selected test sites in Central Europe. The advantages of the proposed algorithm are the improved ground resolution of 250 m and the near real-time availability with respect to the 500 m standard National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA MODIS snow products (MOD10 and MYD10. It allows a more accurate snow cover monitoring at a local scale, especially in mountainous areas characterized by large landscape heterogeneity. The near real-time delivery makes the product valuable as input for hydrological models, e.g., for flood forecast. A comparison to sixteen snow cover maps derived from Landsat ETM/ETM+ showed an overall accuracy of 88.1%, which increases to 93.6% in areas outside of forests. A comparison of the SCA derived from the proposed algorithm with standard MODIS products, MYD10 and MOD10, indicates an agreement of around 85.4% with major discrepancies in forested areas. The validation of MODIS snow cover maps with 148 in situ snow depth measurements shows an accuracy ranging from 94% to around 82%, where the lowest accuracies is found in very rugged terrain restricted to in situ stations along north facing slopes, which lie in shadow in winter during the early morning acquisition.

  13. Snow farming: conserving snow over the summer season

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grünewald, Thomas; Wolfsperger, Fabian; Lehning, Michael

    2018-01-01

    Summer storage of snow for tourism has seen an increasing interest in the last years. Covering large snow piles with materials such as sawdust enables more than two-thirds of the initial snow volume to be conserved. We present detailed mass balance measurements of two sawdust-covered snow piles obtained by terrestrial laser scanning during summer 2015. Results indicate that 74 and 63 % of the snow volume remained over the summer for piles in Davos, Switzerland and Martell, Italy. If snow mass is considered instead of volume, the values increase to 83 and 72 %. The difference is attributed to settling and densification of the snow. Additionally, we adapted the one-dimensional, physically based snow cover model SNOWPACK to perform simulations of the sawdust-covered snow piles. Model results and measurements agreed extremely well at the point scale. Moreover, we analysed the contribution of the different terms of the surface energy balance to snow ablation for a pile covered with a 40 cm thick sawdust layer and a pile without insulation. Short-wave radiation was the dominant source of energy for both scenarios, but the moist sawdust caused strong cooling by long-wave emission and negative sensible and latent heat fluxes. This cooling effect reduces the energy available for melt by up to a factor of 12. As a result only 9 % of the net short-wave energy remained available for melt. Finally, sensitivity studies of the parameters thickness of the sawdust layer, air temperature, precipitation and wind speed were performed. We show that sawdust thickness has a tremendous effect on snow loss. Higher air temperatures and wind speeds increase snow ablation but less significantly. No significant effect of additional precipitation could be found as the sawdust remained wet during the entire summer with the measured quantity of rain. Setting precipitation amounts to zero, however, strongly increased melt. Overall, the 40 cm sawdust provides sufficient protection for mid

  14. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Aerosol and Snow Cover of Siberian Towns (east Siberia)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorshkov, A.; Marinayte, I.

    Contamination of the atmosphere above Siberian towns has a few peculiarities: (i) level of pollution is presumably determined by discharges of large enterprises sur- rounded by company towns; (ii) long (up to 150 days) winter is characterized by the highest concentrations of pollutants within the near-ground atmospheric layer due to pronounced anti-cyclonic circulation of the atmosphere; (iii) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are specific minor components of the aerosols. Relatively high PAH concentrations in aerosol of Siberian towns are caused by the presence of ad- ditional intensive sources of PAH (besides those traditional: gas discharges of met- allurgy, heat-and-power engineering enterprises, and motor transport). These are the discharges of low power (produc- ing plant (50000 residents) - are presented in the report. Daily and seasonal dynamics of aerosol pollution and level of PAH accumulation in snow covers during 1996 U 2001 are estimated. The highest PAH concentrations (total concentrations of identi- fied compounds) are up to 300 ng/m3 in aerosol and up to 16 mg/m2 in snow cover. At day and night temperatures lowering up to -30 oe -40 01057;, the maximum of PAH concentration is observed in the daytime due to displacement of the tempera-ture in- version. When temperature increases, two SclassicalT maximums are observed during & cedil;the morning and the evening hours. It was shown that the effect of Scity air circula- & cedil;tionT caused by air masses transportation above a city from its center to out-skirts (within the near-ground air layer U to its center) does not contribute to efficient level- ing of PAH concentrations. The level of PAH accumulation in snow cover in different citySs sites and within one citySs region is ranging up to 10 times during a season. Calculated benz[a]pyren fluxes allow us to conclude that contamination of the atmo- sphere above Irkutsk (2.5 mkg/m2 per week) is comparable with that above large cities of Western

  15. Time budgets of Snow Geese Chen caerulescens and Ross's Geese Chen rossii in mixed flocks: Implications of body size, ambient temperature and family associations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonsson, J.E.; Afton, A.D.

    2009-01-01

    Body size affects foraging and forage intake rates directly via energetic processes and indirectly through interactions with social status and social behaviour. Ambient temperature has a relatively greater effect on the energetics of smaller species, which also generally are more vulnerable to predator attacks than are larger species. We examined variability in an index of intake rates and an index of alertness in Lesser Snow Geese Chen caerulescens caerulescens and Ross's Geese Chen rossii wintering in southwest Louisiana. Specifically we examined variation in these response variables that could be attributed to species, age, family size and ambient temperature. We hypothesized that the smaller Ross's Geese would spend relatively more time feeding, exhibit relatively higher peck rates, spend more time alert or raise their heads up from feeding more frequently, and would respond to declining temperatures by increasing their proportion of time spent feeding. As predicted, we found that Ross's Geese spent more time feeding than did Snow Geese and had slightly higher peck rates than Snow Geese in one of two winters. Ross's Geese spent more time alert than did Snow Geese in one winter, but alert rates differed by family size, independent of species, in contrast to our prediction. In one winter, time spent foraging and walking was inversely related to average daily temperature, but both varied independently of species. Effects of age and family size on time budgets were generally independent of species and in accordance with previous studies. We conclude that body size is a key variable influencing time spent feeding in Ross's Geese, which may require a high time spent feeding at the expense of other activities. ?? 2008 The Authors.

  16. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM emissions from snow surfaces in northern New York.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J Alexander Maxwell

    Full Text Available Snow surface-to-air exchange of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM was measured using a modified Teflon fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP dynamic flux chamber (DFC in a remote, open site in Potsdam, New York. Sampling was conducted during the winter months of 2011. The inlet and outlet of the DFC were coupled with a Tekran Model 2537A mercury (Hg vapor analyzer using a Tekran Model 1110 two port synchronized sampler. The surface GEM flux ranged from -4.47 ng m(-2 hr(-1 to 9.89 ng m(-2 hr(-1. For most sample periods, daytime GEM flux was strongly correlated with solar radiation. The average nighttime GEM flux was slightly negative and was not well correlated with any of the measured meteorological variables. Preliminary, empirical models were developed to estimate GEM emissions from snow surfaces in northern New York. These models suggest that most, if not all, of the Hg deposited with and to snow is reemitted to the atmosphere.

  17. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) emissions from snow surfaces in northern New York.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maxwell, J Alexander; Holsen, Thomas M; Mondal, Sumona

    2013-01-01

    Snow surface-to-air exchange of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) was measured using a modified Teflon fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) dynamic flux chamber (DFC) in a remote, open site in Potsdam, New York. Sampling was conducted during the winter months of 2011. The inlet and outlet of the DFC were coupled with a Tekran Model 2537A mercury (Hg) vapor analyzer using a Tekran Model 1110 two port synchronized sampler. The surface GEM flux ranged from -4.47 ng m(-2) hr(-1) to 9.89 ng m(-2) hr(-1). For most sample periods, daytime GEM flux was strongly correlated with solar radiation. The average nighttime GEM flux was slightly negative and was not well correlated with any of the measured meteorological variables. Preliminary, empirical models were developed to estimate GEM emissions from snow surfaces in northern New York. These models suggest that most, if not all, of the Hg deposited with and to snow is reemitted to the atmosphere.

  18. Technical snow production in skiing areas: conditions, practice, monitoring and modelling. A case study in Mayrhofen/Austria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strasser, Ulrich; Hanzer, Florian; Marke, Thomas; Rothleitner, Michael

    2017-04-01

    The production of technical snow today is a self-evident feature of modern alpine skiing resort management. Millions of Euros are invested every year for the technical infrastructure and its operation to produce a homogeneous and continuing snow cover on the skiing slopes for the winter season in almost every larger destination in the Alps. In Austria, skiing tourism is a significant factor of the national economic structure. We present the framing conditions of technical snow production in the mid-size skiing resort of Mayrhofen (Zillertal Alps/Austria, 136 km slopes, elevation range 630 - 2.500 m a.s.l.). Production conditions are defined by the availability of water, the planned date for the season opening, and the climatic conditions in the weeks before. By means of an adapted snow production strategy an attempt is made to ecologically and economically optimize the use of water and energy resources. Monitoring of the snow cover is supported by a network of low-cost sensors and mobile snow depth recordings. Finally, technical snow production is simulated with the spatially distributed, physically based hydroclimatological model AMUNDSEN. The model explicitly considers individual snow guns and distributes the produced snow along the slopes. The amount of simulated snow produced by each device is a function of its type, of actual wet-bulb temperature at the location, of ski area infrastructure (in terms of water supply and pumping capacity), and of snow demand.

  19. Nuclear medicine solutions in winter sports problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoeflin, F.G.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: The diagnostic workup of acute Winter Sports injuries is done by Conventional X Ray, CT and MRI. Chronic injuries as stress reactions are best investigated by Nuclear Medicine procedures: Snow Boarding: In Snow-Boarding chronic injuries are mostly seen as local increased uptake laterally in the lower third of the Fibula of the front leg together with Tibial increase medially in the other leg. Skiing: Chronic Skiing injuries are less asymmetrical and mostly seen on the apex of the patella. Chronic Feet Problems: A different chronic problem is the reduced blood perfusion in the feet if hard, tightened boots are used for longer time by professional ski instructors and racers. Flow difference between the foot in the boot and the other without boot are dramatic as measured by Nuclear Medicine Procedures and MRI. Pulmonary Embolism: Acute pulmonary embolism caused by thrombi originating at the site of constant pressure on the back rim of ski boots is not uncommon in older skiers (seek and you will find), but never seen in the younger group of Snow-Boarders. Copyright (2002) The Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine Inc

  20. Assimilation of snow cover and snow depth into a snow model to estimate snow water equivalent and snowmelt runoff in a Himalayan catchment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stigter, Emmy E.; Wanders, Niko; Saloranta, Tuomo M.; Shea, Joseph M.; Bierkens, M.F.P.; Immerzeel, W.W.

    2017-01-01

    Snow is an important component of water storage in the Himalayas. Previous snowmelt studies in the Himalayas have predominantly relied on remotely sensed snow cover. However, snow cover data provide no direct information on the actual amount of water stored in a snowpack, i.e., the snow water

  1. Effect of summer throughfall exclusion, summer drought, and winter snow cover on methane fluxes in a temperate forest soil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borken, W.; Davidson, E.A.; Savage, K.; Sundquist, E.T.; Steudler, P.

    2006-01-01

    Soil moisture strongly controls the uptake of atmospheric methane by limiting the diffusion of methane into the soil, resulting in a negative correlation between soil moisture and methane uptake rates under most non-drought conditions. However, little is known about the effect of water stress on methane uptake in temperate forests during severe droughts. We simulated extreme summer droughts by exclusion of 168 mm (2001) and 344 mm (2002) throughfall using three translucent roofs in a mixed deciduous forest at the Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, USA. The treatment significantly increased CH4 uptake during the first weeks of throughfall exclusion in 2001 and during most of the 2002 treatment period. Low summertime CH4 uptake rates were found only briefly in both control and exclusion plots during a natural late summer drought, when water contents below 0.15 g cm-3 may have caused water stress of methanotrophs in the A horizon. Because these soils are well drained, the exclusion treatment had little effect on A horizon water content between wetting events, and the effect of water stress was smaller and more brief than was the overall treatment effect on methane diffusion. Methane consumption rates were highest in the A horizon and showed a parabolic relationship between gravimetric water content and CH4 consumption, with maximum rate at 0.23 g H2O g-1 soil. On average, about 74% of atmospheric CH4 was consumed in the top 4-5 cm of the mineral soil. By contrast, little or no CH4 consumption occurred in the O horizon. Snow cover significantly reduced the uptake rate from December to March. Removal of snow enhanced CH4 uptake by about 700-1000%, resulting in uptake rates similar to those measured during the growing season. Soil temperatures had little effect on CH4 uptake as long as the mineral soil was not frozen, indicating strong substrate limitation of methanotrophs throughout the year. Our results suggest that the extension of snow periods may affect the annual rate

  2. Seasonal prediction skill of winter temperature over North India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiwari, P. R.; Kar, S. C.; Mohanty, U. C.; Dey, S.; Kumari, S.; Sinha, P.

    2016-04-01

    The climatology, amplitude error, phase error, and mean square skill score (MSSS) of temperature predictions from five different state-of-the-art general circulation models (GCMs) have been examined for the winter (December-January-February) seasons over North India. In this region, temperature variability affects the phenological development processes of wheat crops and the grain yield. The GCM forecasts of temperature for a whole season issued in November from various organizations are compared with observed gridded temperature data obtained from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the period 1982-2009. The MSSS indicates that the models have skills of varying degrees. Predictions of maximum and minimum temperature obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climate forecast system model (NCEP_CFSv2) are compared with station level observations from the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE). It has been found that when the model temperatures are corrected to account the bias in the model and actual orography, the predictions are able to delineate the observed trend compared to the trend without orography correction.

  3. Impact of warm winters on microbial growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birgander, Johanna; Rousk, Johannes; Axel Olsson, Pål

    2014-05-01

    temperature relationships of the bacterial community from winter-warmed plots and plots with ambient soil temperatures were compared. No change in optimum temperature for growth could be detected, indicating that the microbial community has not been warm-adapted. This fits with what was seen also in the laboratory experiment where no changes in temperature response occurred when exposing bacteria to temperatures below 10 °C within two months. The increase in activity measured during winter should thereby be due to changes in environmental factors, which will be further investigated. One big difference between heated and control plots was that heated plots were snow free during the entire winter, while control plots were covered by a 10 cm snow cover. The plant community composition and flowering time also differed in the warmed and ambient plot.

  4. Changes in Snow Albedo Resulting from Snow Darkening Caused by Black Carbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engels, J.; Kloster, S.; Bourgeois, Q.

    2014-12-01

    We investigate the potential impact of snow darkening caused by pre-industrial and present-day black carbon (BC) emissions on snow albedo and subsequently climate. To assess this impact, we implemented the effect of snow darkening caused by BC emitted from natural as well as anthropogenic sources into the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Earth System Model (MPI-M ESM). Considerable amounts of BC are emitted e.g. from fires and are transported through the atmosphere for several days before being removed by rain or snow precipitation in snow covered regions. Already very small quantities of BC reduce the snow reflectance significantly, with consequences for snow melting and snow spatial coverage. We implemented the snow albedo reduction caused by BC contamination and snow aging in the one layer land surface component (JSBACH) of the atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM6, developed at MPI-M. For this we used the single-layer simulator of the SNow, Ice, and Aerosol Radiation (SNICAR-Online (Flanner et al., 2007); http://snow.engin.umich.edu) model to derive snow albedo values for BC in snow concentrations ranging between 0 and 1500 ng(BC)/g(snow) for different snow grain sizes for the visible (0.3 - 0.7 μm) and near infrared range (0.7 - 1.5 μm). As snow grains grow over time, we assign different snow ages to different snow grain sizes (50, 150, 500, and 1000 μm). Here, a radius of 50 μm corresponds to new snow, whereas a radius of 1000 μm corresponds to old snow. The deposition rates of BC on snow are prescribed from previous ECHAM6-HAM simulations for two time periods, pre-industrial (1880-1889) and present-day (2000-2009), respectively. We perform a sensitivity study regarding the scavenging of BC by snow melt. To evaluate the newly implemented albedo scheme we will compare the modeled black carbon in snow concentrations to observed ones. Moreover, we will show the impact of the BC contamination and snow aging on the simulated snow albedo. The

  5. Understanding snow-transport processes shaping the mountain snow-cover

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Mott

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Mountain snow-cover is normally heterogeneously distributed due to wind and precipitation interacting with the snow cover on various scales. The aim of this study was to investigate snow deposition and wind-induced snow-transport processes on different scales and to analyze some major drift events caused by north-west storms during two consecutive accumulation periods. In particular, we distinguish between the individual processes that cause specific drifts using a physically based model approach. Very high resolution wind fields (5 m were computed with the atmospheric model Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS and used as input for a model of snow-surface processes (Alpine3D to calculate saltation, suspension and preferential deposition of precipitation. Several flow features during north-west storms were identified with input from a high-density network of permanent and mobile weather stations and indirect estimations of wind directions from snow-surface structures, such as snow dunes and sastrugis. We also used Terrestrial and Airborne Laser Scanning measurements to investigate snow-deposition patterns and to validate the model. The model results suggest that the in-slope deposition patterns, particularly two huge cross-slope cornice-like drifts, developed only when the prevailing wind direction was northwesterly and were formed mainly due to snow redistribution processes (saltation-driven. In contrast, more homogeneous deposition patterns on a ridge scale were formed during the same periods mainly due to preferential deposition of precipitation. The numerical analysis showed that snow-transport processes were sensitive to the changing topography due to the smoothing effect of the snow cover.

  6. Assessing the ability of operational snow models to predict snowmelt runoff extremes (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, A. W.; Restrepo, P. J.; Clark, M. P.

    2013-12-01

    In the western US, the snow accumulation and melt cycle of winter and spring plays a critical role in the region's water management strategies. Consequently, the ability to predict snowmelt runoff at time scales from days to seasons is a key input for decisions in reservoir management, whether for avoiding flood hazards or supporting environmental flows through the scheduling of releases in spring, or for allocating releases for multi-state water distribution in dry seasons of year (using reservoir systems to provide an invaluable buffer for many sectors against drought). Runoff forecasts thus have important benefits at both wet and dry extremes of the climatological spectrum. The importance of the prediction of the snow cycle motivates an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the US's central operational snow model, SNOW17, in contrast to process-modeling alternatives, as they relate to simulating observed snowmelt variability and extremes. To this end, we use a flexible modeling approach that enables an investigation of different choices in model structure, including model physics, parameterization and degree of spatiotemporal discretization. We draw from examples of recent extreme events in western US watersheds and an overall assessment of retrospective model performance to identify fruitful avenues for advancing the modeling basis for the operational prediction of snow-related runoff extremes.

  7. Analysis of snow-cap pollution for air quality assessment in the vicinity of an oil refinery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krastinyte, Viktorija; Baltrenaite, Edita; Lietuvninkas, Arvydas

    2013-01-01

    Snow-cap can be used as a simple and effective indicator of industrial air pollution. In this study snow-cap samples were collected from 11 sites located in the vicinity of an oil refinery in Mazeikiai, a region in the north-west of Lithuania, in the winter of 2011. Analysis of snowmelt water and snow-dust was used to determine anthropogenic pollutants such as: sulphates and chlorides, nitrites, nitrates, ammonium nitrogen, total carbon, total nitrogen; heavy metals: lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd). Concentrations of heavy metals in snow-dust were detected thousands of times higher than those in the snowmelt water. In this study, analysis of heavy metal concentration was conducted considering different distances and the wind direction within the impact zone of the oil refinery. The sequence of heavy metals according to their mean concentrations in the snow-dust samples was the following: Pb > Cr > Cu > Cd. Heavy metals highly correlated among each other. The load of snow-dust was evaluated to determine the pollution level in the study area. The highest daily load of snow-dust was 45.81 +/- 12.35 mg/m2 in the north-western direction from the oil refinery. According to classification of the daily load of snow-dust a lower than medium-risk level of pollution was determined in the vicinity of the oil refinery.

  8. Simulation of Wind-Driven Snow Redistribution at a High-Elevation Alpine Site Using a Meso-Scale Atmospheric Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vionnet, V.; Martin, E.; Masson, V.; Guyomarc'h, G.; Naaim-Bouvet, F.; Prokop, A.; Durand, Y.; Lac, C.

    2012-12-01

    In alpine regions, blowing snow events strongly influence the temporal and spatial evolution of the snow depth distribution throughout the winter season. We recently developed a new simulation system to gain understanding on the complex processes that drive the redistribution of snow by the wind in complex terrain. This new system couples directly the detailed snow-pack model Crocus with the meso-scale atmospheric model Meso-NH. A blowing snow scheme allows Meso-NH to simulate the transport of snow particles in the atmosphere. We used the coupled system to study a blowing snow event with snowfall that occurred in February 2011 in the Grandes Rousses range (French Alps). Three nested domains at an horizontal resolution of 450, 150 and 50 m allow the model to simulate the complex 3D precipitation and wind fields around our experimental site (2720 m a.s.l.) during this 22-hour event. Wind-induced snow transport is activated over the domains of higher resolution (150 and 50 m). We firstly assessed the ability of the model to reproduce atmospheric flows at high resolution in alpine terrain using a large dataset of observations (meteorological data, vertical profile of wind speed). Simulated blowing snow fluxes are then compared with measurements from SPC and mechanical snow traps. Finally a map of snow erosion and accumulation produced by Terrestrial Laser measurements allows to evaluate the quality of the simulated snow depth redistribution.

  9. Simulation of wind-induced snow transport and sublimation in alpine terrain using a fully coupled snowpack/atmosphere model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vionnet, V.; Martin, E.; Masson, V.; Guyomarc'h, G.; Naaim-Bouvet, F.; Prokop, A.; Durand, Y.; Lac, C.

    2014-03-01

    In alpine regions, wind-induced snow transport strongly influences the spatio-temporal evolution of the snow cover throughout the winter season. To gain understanding on the complex processes that drive the redistribution of snow, a new numerical model is developed. It directly couples the detailed snowpack model Crocus with the atmospheric model Meso-NH. Meso-NH/Crocus simulates snow transport in saltation and in turbulent suspension and includes the sublimation of suspended snow particles. The coupled model is evaluated against data collected around the experimental site of Col du Lac Blanc (2720 m a.s.l., French Alps). First, 1-D simulations show that a detailed representation of the first metres of the atmosphere is required to reproduce strong gradients of blowing snow concentration and compute mass exchange between the snowpack and the atmosphere. Secondly, 3-D simulations of a blowing snow event without concurrent snowfall have been carried out. Results show that the model captures the main structures of atmospheric flow in alpine terrain. However, at 50 m grid spacing, the model reproduces only the patterns of snow erosion and deposition at the ridge scale and misses smaller scale patterns observed by terrestrial laser scanning. When activated, the sublimation of suspended snow particles causes a reduction of deposited snow mass of 5.3% over the calculation domain. Total sublimation (surface + blowing snow) is three times higher than surface sublimation in a simulation neglecting blowing snow sublimation.

  10. The Anomalous Winter of 1783-1784: Was the Laki Eruption or an Analog of the 2009-2010 Winter to Blame?

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Arrigo, Rosanne; Seager, Richard; Smerdon, Jason E.; LeGrande, Allegra N.; Cook, Edward R.

    2011-01-01

    The multi ]stage eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki beginning in June, 1783 is speculated to have caused unusual dry fog and heat in western Europe and cold in North America during the 1783 summer, and record cold and snow the subsequent winter across the circum-North Atlantic. Despite the many indisputable impacts of the Laki eruption, however, its effect on climate, particularly during the 1783.1784 winter, may be the most poorly constrained. Here we test an alternative explanation for the unusual conditions during this time: that they were caused primarily by a combined negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and an El Nino ]Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warm event. A similar combination of NAO ]ENSO phases was identified as the cause of record cold and snowy conditions during the 2009.2010 winter in Europe and eastern North America. 600-year tree-ring reconstructions of NAO and ENSO indices reveal values in the 1783.1784 winter second only to their combined severity in 2009.2010. Data sources and model simulations support our hypothesis that a combined, negative NAO ]ENSO warm phase was the dominant cause of the anomalous winter of 1783.1784, and that these events likely resulted from natural variability unconnected to Laki.

  11. Extreme winter warming events more negatively impact small rather than large soil fauna: shift in community composition explained by traits not taxa.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bokhorst, S.F.; Phoenix, G.K.; Bjerke, J.W.; Callaghan, T.V.; Huyer-Brugman, F.A.; Berg, M.P.

    2012-01-01

    Extreme weather events can have negative impacts on species survival and community structure when surpassing lethal thresholds. Extreme winter warming events in the Arctic rapidly melt snow and expose ecosystems to unseasonably warm air (2-10 °C for 2-14 days), but returning to cold winter climate

  12. Blowing snow detection in Antarctica, from space borne and ground-based remote sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gossart, A.; Souverijns, N.; Lhermitte, S.; Lenaerts, J.; Gorodetskaya, I.; Schween, J. H.; Van Lipzig, N. P. M.

    2017-12-01

    Surface mass balance (SMB) strongly controls spatial and temporal variations in the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) mass balance and its contribution to sea level rise. Currently, the scarcity of observational data and the challenges of climate modelling over the ice sheet limit our understanding of the processes controlling AIS SMB. Particularly, the impact of blowing snow on local SMB is not yet constrained and is subject to large uncertainties. To assess the impact of blowing snow on local SMB, we investigate the attenuated backscatter profiles from ceilometers at two East Antarctic locations in Dronning Maud Land. Ceilometers are robust ground-based remote sensing instruments that yield information on cloud base height and vertical structure, but also provide information on the particles present in the boundary layer. We developed a new algorithm to detect blowing snow (snow particles lifted by the wind from the surface to substantial height) from the ceilometer attenuated backscatter. The algorithm successfully allows to detect strong blowing snow signal from layers thicker than 15 m at the Princess Elisabeth (PE, (72°S, 23°E)) and Neumayer (70°S, 8° W) stations. Applying the algorithm to PE, we retrieve the frequency and annual cycle of blowing snow as well as discriminate between clear sky and overcast conditions during blowing snow. We further apply the blowing snow algorithm at PE to evaluate the blowing snow events detection by satellite imagery (Palm et al., 2011): the near-surface blowing snow layers are apparent in lidar backscatter profiles and enable snowdrift events detection (spatial and temporal frequency, height and optical depth). These data are processed from CALIPSO, at a high resolution (1x1 km digital elevation model). However, the remote sensing detection of blowing snow events by satellite is limited to layers of a minimal thickness of 20-30 m. In addition, thick clouds, mostly occurring during winter storms, can impede drifting snow

  13. C-Band SAR Imagery for Snow-Cover Monitoring at Treeline, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frédérique C. Pivot

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available RADARSAT and ERS-2 data collected at multiple incidence angles are used to characterize the seasonal variations in the backscatter of snow-covered landscapes in the northern Hudson Bay Lowlands during the winters of 1997/98 and 1998/99. The study evaluates the usefulness of C-band SAR systems for retrieving the snow water equivalent under dry snow conditions in the forest–tundra ecotone. The backscatter values are compared against ground measurements at six sampling sites, which are taken to be representative of the land-cover types found in the region. The contribution of dry snow to the radar return is evident when frost penetrates the first 20 cm of soil. Only then does the backscatter respond positively to changes in snow water equivalent, at least in the open and forested areas near the coast, where 1-dB increases in backscatter for each approximate 5–10 mm of accumulated water equivalent are observed at 20–31° incidence angles. Further inland, the backscatter shows either no change or a negative change with snow accumulation, which suggests that the radar signal there is dominated by ground surface scattering (e.g., fen when not attenuated by vegetation (e.g., forested and transition. With high-frequency ground-penetrating radar, we demonstrate the presence of a 10–20-cm layer of black ice underneath the snow cover, which causes the reduced radar returns (−15 dB and less observed in the inland fen. A correlation between the backscattering and the snow water equivalent cannot be determined due to insufficient observations at similar incidence angles. To establish a relationship between the snow water equivalent and the backscatter, only images acquired with similar incidence angles should be used, and they must be corrected for both vegetation and ground effects.

  14. Distributed snow modeling suitable for use with operational data for the American River watershed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shamir, E.; Georgakakos, K. P.

    2004-12-01

    The mountainous terrain of the American River watershed (~4300 km2) at the Western slope of the Northern Sierra Nevada is subject to significant variability in the atmospheric forcing that controls the snow accumulation and ablations processes (i.e., precipitation, surface temperature, and radiation). For a hydrologic model that attempts to predict both short- and long-term streamflow discharges, a plausible description of the seasonal and intermittent winter snow pack accumulation and ablation is crucial. At present the NWS-CNRFC operational snow model is implemented in a semi distributed manner (modeling unit of about 100-1000 km2) and therefore lump distinct spatial variability of snow processes. In this study we attempt to account for the precipitation, temperature, and radiation spatial variability by constructing a distributed snow accumulation and melting model suitable for use with commonly available sparse data. An adaptation of the NWS-Snow17 energy and mass balance that is used operationally at the NWS River Forecast Centers is implemented at 1 km2 grid cells with distributed input and model parameters. The input to the model (i.e., precipitation and surface temperature) is interpolated from observed point data. The surface temperature was interpolated over the basin based on adiabatic lapse rates using topographic information whereas the precipitation was interpolated based on maps of climatic mean annual rainfall distribution acquired from PRISM. The model parameters that control the melting rate due to radiation were interpolated based on aspect. The study was conducted for the entire American basin for the snow seasons of 1999-2000. Validation of the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) prediction is done by comparing to observation from 12 snow Sensors. The Snow Cover Area (SCA) prediction was evaluated by comparing to remotely sensed 500m daily snow cover derived from MODIS. The results that the distribution of snow over the area is well captured and the

  15. Snow depth manipulation experiments in a dry and a moist tundra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, M. J.; Czimczik, C. I.; Jung, J. Y.; Kim, M.; Lee, Y. K.; Nam, S.; Wagner, I.

    2017-12-01

    As a result of global warming, precipitation in the Arctic is expected to increase by 25-50% by the end of this century, mostly in the form of snow. However, precipitation patterns vary considerable in space and time, and future precipitation patterns are highly uncertain at local and regional scales. The amount of snowfall (or snow depth) influences a number of ecosystem properties in Arctic ecosystems, such as soil temperature over winter and soil moisture in the following growing season. These modifications then affect rates of carbon-related soil processes and photosynthesis, thus CO2 exchange rates between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. In this study, we investigate the effects of snow depth on the magnitude, sources and temporal dynamics of CO2 fluxes. We installed snow fences in a dry dwarf-shrub (Cambridge Bay, Canada; 69° N, 105° W) and a moist low-shrub (Council, Alaska, USA; 64° N, 165° W) tundra in summer 2017, and established control, and increased and reduced snow depth plots at each snow fence. Summertime CO2 flux rates (net ecosystem exchange, ecosystem respiration, gross primary production) and the fractions of autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration to ecosystem respiration were measured using manual chambers and radiocarbon signatures. Wintertime CO2 flux rates will be measured using soda lime adsorption technique and forced diffusion chambers. Soil temperature and moisture at multiple depths, as well as changes in soil properties and microbial communities will be also observed, to research whether these changes affect CO2 flux rates or patterns. Our study will elucidate how future snow depth and its impact on soil physical and biogeochemical properties influence the magnitude and sources of tundra-atmosphere CO2 exchange in the rapidly warming Arctic.

  16. Black Carbon in Arctic Snow: Preliminary Results from Recent Field Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, S. G.; Grenfell, T. C.; Radionov, V. F.; Clarke, A. D.

    2007-12-01

    Annual snowpacks act to amplify variations in regional solar heating of the surface due to positive feedback processes associated with areal melting and precipitation. Small amounts of black carbon (BC) in the snow can reduce the albedo and modulate shortwave absorption and transmission affecting the onset of melt and heating of the snow pack. The effect of black carbon on the albedo of snow in the Arctic is estimated to be up to a few percent. The only prior survey of arctic snow was that of Clarke and Noone in 1983-84. We have begun a wide- area survey of the BC content of arctic snow in order to update and expand the 1983/84 survey. Samples of snow have been collected in mid to late spring when the entire winter snowpack was accessible. The samples have been melted and filtered, and the filters analyzed for absorptive impurities. To date, sites in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and in the Arctic Basin have been sampled. In March and April 2007 we also carried out a field program at four sites in northwestern Russia as part of the International Polar Year. Preliminary results based on visual comparison with the standard filters indicate that the snow cover in arctic North America and the Beaufort Sea have lower BC concentrations now than 20 years ago while levels in Greenland are about the same. Background levels of BC in Russia are approximately twice those in North America consistent with modeling predictions of Flanner et al., 2007. More accurate values of absorption will be obtained by measurement of spectral transmission of the filters, which will also allow the relative contributions of BC and soil dust to be determined.

  17. Early Winter Sea Ice Dynamics in the Ross Sea from In Situ and Satellite Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maksym, T.; Ackley, S. F.; Stammerjohn, S. E.; Tison, J. L.; Hoeppner, K.

    2017-12-01

    The Ross Sea sea ice cover is one of the few regions of the cryosphere that have been expanding in recent decades. However, 2017 saw a significantly delayed autumn ice advance and record low early winter sea ice extent. Understanding the causes and impacts of this variability has been hampered by a lack of in situ observations. A winter cruise into the Ross Sea in April-June 2017 provided some of the only in situ winter observations of sea ice processes in this region in almost 20 years. We present a first look at data from arrays of drifting buoys deployed in the ice pack and outflow from these polynyas, supplemented by a suite of high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. Additional observations included high-resolution sonar imagery of ice deformation features from an autonomous underwater vehicle, shipboard visual observations of sea ice properties, and in situ measurements of snow and thickness and structural properties. These data show that the delay in ice advance led to a thin, highly dynamic sea ice pack, with substantial ice production and export from the Ross Ice Shelf and Terra Nova Bay polynyas. Despite these high rates of ice production, the pack ice remained thin due to rapid export and northward drift. Compared to the only prior winter observations made in 1995 and 1998, the ice was thinner, with less ridging and snow cover, reflecting a younger ice cover. Granular ice was less prevalent than in these prior cruises, particularly in the outer pack, likely due to less snow ice formation and less pancake ice formation at the advancing ice edge. Despite rapid basal ice growth, the buoy data suggest that deformation may be the dominant mechanism for sea ice thickening in the pack once an initial ice cover forms.

  18. Food, energy, and water in an era of disappearing snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mote, P.; Lettenmaier, D. P.; Li, S.; Xiao, M.

    2017-12-01

    Mountain snowpack stores a significant quantity of water in the western US, accumulating during the wet season and melting during the dry summers and supplying more than 65% of the water used for irrigated agriculture, energy production (both hydropower and thermal), and municipal and industrial uses. The importance of snow to western agriculture is demonstrated by the fact that most snow monitoring is performed by the US Department of Agriculture. In a paper published in 2005, we showed that roughly 70% of monitoring sites showed decreasing trends through 2002. Now, with 14 additional years of data, over 90% of snow monitoring sites with long records across the western US show declines through 2016, of which 33% are significant (vs 5% expected by chance) and 2% are significant and positive (vs 5% expected by chance). Declining trends are observed across all months, states, and climates, but are largest in spring, in the Pacific states, and in locations with mild winter climate. We corroborate and extend these observations using a gridded hydrology model, which also allows a robust estimate of total western snowpack and its decline. Averaged across the western US, the decline in total April 1 snow water equivalent since mid-century is roughly 15-30% or 25-50 km3, comparable in volume to the West's largest man-made reservoir, Lake Mead. In the absence of rapid reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, these losses will accelerate; snow losses on this scale demonstrate the necessity of rethinking water storage, policy, and usage.

  19. Barriers to wheelchair use in the winter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ripat, Jacquie D; Brown, Cara L; Ethans, Karen D

    2015-06-01

    To test the hypothesis that challenges to community participation posed by winter weather are greater for individuals who use scooters, manual and power wheelchairs (wheeled mobility devices [WMDs]) than for the general ambulatory population, and to determine what WMD users identify as the most salient environmental barriers to community participation during the winter. Cross-sectional survey organized around 5 environmental domains: technological, natural, physical, social/attitudinal, and policy. Urban community in Canada. Convenience sample of WMD users or their proxy (N=99). Not applicable. Not applicable. Forty-two percent identified reduced outing frequency in winter months, associated with increased age (χ(3)=6.4, P=.04), lack of access to family/friends for transportation (χ(2)=8.1, P=.04), and primary type of WMD used in the winter (scooter χ(2)=8.8, P=.003). Most reported tires/casters becoming stuck in the snow (95%) or slipping on the ice (91%), difficulty ascending inclines/ramps (92%), and cold hands while using controls or pushing rims (85%); fewer identified frozen wheelchair/scooter batteries, seat cushions/backrests, or electronics. Sidewalks/roads were reported to be problematic by 99%. Eighty percent reported needing additional help in the winter. Limited community access in winter led to a sense of loneliness/isolation, and fear/anxiety related to safety. Respondents identified policies that limited participation during winter. People who use WMDs decrease their community participation in cold weather because of multiple environmental barriers. Clinicians, researchers, and policymakers can take a multidimensional approach to mitigate these barriers in order to enhance community participation by WMD users in winter. Copyright © 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Spatial distribution and potential sources of trace metals in insoluble particles of snow from Urumqi, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaolan; Jiang, Fengqing; Wang, Shaoping; Turdi, Muyesser; Zhang, Zhaoyong

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to characterize trace elements in snow in urban-suburb gradient over Urumqi city, China. The spatial distribution patterns of 11 trace metals in insoluble particulate matters of snow were revealed by using 102 snow samples collected in and around urban areas of Urumqi, a city suffering from severe wintertime air pollution in China. Similar spatial distribution for Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Pb was found and their two significant high-value areas located in the west and east, respectively, and a high-value area in the south, which were correlated with factory emissions, traffic activities, and construction fugitive dust. The high-value areas of Cr, Ni, and V occurred in the northeast corner and along main traffic paths, which were linked to oil refinery and vehicular emissions. High value of Be presented in the west of the city. The high-value area of Co in the northeast could be related to local soil. Cd and U displayed relatively even spatial patterns in the urban area. In view of distance from the urban center, e.g., from the first circular belt to the fourth circular belt, except Be, V, Cd, and U, the contents of other metals generally decreased from the first circular belt to the forth circular belt, implying the effect of human activity clearly. Additionally, prevailing northwesterly winds and occasionally southeasterly winds in winter were associated with decreased, generally, concentrations of trace metal in snow from the urban center to the southern suburb along a northwest and southeast transect. The information on concentrations and spatial distributions of these metals in insoluble particles of snow in winter will be valuable for further environmental protection and planning.

  1. California's Snow Gun and its implications for mass balance predictions under greenhouse warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howat, I.; Snyder, M.; Tulaczyk, S.; Sloan, L.

    2003-12-01

    Precipitation has received limited treatment in glacier and snowpack mass balance models, largely due to the poor resolution and confidence of precipitation predictions relative to temperature predictions derived from atmospheric models. Most snow and glacier mass balance models rely on statistical or lapse rate-based downscaling of general or regional circulation models (GCM's and RCM's), essentially decoupling sub-grid scale, orographically-driven evolution of atmospheric heat and moisture. Such models invariably predict large losses in the snow and ice volume under greenhouse warming. However, positive trends in the mass balance of glaciers in some warming maritime climates, as well as at high elevations of the Greenland Ice Sheet, suggest that increased precipitation may play an important role in snow- and glacier-climate interactions. Here, we present a half century of April snowpack data from the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains of California, USA. This high-density network of snow-course data indicates that a gain in winter snow accumulation at higher elevations has compensated loss in snow volume at lower elevations by over 50% and has led to glacier expansion on Mt. Shasta. These trends are concurrent with a region-wide increase in winter temperatures up to 2° C. They result from the orographic lifting and saturation of warmer, more humid air leading to increased precipitation at higher elevations. Previous studies have invoked such a "Snow Gun" effect to explain contemporaneous records of Tertiary ocean warming and rapid glacial expansion. A climatological context of the California's "snow gun" effect is elucidated by correlation between the elevation distribution of April SWE observations and the phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Nino Southern Oscillation, both controlling the heat and moisture delivered to the U.S. Pacific coast. The existence of a significant "Snow Gun" effect presents two challenges to snow and glacier mass

  2. Calculation of new snow densities from sub-daily automated snow measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helfricht, Kay; Hartl, Lea; Koch, Roland; Marty, Christoph; Lehning, Michael; Olefs, Marc

    2017-04-01

    In mountain regions there is an increasing demand for high-quality analysis, nowcasting and short-range forecasts of the spatial distribution of snowfall. Operational services, such as for avalanche warning, road maintenance and hydrology, as well as hydropower companies and ski resorts need reliable information on the depth of new snow (HN) and the corresponding water equivalent (HNW). However, the ratio of HNW to HN can vary from 1:3 to 1:30 because of the high variability of new snow density with respect to meteorological conditions. In the past, attempts were made to calculate new snow densities from meteorological parameters mainly using daily values of temperature and wind. Further complex statistical relationships have been used to calculate new snow densities on hourly to sub-hourly time intervals to drive multi-layer snow cover models. However, only a few long-term in-situ measurements of new snow density exist for sub-daily time intervals. Settling processes within the new snow due to loading and metamorphism need to be considered when computing new snow density. As the effect of these processes is more pronounced for long time intervals, a high temporal resolution of measurements is desirable. Within the pluSnow project data of several automatic weather stations with simultaneous measurements of precipitation (pluviometers), snow water equivalent (SWE) using snow pillows and snow depth (HS) measurements using ultrasonic rangers were analysed. New snow densities were calculated for a set of data filtered on the basis of meteorological thresholds. The calculated new snow densities were compared to results from existing new snow density parameterizations. To account for effects of settling of the snow cover, a case study based on a multi-year data set using the snow cover model SNOWPACK at Weissfluhjoch was performed. Measured median values of hourly new snow densities at the different stations range from 54 to 83 kgm-3. This is considerably lower than a 1

  3. CREST-Snow Field Experiment: analysis of snowpack properties using multi-frequency microwave remote sensing data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Y. Lakhankar

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The CREST-Snow Analysis and Field Experiment (CREST-SAFE was carried out during January–March 2011 at the research site of the National Weather Service office, Caribou, ME, USA. In this experiment dual-polarized microwave (37 and 89 GHz observations were accompanied by detailed synchronous observations of meteorology and snowpack physical properties. The objective of this long-term field experiment was to improve understanding of the effect of changing snow characteristics (grain size, density, temperature under various meteorological conditions on the microwave emission of snow and hence to improve retrievals of snow cover properties from satellite observations. In this paper we present an overview of the field experiment and comparative preliminary analysis of the continuous microwave and snowpack observations and simulations. The observations revealed a large difference between the brightness temperature of fresh and aged snowpack even when the snow depth was the same. This is indicative of a substantial impact of evolution of snowpack properties such as snow grain size, density and wetness on microwave observations. In the early spring we frequently observed a large diurnal variation in the 37 and 89 GHz brightness temperature with small depolarization corresponding to daytime snowmelt and nighttime refreeze events. SNTHERM (SNow THERmal Model and the HUT (Helsinki University of Technology snow emission model were used to simulate snowpack properties and microwave brightness temperatures, respectively. Simulated snow depth and snowpack temperature using SNTHERM were compared to in situ observations. Similarly, simulated microwave brightness temperatures using the HUT model were compared with the observed brightness temperatures under different snow conditions to identify different states of the snowpack that developed during the winter season.

  4. Winter storm intensity, hazards, and property losses in the New York tristate area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimkus, Cari E; Ting, Mingfang; Booth, James F; Adamo, Susana B; Madajewicz, Malgosia; Kushnir, Yochanan; Rieder, Harald E

    2017-07-01

    Winter storms pose numerous hazards to the Northeast United States, including rain, snow, strong wind, and flooding. These hazards can cause millions of dollars in damages from one storm alone. This study investigates meteorological intensity and impacts of winter storms from 2001 to 2014 on coastal counties in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York and underscores the consequences of winter storms. The study selected 70 winter storms on the basis of station observations of surface wind strength, heavy precipitation, high storm tide, and snow extremes. Storm rankings differed between measures, suggesting that intensity is not easily defined with a single metric. Several storms fell into two or more categories (multiple-category storms). Following storm selection, property damages were examined to determine which types lead to high losses. The analysis of hazards (or events) and associated damages using the Storm Events Database of the National Centers for Environmental Information indicates that multiple-category storms were responsible for a greater portion of the damage. Flooding was responsible for the highest losses, but no discernible connection exists between the number of storms that afflict a county and the damage it faces. These results imply that losses may rely more on the incidence of specific hazards, infrastructure types, and property values, which vary throughout the region. © 2017 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences.

  5. A survey of valleys and basins of the Western USA for the capacity to produce winter ozone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansfield, Marc L; Hall, Courtney F

    2018-04-18

    High winter ozone in the Uintah Basin, Utah, and the Upper Green River Basin, Wyoming, occurs because of the confluence of three separate factors: (1) extensive oil or natural gas production, (2) topography conducive to strong multi-day thermal inversions, and (3) snow cover. We surveyed 13 basins and valleys in the western USA for the existence and magnitude of these factors. Seven of the basins, because winter ozone measurements were available, were assigned to four different behavioral classes. Based on similarities among the basins, the remaining six were also given a tentative assignment. Two classes (1 and 2) correspond to basins with high ozone because all three factors listed above are present at sufficient magnitude. Class 3 corresponds to rural basins with ozone at background levels, and occurs because at least one of the three factors is weak or absent. Class 4 corresponds to ozone below background levels, and occurs, for example, in urban basins whose emissions scavenge ozone. All three factors are present in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming, but compared to the Uintah or the Upper Green Basins, it has only moderate oil and gas production, and is assigned to class 3. We predict that the Wind River Basin, as well as other class 3 basins that have inversions and snow cover, would transition from background (class 3) to high ozone behavior (class 1 or 2) if oil or gas production were to intensify, or to class 4 (low winter ozone) if they were to become urban. Implication Statement High ozone concentrations in winter only occur in basins or valleys that have an active oil and natural gas production industry, multi-day thermal inversions, and snow cover; and have only been documented in two basins worldwide. We have examined a number of other candidate basins in the Western USA and conclude that these factors are either absent or too weak to produce high winter ozone. This study illustrates how strong each factor needs to be before winter ozone can be expected

  6. The Modification of Orographic Snow Growth Processes by Cloud Nucleating Aerosols

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotton, W. R.; Saleeby, S.

    2011-12-01

    Cloud nucleating aerosols have been found to modify the amount and spatial distribution of snowfall in mountainous areas where riming growth of snow crystals is known to contribute substantially to the total snow water equivalent precipitation. In the Park Range of Colorado, a 2km deep supercooled liquid water orographic cloud frequently enshrouds the mountaintop during snowfall events. This leads to a seeder-feeder growth regime in which snow falls through the orographic cloud and collects cloud water prior to surface deposition. The addition of higher concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) modifies the cloud droplet spectrum toward smaller size droplets and suppresses riming growth. Without rime growth, the density of snow crystals remains low and horizontal trajectories carry them further downwind due to slower vertical fall speeds. This leads to a downwind shift in snowfall accumulation at high CCN concentrations. Cloud resolving model simulations were performed (at 600m horizontal grid spacing) for six snowfall events over the Park Range. The chosen events were well simulated and occurred during intensive observations periods as part of two winter field campaigns in 2007 and 2010 based at Storm Peak Laboratory in Steamboat Springs, CO. For each event, sensitivity simulations were run with various initial CCN concentration vertical profiles that represent clean to polluted aerosol environments. Microphysical budget analyses were performed for these simulations in order to determine the relative importance of the various cloud properties and growth processes that contribute to precipitation production. Observations and modeling results indicate that initial vapor depositional growth of snow tends to be maximized within about 1km of mountaintop above the windward slope while the majority of riming growth occurs within 500m of mountaintop. This suggests that precipitation production is predominantly driven by locally enhanced orography. The large scale

  7. Snow Tweets: Emergency Information Dissemination in a US County During 2014 Winter Storms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnan-White, Jess; Shulman, Jason; Bielecke, Abigail

    2014-12-22

    This paper describes how American federal, state, and local organizations created, sourced, and disseminated emergency information via social media in preparation for several winter storms in one county in the state of New Jersey (USA). Postings submitted to Twitter for three winter storm periods were collected from selected organizations, along with a purposeful sample of select private local users. Storm-related posts were analyzed for stylistic features (hashtags, retweet mentions, embedded URLs). Sharing and re-tweeting patterns were also mapped using NodeXL. RESULTS indicate emergency management entities were active in providing preparedness and response information during the selected winter weather events. A large number of posts, however, did not include unique Twitter features that maximize dissemination and discovery by users. Visual representations of interactions illustrate opportunities for developing stronger relationships among agencies. Whereas previous research predominantly focuses on large-scale national or international disaster contexts, the current study instead provides needed analysis in a small-scale context. With practice during localized events like extreme weather, effective information dissemination in large events can be enhanced.

  8. CREST-SAFE: Snow LST validation, wetness profiler creation, and depth/SWE product development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez Diaz, C. L.; Lakhankar, T.; Romanov, P.; Khanbilvardi, R.; Munoz Barreto, J.; Yu, Y.

    2017-12-01

    CREST-SAFE: Snow LST validation, wetness profiler creation, and depth/SWE product development The Field Snow Research Station (also referred to as Snow Analysis and Field Experiment, SAFE) is operated by the NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CREST) in the City University of New York (CUNY). The field station is located within the premises of the Caribou Municipal Airport (46°52'59'' N, 68°01'07'' W) and in close proximity to the National Weather Service (NWS) Regional Forecast Office. The station was established in 2010 to support studies in snow physics and snow remote sensing. The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Land Surface Temperature (LST) Environmental Data Record (EDR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST product (provided by the Terra and Aqua Earth Observing System satellites) were validated using in situ LST (T-skin) and near-surface air temperature (T-air) observations recorded at CREST-SAFE for the winters of 2013 and 2014. Results indicate that T-air correlates better than T-skin with VIIRS LST data and that the accuracy of nighttime LST retrievals is considerably better than that of daytime. Several trends in the MODIS LST data were observed, including the underestimation of daytime values and night-time values. Results indicate that, although all the data sets showed high correlation with ground measurements, day values yielded slightly higher accuracy ( 1°C). Additionally, we created a liquid water content (LWC)-profiling instrument using time-domain reflectometry (TDR) at CREST-SAFE and tested it during the snow melt period (February-April) immediately after installation in 2014. Results displayed high agreement when compared to LWC estimates obtained using empirical formulas developed in previous studies, and minor improvement over wet snow LWC estimates. Lastly, to improve on global snow cover mapping, a snow product capable of estimating snow depth and snow water

  9. The bright side of snow cover effects on PV production - How to lower the seasonal mismatch between electricity supply and demand in a fully renewable Switzerland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahl, Annelen; Dujardin, Jérôme; Dupuis, Sonia; Lehning, Michael

    2017-04-01

    One of the major problems with solar PV in the context of a fully renewable electricity production at mid-latitudes is the trend of higher production in summer and lower production in winter. This trend is most often exactly opposite to demand patterns, causing a seasonal mismatch that requires extensive balancing power from other production sources or large storage capacities. Which possibilities do we have to bring PV production into closer correlation with demand? This question motivated our research and in response we investigated the effects of placing PV panels at different tilt angles in regions with extensive snow cover to increase winter production from ground reflected short wave radiation. The aim of this project is therefore to quantify the effect of varying snow cover duration (SCD) and of panel tilt angle on the annual total production and on production during winter months when electricity is most needed. We chose Switzerland as ideal test site, because it has a wide range of snow cover conditions and a high potential for renewable electricity production. But methods can be applied to other regions of comparable conditions for snow cover and irradiance. Our analysis can be separated into two steps: 1. A systematic, GIS and satellite-based analysis for all of Switzerland: We use time series of satellite-derived irradiance, and snow cover characteristics together with land surface cover types and elevation information to quantify the environmental conditions and to estimate potential production and ideal tilt angles. 2. A scenario-based analysis that contrasts the production patterns of different placement scenarios for PV panels in urban, rural and mountainous areas. We invoke a model of a fully renewable electricity system (including Switzerland's large hydropower system) at national level to compute the electricity import and storage capacity that will be required to balance the remaining mismatch between production and demand to further illuminate

  10. The Snowcloud System: Architecture and Algorithms for Snow Hydrology Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skalka, C.; Brown, I.; Frolik, J.

    2013-12-01

    Snowcloud is an embedded data collection system for snow hydrology field research campaigns conducted in harsh climates and remote areas. The system combines distributed wireless sensor network technology and computational techniques to provide data at lower cost and higher spatio-temporal resolution than ground-based systems using traditional methods. Snowcloud has seen multiple Winter deployments in settings ranging from high desert to arctic, resulting in over a dozen node-years of practical experience. The Snowcloud system architecture consists of multiple TinyOS mesh-networked sensor stations collecting environmental data above and, in some deployments, below the snowpack. Monitored data modalities include snow depth, ground and air temperature, PAR and leaf-area index (LAI), and soil moisture. To enable power cycling and control of multiple sensors a custom power and sensor conditioning board was developed. The electronics and structural systems for individual stations have been designed and tested (in the lab and in situ) for ease of assembly and robustness to harsh winter conditions. Battery systems and solar chargers enable seasonal operation even under low/no light arctic conditions. Station costs range between 500 and 1000 depending on the instrumentation suite. For remote field locations, a custom designed hand-held device and data retrieval protocol serves as the primary data collection method. We are also developing and testing a Gateway device that will report data in near-real-time (NRT) over a cellular connection. Data is made available to users via web interfaces that also provide basic data analysis and visualization tools. For applications to snow hydrology studies, the better spatiotemporal resolution of snowpack data provided by Snowcloud is beneficial in several aspects. It provides insight into snowpack evolution, and allows us to investigate differences across different spatial and temporal scales in deployment areas. It enables the

  11. Arctic plant ecophysiology and water source utilization in response to altered snow: isotopic (δ18O and δ2H) evidence for meltwater subsidies to deciduous shrubs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jespersen, R Gus; Leffler, A Joshua; Oberbauer, Steven F; Welker, Jeffrey M

    2018-06-28

    Warming-linked woody shrub expansion in the Arctic has critical consequences for ecosystem processes and climate feedbacks. The snow-shrub interaction model has been widely implicated in observed Arctic shrub increases, yet equivocal experimental results regarding nutrient-related components of this model have highlighted the need for a consideration of the increased meltwater predicted in expanding shrub stands. We used a 22-year snow manipulation experiment to simultaneously address the unexplored role of snow meltwater in arctic plant ecophysiology and nutrient-related components of the snow-shrub hypothesis. We coupled measurements of leaf-level gas exchange and leaf tissue chemistry (%N and δ 13 C) with an analysis of stable isotopes (δ 18 O and δ 2 H) in soil water, precipitation, and stem water. In deeper snow areas photosynthesis, conductance, and leaf N increased and δ 13 C values decreased in the deciduous shrubs, Betula nana and Salix pulchra, and the graminoid, Eriophorum vaginatum, with the strongest treatment effects observed in deciduous shrubs, consistent with predictions of the snow-shrub hypothesis. We also found that deciduous shrubs, especially S. pulchra, obtained much of their water from snow melt early in the growing season (40-50%), more than either E. vaginatum or the evergreen shrub, Rhododendron tomentosum (Ledum palustre). This result provides the basis for adding a meltwater-focused feedback loop to the snow-shrub interaction model of shrub expansion in the Arctic. Our results highlight the critical role of winter snow in the ecophysiology of Arctic plants, particularly deciduous shrubs, and underline the importance of understanding how global warming will affect the Arctic winter snowpack.

  12. [Evaluation of pollution of an urban area by level of heavy metals in snow cover].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stepanova, N V; Khamitova, R Ia; Petrova, R S

    2003-01-01

    The goal of this study was to systematize various methodological approaches to evaluating the contamination of the snow cover with heavy metals (HM) by using Kazan, an industrial city with diversified industry, as an example. The findings suggest that it is necessary to characterize the contamination of the snow cover by the actual entrance of an element per area unit of the snow cover for a definite period of time rather than by the concentration of TM in the volume unit of snow water (mg/l), which minimizes the uncertainties with spatial and temporary snow cover variations. The index of the maximum allowable entrance, which is of practical value, may be used to objectively calibrate the pollution of the snow cover, by estimating the amount of a coming element and its toxicity.

  13. Warm Arctic episodes linked with increased frequency of extreme winter weather in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Judah; Pfeiffer, Karl; Francis, Jennifer A

    2018-03-13

    Recent boreal winters have exhibited a large-scale seesaw temperature pattern characterized by an unusually warm Arctic and cold continents. Whether there is any physical link between Arctic variability and Northern Hemisphere (NH) extreme weather is an active area of research. Using a recently developed index of severe winter weather, we show that the occurrence of severe winter weather in the United States is significantly related to anomalies in pan-Arctic geopotential heights and temperatures. As the Arctic transitions from a relatively cold state to a warmer one, the frequency of severe winter weather in mid-latitudes increases through the transition. However, this relationship is strongest in the eastern US and mixed to even opposite along the western US. We also show that during mid-winter to late-winter of recent decades, when the Arctic warming trend is greatest and extends into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, severe winter weather-including both cold spells and heavy snows-became more frequent in the eastern United States.

  14. Sensitivity Analysis of Snow Patterns in Swiss Ski Resorts to Shifts in Temperature, Precipitation and Humidity Under Condition of Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uhlmann, B.; Goyette, S.; Beniston, M.

    2008-12-01

    The value of snow as a resource has considerably increased in Swiss mountain regions, in particular in the context of winter tourism. In the perspective of a warming climate, it is thus important to quantify the potential changes in snow amount and duration that could have large repercussions on the economy of ski resorts. Because of the fine spatial variability of snow, the use of a Surface Energy Balance Model (SEBM) is adequate to simulate local snow cover evolution. A perturbation method has been developed to generate plausible future meteorological input data required for SEBM simulations in order to assess the changes in snow cover patterns. Current and future snow depths have also been simulated within the ski areas themselves. The results show a large decrease of the snow depths and duration, even at high elevation in a warmer climate and emphasize the sensitivity of snow to topographical characteristics of the resorts. The study highlights the fact that not only the altitude of a domain but also its exposure, localization inland and slope gradients need to be taken into account when evaluating current and future snow depths. This method enables a precise assessment of the snow pattern over a small area.

  15. Origin of elemental carbon in snow from western Siberia and northwestern European Russia during winter-spring 2014, 2015 and 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Shevchenko, Vladimir P.; Espen Yttri, Karl; Eckhardt, Sabine; Sollum, Espen; Pokrovsky, Oleg S.; Kobelev, Vasily O.; Korobov, Vladimir B.; Lobanov, Andrey A.; Starodymova, Dina P.; Vorobiev, Sergey N.; Thompson, Rona L.; Stohl, Andreas

    2018-01-01

    Short-lived climate forcers have been proven important both for the climate and human health. In particular, black carbon (BC) is an important climate forcer both as an aerosol and when deposited on snow and ice surface because of its strong light absorption. This paper presents measurements of elemental carbon (EC; a measurement-based definition of BC) in snow collected from western Siberia and northwestern European Russia during 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Russian Arctic is of great interest to the scientific community due to the large uncertainty of emission sources there. We have determined the major contributing sources of BC in snow in western Siberia and northwestern European Russia using a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model. For the first time, we use a recently developed feature that calculates deposition in backward (so-called retroplume) simulations allowing estimation of the specific locations of sources that contribute to the deposited mass. EC concentrations in snow from western Siberia and northwestern European Russia were highly variable depending on the sampling location. Modelled BC and measured EC were moderately correlated (R = 0.53-0.83) and a systematic region-specific model underestimation was found. The model underestimated observations by 42 % (RMSE = 49 ng g-1) in 2014, 48 % (RMSE = 37 ng g-1) in 2015 and 27 % (RMSE = 43 ng g-1) in 2016. For EC sampled in northwestern European Russia the underestimation by the model was smaller (fractional bias, FB > -100 %). In this region, the major sources were transportation activities and domestic combustion in Finland. When sampling shifted to western Siberia, the model underestimation was more significant (FB < -100 %). There, the sources included emissions from gas flaring as a major contributor to snow BC. The accuracy of the model calculations was also evaluated using two independent datasets of BC measurements in snow covering the entire Arctic. The model underestimated BC concentrations in

  16. Geochemistry of snow cover in taiga and alpine permafrost landscapes in Yakutia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. N. Makarov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The work is devoted to results of study the chemical composition of snow in mountain taiga and permafrost landscapes of Yakutia. We studied snow cover in different mountain-belt types of landscapes. The composition and calculated volumes of chemical elements and compounds are studied in snow. The chemical composition of snow in mountain taiga and permafrost landscape has remained relatively constant (hydrocarbonate chloride-bicarbonate or sodium-calcium, low sulfate content. The dominant influence on the chemical composition of snow at plains and mountain permafrost landscapes has a continental origin, mainly carbon compounds. In mountain desert, where there is predominantly regional transfer, along with the carbon significant role in atmospheric precipitation in cold season belongs to the nitrogen compounds, mainly ammonium. The total density of the entry of soluble and insoluble components in the form of snow decreases regularly with change of altitude. The distribution of trace elements in the snow cover is not a subject to altitudinal zonation. The maximum content of heavy metals (Mn, Cu, Pb, Cd, F, and Sr in the snow cover is observed in the landscapes of mountain woodlands and mountain tundra, where the route crossed research Sette-Daban metallogenic zone of stratiform Cu and Pb-Zn mineralization.

  17. Treeline advances along the Urals mountain range - driven by improved winter conditions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hagedorn, Frank; Shiyatov, Stepan G; Mazepa, Valeriy S; Devi, Nadezhda M; Grigor'ev, Andrey A; Bartysh, Alexandr A; Fomin, Valeriy V; Kapralov, Denis S; Terent'ev, Maxim; Bugman, Harald; Rigling, Andreas; Moiseev, Pavel A

    2014-11-01

    High-altitude treelines are temperature-limited vegetation boundaries, but little quantitative evidence exists about the impact of climate change on treelines in untouched areas of Russia. Here, we estimated how forest-tundra ecotones have changed during the last century along the Ural mountains. In the South, North, Sub-Polar, and Polar Urals, we compared 450 historical and recent photographs and determined the ages of 11,100 trees along 16 altitudinal gradients. In these four regions, boundaries of open and closed forests (crown covers above 20% and 40%) expanded upwards by 4 to 8 m in altitude per decade. Results strongly suggest that snow was an important driver for these forest advances: (i) Winter precipitation has increased substantially throughout the Urals (~7 mm decade(-1) ), which corresponds to almost a doubling in the Polar Urals, while summer temperatures have only changed slightly (~0.05°C decade(-1) ). (ii) There was a positive correlation between canopy cover, snow height and soil temperatures, suggesting that an increasing canopy cover promotes snow accumulation and, hence, a more favorable microclimate. (iii) Tree age analysis showed that forest expansion mainly began around the year 1900 on concave wind-sheltered slopes with thick snow covers, while it started in the 1950s and 1970s on slopes with shallower snow covers. (iv) During the 20th century, dominant growth forms of trees have changed from multistemmed trees, resulting from harsh winter conditions, to single-stemmed trees. While 87%, 31%, and 93% of stems appearing before 1950 were from multistemmed trees in the South, North and Polar Urals, more than 95% of the younger trees had a single stem. Currently, there is a high density of seedlings and saplings in the forest-tundra ecotone, indicating that forest expansion is ongoing and that alpine tundra vegetation will disappear from most mountains of the South and North Urals where treeline is already close to the highest peaks. © 2014

  18. Snow Matters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gyimóthy, Szilvia; Jensen, Martin Trandberg

    2018-01-01

    attribute of high altitude mountain destinations. Hitherto, researchers mostly engaged with snowclad landscapes as a backstage; trying to deconstruct the complex symbolism and representational qualities of this elusive substance. Despite snow being a strategically crucial condition for tourism in the Alps......This chapter explores the performative potential of snow for Alpine tourism, by drawing attention to its material and nonrepresentational significance for tourism practices. European imagination has been preoccupied with snow since medieval times and even today, snow features as the sine que non...

  19. Energy balance of a sparse coniferous high-latitude forest under winter conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gryning, Sven-Erik; Batchvarova, E.; Bruin, H.A.R. de

    2001-01-01

    was simulated for a three month period. For conditions with a cloud cover of less than 7 oktas good agreement between model predictions and measurements were found. For cloud cover 7 and 8 oktas a considerable spread can be observed. To apply the proposed energy balance model, the global radiation must......Measurements carried out in Northern Finland on radiation and turbulent fluxes over a sparse, sub-arctic boreal forest with snow covered ground were analysed. The measurements represent late winter conditions characterised by low solar elevation angles. During the experiment (12-24 March 1997) day...... and night were about equally long. At low solar elevation angles the forest shades most of the snow surface. Therefore an important part of the radiation never reaches the snow surface but is absorbed by the forest. The sensible heat flux above the forest was fairly large, reaching more than 100 W m(-2...

  20. Changes in Andes snow cover from MODIS data, 2000-2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saavedra, Freddy A.; Kampf, Stephanie K.; Fassnacht, Steven R.; Sibold, Jason S.

    2018-03-01

    The Andes span a length of 7000 km and are important for sustaining regional water supplies. Snow variability across this region has not been studied in detail due to sparse and unevenly distributed instrumental climate data. We calculated snow persistence (SP) as the fraction of time with snow cover for each year between 2000 and 2016 from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensors (500 m, 8-day maximum snow cover extent). This analysis is conducted between 8 and 36° S due to high frequency of cloud (> 30 % of the time) south and north of this range. We ran Mann-Kendall and Theil-Sens analyses to identify areas with significant changes in SP and snowline (the line at lower elevation where SP = 20 %). We evaluated how these trends relate to temperature and precipitation from Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA2) and University of Delaware datasets and climate indices as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Southern Annular Mode (SAM), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Areas north of 29° S have limited snow cover, and few trends in snow persistence were detected. A large area (34 370 km2) with persistent snow cover between 29 and 36° S experienced a significant loss of snow cover (2-5 fewer days of snow year-1). Snow loss was more pronounced (62 % of the area with significant trends) on the east side of the Andes. We also found a significant increase in the elevation of the snowline at 10-30 m year-1 south of 29-30° S. Decreasing SP correlates with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature, and the magnitudes of these correlations vary with latitude and elevation. ENSO climate indices better predicted SP conditions north of 31° S, whereas the SAM better predicted SP south of 31° S.

  1. Environmental problems related to winter traffic safety conditions

    OpenAIRE

    Hääl, Maire-Liis; Sürje, Peep

    2006-01-01

    The changeable Nordic climate has added problems to road maintenance and the environment to ensure traffic safety under winter conditions. The widespread use of salt (NaCl) for snow and ice removal from roads has resulted in environmental impacts in many areas. Some of the problems associated with the use of NaCl are the corrosion of bridges, road surfaces and vehicles and damage to roadside vegetation and aquatic system that are affected by water from de-iced roads. Accumulation of hard meta...

  2. Pollution from the 2014-15 Bárðarbunga eruption monitored by snow cores from the Vatnajökull glacier, Iceland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galeczka, Iwona; Eiriksdottir, Eydis Salome; Pálsson, Finnur; Oelkers, Eric; Lutz, Stefanie; Benning, Liane G.; Stefánsson, Andri; Kjartansdóttir, Ríkey; Gunnarsson-Robin, Jóhann; Ono, Shuhei; Ólafsdóttir, Rósa; Jónasdóttir, Elín Björk; Gislason, Sigurdur R.

    2017-11-01

    The chemical composition of Icelandic rain and snow is dominated by marine aerosols, however human and volcanic activity can also affect these compositions. The six month long 2014-15 Bárðarbunga volcanic eruption was the largest in Iceland for more than 200 years and it released into the atmosphere an average of 60 kt/day SO2, 30 kt/day CO2, 500 t/day HCl and 280 t/day HF. To study the effect of this eruption on the winter precipitation, snow cores were collected from the Vatnajökull glacier and the highlands northeast of the glacier. In addition to 29 bulk snow cores from that precipitated from September 2014 until March 2015, two cores were sampled in 21 and 44 increments to quantify the spatial and time evolution of the chemical composition of the snow. The pH and chemical compositions of melted snow samples indicate that snow has been affected by the volcanic gases emitted during the Bárðarbunga eruption. The pH of the melted bulk snow cores ranged from 4.41 to 5.64 with an average value of 5.01. This is four times greater H+ activity than pure water saturated with the atmospheric CO2. The highest concentrations of volatiles in the snow cores were found close to the eruption site as predicted from CALPUFF SO2 gas dispersion quality model. The anion concentrations (SO4, Cl, and F) were higher and the pH was lower compared to equivalent snow samples collected during 1997-2006 from the unpolluted Icelandic Langjökull glacier. Higher SO4 and Cl concentrations in the snow compared with the unpolluted rainwater of marine origin confirm the addition of a non-seawater SO4 and Cl. The δ34S isotopic composition confirms that the sulphur addition is of volcanic aerosol origin. The chemical evolution of the snow with depth reflects changes in the lava effusion and gas emission rates. Those rates were the highest at the early stage of the eruption. Snow that fell during that time, represented by samples from the deepest part of the snow cores, had the lowest pH and

  3. A Coupled Snow Operations-Skier Demand Model for the Ontario (Canada) Ski Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pons, Marc; Scott, Daniel; Steiger, Robert; Rutty, Michelle; Johnson, Peter; Vilella, Marc

    2016-04-01

    The multi-billion dollar global ski industry is one of the tourism subsectors most directly impacted by climate variability and change. In the decades ahead, the scholarly literature consistently projects decreased reliability of natural snow cover, shortened and more variable ski seasons, as well as increased reliance on snowmaking with associated increases in operational costs. In order to develop the coupled snow, ski operations and demand model for the Ontario ski region (which represents approximately 18% of Canada's ski market), the research utilized multiple methods, including: a in situ survey of over 2400 skiers, daily operations data from ski resorts over the last 10 years, climate station data (1981-2013), climate change scenario ensemble (AR5 - RCP 8.5), an updated SkiSim model (building on Scott et al. 2003; Steiger 2010), and an agent-based model (building on Pons et al. 2014). Daily snow and ski operations for all ski areas in southern Ontario were modeled with the updated SkiSim model, which utilized current differential snowmaking capacity of individual resorts, as determined from daily ski area operations data. Snowmaking capacities and decision rules were informed by interviews with ski area managers and daily operations data. Model outputs were validated with local climate station and ski operations data. The coupled SkiSim-ABM model was run with historical weather data for seasons representative of an average winter for the 1981-2010 period, as well as an anomalously cold winter (2012-13) and the record warm winter in the region (2011-12). The impact on total skier visits and revenues, and the geographic and temporal distribution of skier visits were compared. The implications of further climate adaptation (i.e., improving the snowmaking capacity of all ski areas to the level of leading resorts in the region) were also explored. This research advances system modelling, especially improving the integration of snow and ski operations models with

  4. Testing of Rice Stocks for Their Survival of Winter Cold

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroshi Ikehashi

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Rice cultivation is considered to be initiated by vegetative propagation of sprout from wild perennial stocks. To test whether any presently cultivated rice cultivar can survive the winter cold or not, rice stocks of several cultivars including indica and japonica types were placed in a shallow pool from October to April in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. During the coldest period of the winter, the bases of the stocks were placed 5–6 cm below the surface of water, where temperatures ranged from 3 °C to 5 °C, while the surface was frozen for two or three times and covered with snow for a day. Only one cultivar, Nipponbare, a japonica type, survived the winter cold and regenerated sprouts in the end of April or early May. A possibility to develop perennial cultivation of rice or perennial hybrid rice is discussed.

  5. Winter Dew Harvest in Mexico City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arias-Torres Jorge Ernesto

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study presents experimental and theoretical results of winter dew harvest in México City in terms of condensation rate. A simplified theoretical model based on a steady-state energy balance on a radiator-condenser was fitted, as a function of the ambient temperature, the relative humidity and the wind velocity. A glass sheet and aluminum sheet white-painted were used as samples over the outdoor experiments. A good correlation was obtained between the theoretical and experimental data. The experimental results show that there was condensation in 68% of the winter nights on both condensers. The total winter condensed mass was 2977 g/m2 and 2888 g/m2 on the glass sheet and aluminum sheet white-painted, respectively. Thus, the condensed mass on the glass was only 3% higher than that on the painted surface. The maximum nightly dew harvests occurred during December, which linearly reduced from 50 g/m2 night to 22 g/m2 night as the winter months went by. The condensation occurred from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., with maximum condensation rates between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. The dew harvest can provide a partial alternative to the winter water shortage in certain locations with similar climates to the winter in Mexico City, as long as pollution is not significant.

  6. A Comparison of the SNICAR Radiative Transfer Model to In Situ Snow Characterization Measurements at Sites in New England, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adolph, A. C.; Albert, M. R.; Dibb, J. E.; Lazarcik, J.; Amante, J.

    2016-12-01

    As a highly reflective material, snow serves as an important control on surface energy balance. Given the current changes in climate and the sensitivity of snow cover to rising temperatures, it is critical that we understand the role of snow and its associated feedbacks in the climate system. Much of snow albedo research has focused on polar or high altitude snow packs, but rapid changes are also occurring in temperate regions; in the northeastern United States of America, changing climate has resulted in shallower snow packs and fewer days of snow cover. As these changes occur and we seek to understand the associated implications for snow albedo within climate dynamics, it is imperative that we are able to accurately represent snow in models. The SNow, ICe, and Aerosol Radiation model (SNICAR), developed by Flanner and Zender (2005) and used in the IPCC assessments, provides upward and downward radiative fluxes of one or many snow layers based on the following inputs: snow depth, density, grain size, and impurity content; solar zenith angle; lighting conditions; and albedo of the surface beneath the snowpack. To our knowledge, the SNICAR model has not been validated with data from a mid-latitude temperate region. Through a measurement campaign that occurred from winter 2013-2016, we have collected over 400 independent observations of a suite of snow characterization measurements and spectral snow albedo from three different sites in New Hampshire, USA. Comparison of our spectral albedo measurements to the SNICAR albedo derived from measured snow properties and illumination conditions will allow for validation of the model or recommendations for improvement based on the sensitivities found in the data.

  7. Changes in atmospheric circulation between solar maximum and minimum conditions in winter and summer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jae Nyung

    2008-10-01

    Statistically significant climate responses to the solar variability are found in Northern Annular Mode (NAM) and in the tropical circulation. This study is based on the statistical analysis of numerical simulations with ModelE version of the chemistry coupled Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) general circulation model (GCM) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. The low frequency large scale variability of the winter and summer circulation is described by the NAM, the leading Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) of geopotential heights. The newly defined seasonal annular modes and its dynamical significance in the stratosphere and troposphere in the GISS ModelE is shown and compared with those in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. In the stratosphere, the summer NAM obtained from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis as well as from the ModelE simulations has the same sign throughout the northern hemisphere, but shows greater variability at low latitudes. The patterns in both analyses are consistent with the interpretation that low NAM conditions represent an enhancement of the seasonal difference between the summer and the annual averages of geopotential height, temperature and velocity distributions, while the reverse holds for high NAM conditions. Composite analysis of high and low NAM cases in both the model and observation suggests that the summer stratosphere is more "summer-like" when the solar activity is near a maximum. This means that the zonal easterly wind flow is stronger and the temperature is higher than normal. Thus increased irradiance favors a low summer NAM. A quantitative comparison of the anti-correlation between the NAM and the solar forcing is presented in the model and in the observation, both of which show lower/higher NAM index in solar maximum/minimum conditions. The summer NAM in the troposphere obtained from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis has a dipolar zonal structure with maximum

  8. From the clouds to the ground - snow precipitation patterns vs. snow accumulation patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerber, Franziska; Besic, Nikola; Mott, Rebecca; Gabella, Marco; Germann, Urs; Bühler, Yves; Marty, Mauro; Berne, Alexis; Lehning, Michael

    2017-04-01

    Knowledge about snow distribution and snow accumulation patterns is important and valuable for different applications such as the prediction of seasonal water resources or avalanche forecasting. Furthermore, accumulated snow on the ground is an important ground truth for validating meteorological and climatological model predictions of precipitation in high mountains and polar regions. Snow accumulation patterns are determined by many different processes from ice crystal nucleation in clouds to snow redistribution by wind and avalanches. In between, snow precipitation undergoes different dynamical and microphysical processes, such as ice crystal growth, aggregation and riming, which determine the growth of individual particles and thereby influence the intensity and structure of the snowfall event. In alpine terrain the interaction of different processes and the topography (e.g. lifting condensation and low level cloud formation, which may result in a seeder-feeder effect) may lead to orographic enhancement of precipitation. Furthermore, the redistribution of snow particles in the air by wind results in preferential deposition of precipitation. Even though orographic enhancement is addressed in numerous studies, the relative importance of micro-physical and dynamically induced mechanisms on local snowfall amounts and especially snow accumulation patterns is hardly known. To better understand the relative importance of different processes on snow precipitation and accumulation we analyze snowfall and snow accumulation between January and March 2016 in Davos (Switzerland). We compare MeteoSwiss operational weather radar measurements on Weissfluhgipfel to a spatially continuous snow accumulation map derived from airborne digital sensing (ADS) snow height for the area of Dischma valley in the vicinity of the weather radar. Additionally, we include snow height measurements from automatic snow stations close to the weather radar. Large-scale radar snow accumulation

  9. Machine Learning on Images: Combining Passive Microwave and Optical Data to Estimate Snow Water Equivalent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dozier, J.; Tolle, K.; Bair, N.

    2014-12-01

    We have a problem that may be a specific example of a generic one. The task is to estimate spatiotemporally distributed estimates of snow water equivalent (SWE) in snow-dominated mountain environments, including those that lack on-the-ground measurements. Several independent methods exist, but all are problematic. The remotely sensed date of disappearance of snow from each pixel can be combined with a calculation of melt to reconstruct the accumulated SWE for each day back to the last significant snowfall. Comparison with streamflow measurements in mountain ranges where such data are available shows this method to be accurate, but the big disadvantage is that SWE can only be calculated retroactively after snow disappears, and even then only for areas with little accumulation during the melt season. Passive microwave sensors offer real-time global SWE estimates but suffer from several issues, notably signal loss in wet snow or in forests, saturation in deep snow, subpixel variability in the mountains owing to the large (~25 km) pixel size, and SWE overestimation in the presence of large grains such as depth and surface hoar. Throughout the winter and spring, snow-covered area can be measured at sub-km spatial resolution with optical sensors, with accuracy and timeliness improved by interpolating and smoothing across multiple days. So the question is, how can we establish the relationship between Reconstruction—available only after the snow goes away—and passive microwave and optical data to accurately estimate SWE during the snow season, when the information can help forecast spring runoff? Linear regression provides one answer, but can modern machine learning techniques (used to persuade people to click on web advertisements) adapt to improve forecasts of floods and droughts in areas where more than one billion people depend on snowmelt for their water resources?

  10. Improvement of a snow albedo parameterization in the Snow-Atmosphere-Soil Transfer model: evaluation of impacts of aerosol on seasonal snow cover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Efang; Li, Qian; Sun, Shufen; Chen, Wen; Chen, Shangfeng; Nath, Debashis

    2017-11-01

    The presence of light-absorbing aerosols (LAA) in snow profoundly influence the surface energy balance and water budget. However, most snow-process schemes in land-surface and climate models currently do not take this into consideration. To better represent the snow process and to evaluate the impacts of LAA on snow, this study presents an improved snow albedo parameterization in the Snow-Atmosphere-Soil Transfer (SAST) model, which includes the impacts of LAA on snow. Specifically, the Snow, Ice and Aerosol Radiation (SNICAR) model is incorporated into the SAST model with an LAA mass stratigraphy scheme. The new coupled model is validated against in-situ measurements at the Swamp Angel Study Plot (SASP), Colorado, USA. Results show that the snow albedo and snow depth are better reproduced than those in the original SAST, particularly during the period of snow ablation. Furthermore, the impacts of LAA on snow are estimated in the coupled model through case comparisons of the snowpack, with or without LAA. The LAA particles directly absorb extra solar radiation, which accelerates the growth rate of the snow grain size. Meanwhile, these larger snow particles favor more radiative absorption. The average total radiative forcing of the LAA at the SASP is 47.5 W m-2. This extra radiative absorption enhances the snowmelt rate. As a result, the peak runoff time and "snow all gone" day have shifted 18 and 19.5 days earlier, respectively, which could further impose substantial impacts on the hydrologic cycle and atmospheric processes.

  11. Warming, soil moisture, and loss of snow increase Bromus tectorum’s population growth rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldo Compagnoni

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Climate change threatens to exacerbate the impacts of invasive species. In temperate ecosystems, direct effects of warming may be compounded by dramatic reductions in winter snow cover. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum is arguably the most destructive biological invader in basins of the North American Intermountain West, and warming could increase its performance through direct effects on demographic rates or through indirect effects mediated by loss of snow. We conducted a two-year experimental manipulation of temperature and snow pack to test whether 1 warming increases cheatgrass population growth rate and 2 reduced snow cover contributes to cheatgrass’ positive response to warming. We used infrared heaters operating continuously to create the warming treatment, but turned heaters on only during snowfalls for the snowmelt treatment. We monitored cheatgrass population growth rate and the vital rates that determine it: emergence, survival and fecundity. Growth rate increased in both warming and snowmelt treatments. The largest increases occurred in warming plots during the wettest year, indicating that the magnitude of response to warming depends on moisture availability. Warming increased both fecundity and survival, especially in the wet year, while snowmelt contributed to the positive effects of warming by increasing survival. Our results indicate that increasing temperature will exacerbate cheatgrass impacts, especially where warming causes large reductions in the depth and duration of snow cover.

  12. Snow Cover, Snowmelt Timing and Stream Power in the Wind River Range, Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Dorothy K.; Foster, James L.; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E.; Riggs, George A.

    2011-01-01

    Earlier onset of springtime weather, including earlier snowmelt, has been documented in the western United States over at least the last 50 years. Because the majority (is greater than 70%) of the water supply in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, analysis of the declining spring snowpack (and shrinking glaciers) has important implications for the management of streamflow. The amount of water in a snowpack influences stream discharge which can also influence erosion and sediment transport by changing stream power, or the rate at which a stream can do work, such as move sediment and erode the stream bed. The focus of this work is the Wind River Range (WRR) in west-central Wyoming. Ten years of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow-cover, cloud-gap-filled (CGF) map products and 30 years of discharge and meteorological station data are studied. Streamflow data from streams in WRR drainage basins show lower annual discharge and earlier snowmelt in the decade of the 2000s than in the previous three decades, though no trend of either lower streamflow or earlier snowmelt was observed within the decade of the 2000s. Results show a statistically-significant trend at the 95% confidence level (or higher) of increasing weekly maximum air temperature (for three out of the five meteorological stations studied) in the decade of the 1970s, and also for the 40-year study period as a whole. The extent of snow-cover (percent of basin covered) derived from the lowest elevation zone (2500-3000 m) of the WRR, using MODIS CGF snow-cover maps, is strongly correlated with maximum monthly discharge on 30 April, where Spearman's Rank correlation, rs,=0.89 for the decade of the 2000s. We also investigated stream power for Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake; and found a trend (significant at the 90% confidence level) toward reduced stream power from 1970 to 2009. Observed changes in streamflow and stream power may be related to increasing weekly maximum air temperature

  13. Long-range-transported bioaerosols captured in snow cover on Mount Tateyama, Japan: impacts of Asian-dust events on airborne bacterial dynamics relating to ice-nucleation activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Maki

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The westerly wind travelling at high altitudes over eastern Asia transports aerosols from the Asian deserts and urban areas to downwind areas such as Japan. These long-range-transported aerosols include not only mineral particles but also microbial particles (bioaerosols, that impact the ice-cloud formation processes as ice nuclei. However, the detailed relations of airborne bacterial dynamics to ice nucleation in high-elevation aerosols have not been investigated. Here, we used the aerosol particles captured in the snow cover at altitudes of 2450 m on Mt Tateyama to investigate sequential changes in the ice-nucleation activities and bacterial communities in aerosols and elucidate the relationships between the two processes. After stratification of the snow layers formed on the walls of a snow pit on Mt Tateyama, snow samples, including aerosol particles, were collected from 70 layers at the lower (winter accumulation and upper (spring accumulation parts of the snow wall. The aerosols recorded in the lower parts mainly came from Siberia (Russia, northern Asia and the Sea of Japan, whereas those in the upper parts showed an increase in Asian dust particles originating from the desert regions and industrial coasts of Asia. The snow samples exhibited high levels of ice nucleation corresponding to the increase in Asian dust particles. Amplicon sequencing analysis using 16S rRNA genes revealed that the bacterial communities in the snow samples predominately included plant associated and marine bacteria (phyla Proteobacteria during winter, whereas during spring, when dust events arrived frequently, the majority were terrestrial bacteria of phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. The relative abundances of Firmicutes (Bacilli showed a significant positive relationship with the ice nucleation in snow samples. Presumably, Asian dust events change the airborne bacterial communities over Mt Tateyama and carry terrestrial bacterial populations, which

  14. Long-range-transported bioaerosols captured in snow cover on Mount Tateyama, Japan: impacts of Asian-dust events on airborne bacterial dynamics relating to ice-nucleation activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maki, Teruya; Furumoto, Shogo; Asahi, Yuya; Lee, Kevin C.; Watanabe, Koichi; Aoki, Kazuma; Murakami, Masataka; Tajiri, Takuya; Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Mashio, Asami; Iwasaka, Yasunobu

    2018-06-01

    The westerly wind travelling at high altitudes over eastern Asia transports aerosols from the Asian deserts and urban areas to downwind areas such as Japan. These long-range-transported aerosols include not only mineral particles but also microbial particles (bioaerosols), that impact the ice-cloud formation processes as ice nuclei. However, the detailed relations of airborne bacterial dynamics to ice nucleation in high-elevation aerosols have not been investigated. Here, we used the aerosol particles captured in the snow cover at altitudes of 2450 m on Mt Tateyama to investigate sequential changes in the ice-nucleation activities and bacterial communities in aerosols and elucidate the relationships between the two processes. After stratification of the snow layers formed on the walls of a snow pit on Mt Tateyama, snow samples, including aerosol particles, were collected from 70 layers at the lower (winter accumulation) and upper (spring accumulation) parts of the snow wall. The aerosols recorded in the lower parts mainly came from Siberia (Russia), northern Asia and the Sea of Japan, whereas those in the upper parts showed an increase in Asian dust particles originating from the desert regions and industrial coasts of Asia. The snow samples exhibited high levels of ice nucleation corresponding to the increase in Asian dust particles. Amplicon sequencing analysis using 16S rRNA genes revealed that the bacterial communities in the snow samples predominately included plant associated and marine bacteria (phyla Proteobacteria) during winter, whereas during spring, when dust events arrived frequently, the majority were terrestrial bacteria of phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. The relative abundances of Firmicutes (Bacilli) showed a significant positive relationship with the ice nucleation in snow samples. Presumably, Asian dust events change the airborne bacterial communities over Mt Tateyama and carry terrestrial bacterial populations, which possibly induce ice

  15. Drivers and environmental responses to the changing annual snow cycle of northern Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Christopher J.; Stone, Robert S.; Douglas, David C.; Stanitski, Diane; Divoky, George J.; Dutton, Geoff S.; Sweeney, Colm; George, J. Craig; Longenecker, David U.

    2017-01-01

    On the North Slope of Alaska, earlier spring snowmelt and later onset of autumn snow accumulation are tied to atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions, and result in environmental responses.Linkages between atmospheric, ecological and biogeochemical variables in the changing Arctic are analyzed using long-term measurements near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska. Two key variables are the date when snow disappears in spring, as determined primarily by atmospheric dynamics, precipitation, air temperature, winter snow accumulation and cloud cover, as well as the date of onset of snowpack in autumn that is additionally influenced by ocean temperature and sea ice extent. In 2015 and 2016 the snow melted early at Utqiaġvik due mainly to anomalous warmth during May of both years attributed to atmospheric circulation patterns, with 2016 having the record earliest snowmelt. These years are discussed in the context of a 115-year snowmelt record at Utqiaġvik with a trend toward earlier melting since the mid- 1970s (-2.86 days/decade, 1975-2016). At nearby Cooper Island, where a colony of seabirds, Black Guillemots, have been monitored since 1975, timing of egg laying is correlated with Utqiaġvik snowmelt with 2015 and 2016 being the earliest years in the 42-year record. Ice-out at a nearby freshwater lagoon is also correlated with Utqiaġvik snowmelt. The date when snow begins to accumulate in autumn at Utqiaġvik shows a trend towards later dates (+4.6 days/decade, 1975-2016), with 2016 the latest on record. The relationships between the lengthening snow-free season and regional phenology, soil temperatures, fluxes of gases from the tundra, and to regional sea ice conditions are discussed. Better understanding of these interactions is needed to predict the annual snow cycles in the region at seasonal to decadal scales, and to anticipate coupled environmental responses.

  16. Relationship Between Satellite-Derived Snow Cover and Snowmelt-Runoff Timing in the Wind River Range, Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Dorothy K.; Foster, James L.; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E.; Riggs, George A.

    2010-01-01

    MODIS-derived snow cover measured on 30 April in any given year explains approximately 89 % of the variance in stream discharge for maximum monthly streamflow in that year. Observed changes in streamflow appear to be related to increasing maximum air temperatures over the last four decades causing lower spring snow-cover extent. The majority (>70%) of the water supply in the western United States comes from snowmelt, thus analysis of the declining spring snowpack (and resulting declining stream discharge) has important implications for streamflow management in the drought-prone western U.S.

  17. Physiochemical characterization of insoluble residues in California Sierra Nevada snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creamean, Jessie; Axson, Jessica; Bondy, Amy; Craig, Rebecca; May, Nathaniel; Shen, Hongru; Weber, Michael; Warner, Katy; Pratt, Kerri; Ault, Andrew

    2015-04-01

    The effects atmospheric aerosols have on cloud particle formation are dependent on both the aerosol physical and chemical characteristics. For instance, larger, irregular-shaped mineral dusts efficiently form cloud ice crystals, enhancing precipitation, whereas small, spherical pollution aerosols have the potential to form small cloud droplets that delay the autoconversion of cloudwater to precipitation. Thus, it is important to understand the physiochemical properties and sources of aerosols that influence cloud and precipitation formation. We present an in-depth analysis of the size, chemistry, and sources of soluble and insoluble residues found in snow collected at three locations in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains during the 2012/2013 winter season. For all sites, February snow samples contained high concentrations of regional pollutants such as ammonium nitrate and biomass burning species, while March snow samples were influenced by mineral dust. The snow at the lower elevation sites in closer proximity to the Central Valley of California were heavily influenced by agricultural and industrial emissions, whereas the highest elevation site was exposed to a mixture of Central Valley pollutants in addition to long-range transported dust from Asia and Africa. Further, air masses likely containing transported dust typically traveled over cloud top heights at the low elevation sites, but were incorporated into the cold (-28°C, on average) cloud tops more often at the highest elevation site, particularly in March, which we hypothesize led to enhanced ice crystal formation and thus the observation of dust in the snow collected at the ground. Overall, understanding the spatial and temporal dependence of aerosol sources is important for remote mountainous regions such as the Sierra Nevada where snowpack provides a steady, vital supply of water.

  18. Estimating snow water equivalent (SWE) using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deeb, Elias J.

    Since the early 1990s, radar interferometry and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) have been used extensively to measure changes in the Earth's surface. Previous research has presented theory for estimating snow properties, including potential for snow water equivalent (SWE) retrieval, using InSAR. The motivation behind using remote sensing to estimate SWE is to provide a more complete, continuous set of "observations" to assist in water management operations, climate change studies, and flood hazard forecasting. The research presented here primarily investigates the feasibility of using the InSAR technique at two different wavelengths (C-Band and L-Band) for SWE retrieval of dry snow within the Kuparuk watershed, North Slope, Alaska. Estimating snow distribution around meteorological towers on the coastal plain using a three-day repeat orbit of C-Band InSAR data was successful (Chapter 2). A longer wavelength L-band SAR is evaluated for SWE retrievals (Chapter 3) showing the ability to resolve larger snow accumulation events over a longer period of time. Comparisons of InSAR estimates and late spring manual sampling of SWE show a R2 = 0.61 when a coherence threshold is used to eliminate noisy SAR data. Qualitative comparisons with a high resolution digital elevation model (DEM) highlight areas of scour on windward slopes and areas of deposition on leeward slopes. When compared to a mid-winter transect of manually sampled snow depths, the InSAR SWE estimates yield a RMSE of 2.21cm when a bulk snow density is used and corrections for bracketing the satellite acquisition timing is performed. In an effort to validate the interaction of radar waves with a snowpack, the importance of the "dry snow" assumption for the estimation of SWE using InSAR is tested with an experiment in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Alta, Utah (Chapter 5). Snow wetness is shown to have a significant effect on the velocity of propagation within the snowpack. Despite the radar

  19. NOAA's National Snow Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, T. R.; Cline, D. W.; Olheiser, C. M.; Rost, A. A.; Nilsson, A. O.; Fall, G. M.; Li, L.; Bovitz, C. T.

    2005-12-01

    NOAA's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) routinely ingests all of the electronically available, real-time, ground-based, snow data; airborne snow water equivalent data; satellite areal extent of snow cover information; and numerical weather prediction (NWP) model forcings for the coterminous U.S. The NWP model forcings are physically downscaled from their native 13 km2 spatial resolution to a 1 km2 resolution for the CONUS. The downscaled NWP forcings drive an energy-and-mass-balance snow accumulation and ablation model at a 1 km2 spatial resolution and at a 1 hour temporal resolution for the country. The ground-based, airborne, and satellite snow observations are assimilated into the snow model's simulated state variables using a Newtonian nudging technique. The principle advantages of the assimilation technique are: (1) approximate balance is maintained in the snow model, (2) physical processes are easily accommodated in the model, and (3) asynoptic data are incorporated at the appropriate times. The snow model is reinitialized with the assimilated snow observations to generate a variety of snow products that combine to form NOAA's NOHRSC National Snow Analyses (NSA). The NOHRSC NSA incorporate all of the available information necessary and available to produce a "best estimate" of real-time snow cover conditions at 1 km2 spatial resolution and 1 hour temporal resolution for the country. The NOHRSC NSA consist of a variety of daily, operational, products that characterize real-time snowpack conditions including: snow water equivalent, snow depth, surface and internal snowpack temperatures, surface and blowing snow sublimation, and snowmelt for the CONUS. The products are generated and distributed in a variety of formats including: interactive maps, time-series, alphanumeric products (e.g., mean areal snow water equivalent on a hydrologic basin-by-basin basis), text and map discussions, map animations, and quantitative gridded products

  20. Properties of black carbon and other insoluble light-absorbing particles in seasonal snow of northwestern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pu, Wei; Wang, Xin; Wei, Hailun; Zhou, Yue; Shi, Jinsen; Hu, Zhiyuan; Jin, Hongchun; Chen, Quanliang

    2017-05-01

    A large field campaign was conducted and 284 snow samples were collected at 38 sites in Xinjiang Province and 6 sites in Qinghai Province across northwestern China from January to February 2012. A spectrophotometer combined with chemical analysis was used to measure the insoluble light-absorbing particles (ILAPs) and chemical components in seasonal snow. The results indicate that the cleanest snow was found in northeastern Xinjiang along the border of China, and it presented an estimated black carbon (CBCest) of approximately 5 ng g-1. The dirtiest snow presented a CBCest of approximately 450 ng g-1 near industrial cities in Xinjiang. Overall, the CBCest of most of the snow samples collected in this campaign was in the range of 10-150 ng g-1. Vertical variations in the snowpack ILAPs indicated a probable shift in emission sources with the progression of winter. An analysis of the fractional contributions to absorption implied that organic carbon (OC) dominated the 450 nm absorption in Qinghai, while the contributions from BC and OC were comparable in Xinjiang. Finally, a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was run to explore the sources of particulate light absorption, and the results indicated an optimal three-factor/source solution that included industrial pollution, biomass burning, and soil dust.

  1. Projected changes of snow conditions and avalanche activity in a warming climate: a case study in the French Alps over the 2020-2050 and 2070-2100 periods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castebrunet, H.; Eckert, N.; Giraud, G.; Durand, Y.; Morin, S.

    2014-01-01

    Projecting changes in snow cover due to climate warming is important for many societal issues, including adaptation of avalanche risk mitigation strategies. Efficient modeling of future snow cover requires high resolution to properly resolve the topography. Here, we detail results obtained through statistical downscaling techniques allowing simulations of future snowpack conditions for the mid- and late 21st century in the French Alps under three climate change scenarios. Refined statistical descriptions of snowpack characteristics are provided with regards to a 1960-1990 reference period, including latitudinal, altitudinal and seasonal gradients. These results are then used to feed a statistical model of avalanche activity-snow conditions-meteorological conditions relationships, so as to produce the first prognoses at annual/seasonal time scales of future natural avalanche activity eventually based on past observations. The resulting statistical indicators are fundamental for the mountain economy in terms of changes anticipation. At all considered spatio-temporal scales, whereas precipitations are expected to remain quite stationary, temperature increase interacting with topography will control snow-related variables, for instance the rate of decrease of total and dry snow depths, and the successive increase/decrease of the wet snow pack. Overall, with regards to the reference period, changes are strong for the end of the 21st century, but already significant for the mid-century. Changes in winter are somewhat less important than in spring, but wet snow conditions will appear at high elevations earlier in the season. For a given altitude, the Southern French Alps will not be significantly more affected than the Northern French Alps, so that the snowpack characteristics will be preserved more lately in the southern massifs of higher mean altitude. Regarding avalanche activity, a general -20-30% decrease and interannual variability is forecasted, relatively strong

  2. The Emissions of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide during Winter without Cultivation in Local Saline-Alkali Rice and Maize Fields in Northeast China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Zhang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural ecosystems are important contributors to atmospheric greenhouse gasses (GHGs; however, in situ winter emission data in saline-alkali fields are scarce. Gas samples were collected during different periods, from three rice (R1–R3 and three maize (M1–M3 fields with different soil pH levels and salinity conditions. Carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions in the rice and maize fields decreased with decreasing temperature during the freezing period and increased with the rising temperature during the thawing period, with the majority of winter CO2 emissions occurring during these two periods. Peaks in methane (CH4 emissions were observed during the freezing period in the rice fields and during the snow-melting period in the rice and maize fields. CH4 emissions in the rice fields and CH4 uptake rates in the maize fields were significantly (P < 0.05 related to surface soil temperature. Nitrous oxide (N2O emissions remained relatively low, except for during the peaks observed during the snow-melting period in both the rice and maize fields, leading to the high GHG contribution of the snow-melting period throughout the winter. Higher pH and salinity conditions consistently resulted in lower CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions, CH4 uptake, and lower global warming potential (GWP. These results can contribute to the assessment of the GWP during winter in saline-alkali regions.

  3. Field investigations of apparent optical properties of ice cover in Finnish and Estonian lakes in winter 2009

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruibo Lei

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available A field programme on light conditions in ice-covered lakes and optical properties of lake ice was performed in seven lakes of Finland and Estonia in February–April 2009. On the basis of irradiance measurements above and below ice, spectral reflectance and transmittance were determined for the ice sheet; time evolution of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR transmittance was examined from irradiance recordings at several levels inside the ice sheet. Snow cover was the dominant factor for transmission of PAR into the lake water body. Reflectance was 0.74–0.92 in winter, going down to 0.18–0.22 in the melting season. The bulk attenuation coefficient of dry snow was 14–25 m–1; the level decreased as the spring was coming. The reflectance and bulk attenuation coefficient of snow-free ice were 0.1–0.4 and 1–5 m–1. Both were considerably smaller than those of snow cover. Seasonal evolution of light transmission was mainly due to snow melting. Snow and ice cover not only depress the PAR level in a lake but also influence the spectral and directional distribution of light.

  4. Black spruce growth forms as a record of a changing winter environment at treeline, Quebec, Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lavoie, C.; Payette, S.

    1992-01-01

    The environmental conditions prevailing at treeline in subarctic Quebec have been reconstructed over the past 400 yr through a comparative analysis of tree rings and growth forms of black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.). Because black spruce growth forms are closely associated with the winter environment, they are a direct response to conditions of low temperature and windblown snow abrasion affecting living tissues at the snow-air interface. The age structure of supranival shoot populations was closely associated with periods of higher stem survival in winter most likely under snowier and windless conditions. Spruce growth on slopes and in the valley revealed periods of low tree-ring growth between 1601 and 1663 and between 1700 and 1904, respectively. A long-lasting period of low radial growth 1697 and 1939 prevailed in the hilltop site. During the 20th century, spruce height increased from 0.8 to 1.6 m on slopes and in the valley, while the basal level of abrasion from windblown snow increased from 0.1 to 0.5 m, suggesting an increasing trend towards warmer and snowier conditions. Abraded spruces growing during the Little Ice Age (1570-1880) were replaced by symmetrical trees during the 20th century. Supranival skirted and whorled spruces which dominated on the hilltop site during the 16th century reverted to infranival cushion and mat growth forms during the Little Ice Age. These stunted spruces were unable to recover during the recent warming because of their inability to catch enough drifting snow to allow vertical growth

  5. Comparison of Commonly-Used Microwave Radiative Transfer Models for Snow Remote Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royer, Alain; Roy, Alexandre; Montpetit, Benoit; Saint-Jean-Rondeau, Olivier; Picard, Ghislain; Brucker, Ludovic; Langlois, Alexandre

    2017-01-01

    This paper reviews four commonly-used microwave radiative transfer models that take different electromagnetic approaches to simulate snow brightness temperature (T(sub B)): the Dense Media Radiative Transfer - Multi-Layer model (DMRT-ML), the Dense Media Radiative Transfer - Quasi-Crystalline Approximation Mie scattering of Sticky spheres (DMRT-QMS), the Helsinki University of Technology n-Layers model (HUT-nlayers) and the Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks (MEMLS). Using the same extensively measured physical snowpack properties, we compared the simulated T(sub B) at 11, 19 and 37 GHz from these four models. The analysis focuses on the impact of using different types of measured snow microstructure metrics in the simulations. In addition to density, snow microstructure is defined for each snow layer by grain optical diameter (Do) and stickiness for DMRT-ML and DMRT-QMS, mean grain geometrical maximum extent (D(sub max)) for HUT n-layers and the exponential correlation length for MEMLS. These metrics were derived from either in-situ measurements of snow specific surface area (SSA) or macrophotos of grain sizes (D(sub max)), assuming non-sticky spheres for the DMRT models. Simulated T(sub B) sensitivity analysis using the same inputs shows relatively consistent T(sub B) behavior as a function of Do and density variations for the vertical polarization (maximum deviation of 18 K and 27 K, respectively), while some divergences appear in simulated variations for the polarization ratio (PR). Comparisons with ground based radiometric measurements show that the simulations based on snow SSA measurements have to be scaled with a model-specific factor of Do in order to minimize the root mean square error (RMSE) between measured and simulated T(sub B). Results using in-situ grain size measurements (SSA or D(sub max), depending on the model) give a mean T(sub B) RMSE (19 and 37 GHz) of the order of 16-26 K, which is similar for all models when the snow

  6. Design, Development and Testing of Web Services for Multi-Sensor Snow Cover Mapping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kadlec, Jiri

    to combine volunteer snow reports, cross-country ski track reports and station measurements to fill cloud gaps in the MODIS snow cover product. The method is demonstrated by producing a continuous daily time step snow presence probability map dataset for the Czech Republic region. The ability of the presented methodology to reconstruct MODIS snow cover under cloud is validated by simulating cloud cover datasets and comparing estimated snow cover to actual MODIS snow cover. The percent correctly classified indicator showed accuracy between 80 and 90% using this method. Using crowdsourcing data (volunteer snow reports and ski tracks) improves the map accuracy by 0.7--1.2%. The output snow probability map data sets are published online using web applications and web services. Keywords: crowdsourcing, image analysis, interpolation, MODIS, R statistical software, snow cover, snowpack probability, Tethys platform, time series, WaterML, web services, winter sports.

  7. Winter climate change affects growing-season soil microbial biomass and activity in northern hardwood forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jorge Durán; Jennifer L. Morse; Peter M. Groffman; John L. Campbell; Lynn M. Christenson; Charles T. Driscoll; Timothy J. Fahey; Melany C. Fisk; Myron J. Mitchell; Pamela H. Templer

    2014-01-01

    Understanding the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to global change remains a major challenge of ecological research. We exploited a natural elevation gradient in a northern hardwood forest to determine how reductions in snow accumulation, expected with climate change, directly affect dynamics of soil winter frost, and indirectly soil microbial biomass and activity...

  8. Impacts of Satellite-Based Snow Albedo Assimilation on Offline and Coupled Land Surface Model Simulations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Wang

    Full Text Available Seasonal snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is the largest component of the terrestrial cryosphere and plays a major role in the climate system through strong positive feedbacks related to albedo. The snow-albedo feedback is invoked as an important cause for the polar amplification of ongoing and projected climate change, and its parameterization across models is an important source of uncertainty in climate simulations. Here, instead of developing a physical snow albedo scheme, we use a direct insertion approach to assimilate satellite-based surface albedo during the snow season (hereafter as snow albedo assimilation into the land surface model ORCHIDEE (ORganizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic EcosystEms and assess the influences of such assimilation on offline and coupled simulations. Our results have shown that snow albedo assimilation in both ORCHIDEE and ORCHIDEE-LMDZ (a general circulation model of Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique improve the simulation accuracy of mean seasonal (October throughout May snow water equivalent over the region north of 40 degrees. The sensitivity of snow water equivalent to snow albedo assimilation is more pronounced in the coupled simulation than the offline simulation since the feedback of albedo on air temperature is allowed in ORCHIDEE-LMDZ. We have also shown that simulations of air temperature at 2 meters in ORCHIDEE-LMDZ due to snow albedo assimilation are significantly improved during the spring in particular over the eastern Siberia region. This is a result of the fact that high amounts of shortwave radiation during the spring can maximize its snow albedo feedback, which is also supported by the finding that the spatial sensitivity of temperature change to albedo change is much larger during the spring than during the autumn and winter. In addition, the radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere induced by snow albedo assimilation during the spring is estimated to be -2.50 W m-2, the

  9. Effects of Snow/ Soil Interface on Microwave Backscatter of Terrestrial Snowpack at X- and Ku- Band

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, D. H.; Tan, S.; Zhu, J.; Gu, W.; Tsang, L.; Kim, E. J.

    2017-12-01

    Recent advances in monitoring and modeling capabilities to support remote sensing of terrestrial snow is encouraging to develop satellite mission concept in monitoring cold-region hydrological processes on global scales. However, it is still challenging to link back the active microwave backscattering signals to physical snowpack parameters. One of the limitations resides in the ignorance of the vegetation and soil conditions beneath the snowpack in the microwave scattering/ emission modeling and the snow water equivalent (SWE) retrieval algorithm. During the SnowEx 2017 winter campaign in Grand Mesa, CO, a particular effort has been made on comprehensive measurements of the underlying vegetation and soil characteristics from the snowpit measurements. Besides conducting standard snow core sampling, we have made additional protocols to record the background information beneath the snowpack. Recent works on active SWE retrieval algorithm using backscatters at X- (9.6 GHz) and Ku- (17.2 GHz) band suggest the significant signals from the background scattering characterization. The background scattering arising from the rough snow/ soil interface and the buried vegetation inside and beneath the snowpack modifies the sensitivity of the total backscatter to SWE. In this paper, we summarize the snow/ soil interface conditions as observed in the SnowEx campaign. We also develop standards for future in-situ snowpit measurements to include regular snow/ soil interface observations to accommodate the interpretation of microwave backscatter both for modeling and observation of microwave signatures. These observations first provide inputs to the microwave scattering models to predict the backscattering contribution from background, which is one of the key factors to be included to improve the SWE retrieval performance.

  10. [Winter sports injuries of the urogenital tract (author's transl)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakse, G; Madersbacher, H

    1977-11-01

    During 1964-1974 112 injuries of the urogenital tract caused by winter sports were treated at the University Hospital Innsbruck, Department of Urology. Eighty-eight patients suffered skiing injuries, 20 tobogganing injuries, and one injury each was caused by ski jumping and bobsleighing accidents, two traumas resulted from a fall from a chair lift. On the basis of typical case reports the most common types of trauma of the urogenital tract are demonstrated and the basic mechanisms of the accidents are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the obvious increase of lesions of the external genitalia and the urethra in the last few years caused by the so-called spinning ski, as well as the frequency of kidney traumas, especially in winters with little snow. Tobogganing accidents caused injuries to the kidneys as well as to bladder and urethra. In contrast to traumas caused by skiing, tobogganing injuries were mostly multiple. Analysis of patients records shows an increase of these injuries, which were really not typical for winter sports. The possible reasons as well as their prevention are discussed.

  11. Evaluation of air-soil temperature relationships simulated by land surface models during winter across the permafrost region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wenli; Rinke, Annette; Moore, John C.; Ji, Duoying; Cui, Xuefeng; Peng, Shushi; Lawrence, David M.; McGuire, A. David; Burke, Eleanor J.; Chen, Xiaodong; Delire, Christine; Koven, Charles; MacDougall, Andrew; Saito, Kazuyuki; Zhang, Wenxin; Alkama, Ramdane; Bohn, Theodore J.; Ciais, Philippe; Decharme, Bertrand; Gouttevin, Isabelle; Hajima, Tomohiro; Krinner, Gerhard; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.; Miller, Paul A.; Smith, Benjamin; Sueyoshi, Tetsuo

    2016-01-01

     A realistic simulation of snow cover and its thermal properties are important for accurate modelling of permafrost. We analyze simulated relationships between air and near-surface (20 cm) soil temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region during winter, with a particular focus on snow insulation effects in nine land surface models and compare them with observations from 268 Russian stations. There are large across-model differences as expressed by simulated differences between near-surface soil and air temperatures, (ΔT), of 3 to 14 K, in the gradients between soil and air temperatures (0.13 to 0.96°C/°C), and in the relationship between ΔT and snow depth. The observed relationship between ΔT and snow depth can be used as a metric to evaluate the effects of each model's representation of snow insulation, and hence guide improvements to the model’s conceptual structure and process parameterizations. Models with better performance apply multi-layer snow schemes and consider complex snow processes. Some models show poor performance in representing snow insulation due to underestimation of snow depth and/or overestimation of snow conductivity. Generally, models identified as most acceptable with respect to snow insulation simulate reasonable areas of near-surface permafrost (12–16 million km2). However, there is not a simple relationship between the quality of the snow insulation in the acceptable models and the simulated area of Northern Hemisphere near-surface permafrost, likely because several other factors such as differences in the treatment of soil organic matter, soil hydrology, surface energy calculations, and vegetation also provide important controls on simulated permafrost distribution.

  12. Mortality impact of extreme winter temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Díaz, Julio; García, Ricardo; López, César; Linares, Cristina; Tobías, Aurelio; Prieto, Luis

    2005-01-01

    During the last few years great attention has been paid to the evaluation of the impact of extreme temperatures on human health. This paper examines the effect of extreme winter temperature on mortality in Madrid for people older than 65, using ARIMA and GAM models. Data correspond to 1,815 winter days over the period 1986 1997, during which time a total of 133,000 deaths occurred. The daily maximum temperature (Tmax) was shown to be the best thermal indicator of the impact of climate on mortality. When total mortality was considered, the maximum impact occured 7 8 days after a temperature extreme; for circulatory diseases the lag was between 7 and 14 days. When respiratory causes were considered, two mortality peaks were evident at 4 5 and 11 days. When the impact of winter extreme temperatures was compared with that associated with summer extremes, it was found to occur over a longer term, and appeared to be more indirect.

  13. Slip and fall risk on ice and snow:identification, evaluation and prevention

    OpenAIRE

    Gao, Chuansi

    2004-01-01

    Slip and fall accidents and associated injuries on ice and snow are prevalent among outdoor workers and the general public in winter in many regions of the world. To understand and tackle this multi-factorial problem, a multidisciplinary approach was used to identify and evaluate slip and fall risks, and to propose recommendations for prevention of slips and falls on icy and snowy surfaces. Objectives were to present a systems perspective of slip and fall accidents and related risk factors; t...

  14. The impact of atmospheric mineral aerosol deposition on the albedo of snow & sea ice: are snow and sea ice optical properties more important than mineral aerosol optical properties?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. L. Lamare

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge of the albedo of polar regions is crucial for understanding a range of climatic processes that have an impact on a global scale. Light-absorbing impurities in atmospheric aerosols deposited on snow and sea ice by aeolian transport absorb solar radiation, reducing albedo. Here, the effects of five mineral aerosol deposits reducing the albedo of polar snow and sea ice are considered. Calculations employing a coupled atmospheric and snow/sea ice radiative-transfer model (TUV-snow show that the effects of mineral aerosol deposits are strongly dependent on the snow or sea ice type rather than the differences between the aerosol optical characteristics. The change in albedo between five different mineral aerosol deposits with refractive indices varying by a factor of 2 reaches a maximum of 0.0788, whereas the difference between cold polar snow and melting sea ice is 0.8893 for the same mineral loading. Surprisingly, the thickness of a surface layer of snow or sea ice loaded with the same mass ratio of mineral dust has little effect on albedo. On the contrary, the surface albedo of two snowpacks of equal depth, containing the same mineral aerosol mass ratio, is similar, whether the loading is uniformly distributed or concentrated in multiple layers, regardless of their position or spacing. The impact of mineral aerosol deposits is much larger on melting sea ice than on other types of snow and sea ice. Therefore, the higher input of shortwave radiation during the summer melt cycle associated with melting sea ice accelerates the melt process.

  15. Snow Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Data: Modification of Normalized Difference Snow Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, G.; Avdan, U.

    2016-12-01

    Snow cover is an important part of the Earth`s climate system so its continuous monitoring is necessary to map snow cover in high resolution. Satellite remote sensing can successfully fetch land cover and land cover changes. Although normalized difference snow index NDSI has quite good accuracy, topography shadow, water bodies and clouds can be easily misplaced as snow. Using Landsat TM, +ETM and TIRS/OLI satellite images, the NDSI was modified for more accurate snow mapping. In this paper, elimination of the misplaced water bodies was made using the high reflectance of the snow in the blue band. Afterwards, the modified NDSI (MNDSI) was used for estimating snow cover through the years on the highest mountains in Republic of Macedonia. The results from this study show that the MNDSI accuracy is bigger than the NDSI`s, totally eliminating the misplaced water bodies, and partly the one caused from topography and clouds. Also, it was noticed that the snow cover in the study area has been lowered through the years. For future studies, the MNDSI should be validated on different study areas with different characteristics.

  16. Brittle Fracture Mechanics of Snow : In Situ Testing and Distinct Element Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faillettaz, J.; Daudon, D.; Louchet, F.

    development. The experimental cam- paign carried out in the Alps during the 2000-2001 winter on homogeneous sintered snow with a density of 200 kg/m3 (typical of a snow slab) gave results of the same or- der of magnitude as Michot's. A numerical modeling of these toughness experiments was performed using a distinct element code, considering snow as a cohesive granu- lar material. Both crack propagation and rupture patterns are in close agreement with experiments. References: Kirchner, Michot, Suzuki 2000 Fracture thoughness of snow in tension 1 Philisophical Magazine A, vol 80,N5, p1265-1272. Louchet 2001,A transition in dry snow slab avalanche triggering modes, Annales de glaciologie, vol 32,Symphosium on Snow, Avalanches and Impact of the Frest Cover, Innsbruck,Austria,22-26 may 2000, p2285-289 2

  17. Responses of Plant Community Composition to Long-term Changes in Snow Depth at the Great Basin Desert - Sierra Nevada ecotone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loik, M. E.

    2015-12-01

    Snowfall is the dominant hydrologic input for many high-elevation ecosystems of the western United States. Many climate models envision changes in California's Sierra Nevada snow pack characteristics, which would severely impact the storage and release of water for one of the world's largest economies. Given the importance of snowfall for future carbon cycling in high elevation ecosystems, how will these changes affect seedling recruitment, plant mortality, and community composition? To address this question, experiments utilize snow fences to manipulate snow depth and melt timing at a desert-montane ecotone in eastern California, USA. Long-term April 1 snow pack depth averages 1344 mm (1928-2015) but is highly variable from year to year. Snow fences increased equilibrium drift snow depth by 100%. Long-term changes in snow depth and melt timing are associated with s shift from shurbs to graminoids where snow depth was increased for >50 years. Changes in snow have impacted growth for only three plant species. Moreover, annual growth ring increments of the conifers Pinus jeffreyi and Pi. contorta were not equally sensitive to snow depth. There were over 8000 seedlings of the shrubs Artemisia tridentata and Purshia tridentata found in 6300 m2 in summer 2009, following about 1400 mm of winter snow and spring rain. The frequency of seedlings of A. tridentata and P. tridentata were much lower on increased-depth plots compared to ambient-depth, and reduced-depth plots. Survival of the first year was lowest for A. tridentata. Survival of seedlings from the 2008 cohort was much higher for P. tridentata than A. tridentata during the 2011-2015 drought. Results indicate complex interactions between snow depth and plant community characteristics, and that responses of plants at this ecotone may not respond similarly to increases vs. decreases in snow depth. These changes portend altered carbon uptake in this region under future snowfall scenarios.

  18. J-SEx : The Jollie Snow Experiment, New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, T.; Singh, S.; Kees, L.; Webster, C.; Clark, M.; Hendrikx, J.; Woods, R.

    2012-04-01

    Intensive snow observations have been collected in a steep alpine catchment (the Jollie Valley) in the Southern Alps of New Zealand for four years at the time of maximum snow storage. The campaign, called the Jollie Snow Experiment (J-SEx), was undertaken to improve understanding of snow variability in a steep alpine landscape. Observation methods included manual depth-probing at hundreds of locations with associated snowpit-digging, and surface and air-borne ground penetrating radar. In addition, repeat (daily) oblique photography was carried out on a subcatchment for two of the years. Analysis of the observations, in conjunction with similar observations from around the world has enabled direction to be given for selecting optimal modelling scales, and an indication of what processes need to be resolved at the different scales. For instance, if models are to operate at sub-100 m horizontal scales, they need to resolve drifting, sloughing and avalanching processes. Binary regression tree methods have been applied to identify terrain variables which explain the observed snow mass variability. This has enabled an assessment of total catchment snow storage to be established for each year. This assessment showed that the controlling variables change from year to year, so that no single terrain-based interpolation method may be generally applied. The change in the terrain relationships each year has been taken as an indication that the different frequencies of snowfall-related climate types from one year to the next affects which terrain characteristics have the greatest impact on snow variability. Assessment of terrain effects at the slope scale indicates that slope angle has the potential to be a strong influence on snow variability in that steep slopes do not build up large accumulations, and that low-angled regions below steep areas become areas of large snow build-up. This "slope" effect is clearly evident from the repeat photography, with the last areas to melt

  19. Chemical characterization of surface snow in Istanbul (NW Turkey) and their association with atmospheric circulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baysal, Asli; Baltaci, Hakki; Ozbek, Nil; Destanoglu, Orhan; Ustabasi, Gul Sirin; Gumus, Gulcin

    2017-06-01

    The understanding of the impurities in natural snow is important in realizing its atmospheric quality, soil characteristics, and the pollution caused to the environment. Knowledge of the occurrence of major ions and trace metals in the snow in the megacity of Istanbul is very limited. This manuscript attempts to understand the origin of major soluble ions (fluoride, acetate, formate, chlorite, chloride, nitrite, chlorate, bromide, nitrate, sulfate, phosphate, and perchlorate) and some trace metals (Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cu) in winter surface snow, collected in Istanbul, Turkey. The sampling of the surface snow was conducted after each precipitation during the winter of 2015-2016 at three sites in the city. Besides the statistical evaluation of the major ions, and some trace metal concentrations, the chemical variations along with atmospheric circulations, which are important modification mechanisms that influence the concentrations, were investigated in the study. At examined locations and times, 12 major anions were investigated and in these anions fluoride, chlorite, chlorate, bromide, and perchlorate in the snow samples were below the detection limit; only SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , and CI - were found to be in the range of 1.11-17.90, 0.75-4.52, and 0.19-3.01 mg/L. Also, according to the trace element determination, the concentration was found to be 29.2-53.7, 2.0-16.1, 1.0-2.2, 50.1-71.1, 24.2-35.2, ND-7.9, 43.2-106.6, and 3.0-17.7 μg/L for Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Cu, respectively. The major anions and investigated trace elements here originated mainly from anthropogenic and atmospheric circulation and mainly influenced by northerly and southerly circulation patterns. While the main limitations in the present study may be the low number of samples that may not be entirely representative, accurately reflect identification, or support other previously observed local measurements, we believe that the type of data presented in this study has the potential

  20. Winter severity and snowiness and their multiannual variability in the Karkonosze Mountains and Jizera Mountains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urban, Grzegorz; Richterová, Dáša; Kliegrová, Stanislava; Zusková, Ilona; Pawliczek, Piotr

    2017-09-01

    This paper analyses winter severity and snow conditions in the Karkonosze Mountains and Jizera Mountains and examines their long-term trends. The analysis used modified comprehensive winter snowiness (WSW) and winter severity (WOW) indices as defined by Paczos (1982). An attempt was also made to determine the relationship between the WSW and WOW indices. Measurement data were obtained from eight stations operated by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute (IMGW-PIB), from eight stations operated by the Czech Hydrological and Meteorological Institute (CHMI) and also from the Meteorological Observatory of the University of Wrocław (UWr) on Mount Szrenica. Essentially, the study covered the period from 1961 to 2015. In some cases, however, the period analysed was shorter due to the limited availability of data, which was conditioned, inter alia, by the period of operation of the station in question, and its type. Viewed on a macroscale, snow conditions in the Karkonosze Mountains and Jizera Mountains (in similar altitude zones) are clearly more favourable on southern slopes than on northern ones. In the study area, negative trends have been observed with respect to both the WSW and WOW indices—winters have become less snowy and warmer. The correlation between the WOW and WSW indices is positive. At stations with northern macroexposure, WOW and WSW show greater correlation than at ones with southern macroexposure. This relationship is the weakest for stations that are situated in the upper ranges (Mount Śnieżka and Mount Szrenica).

  1. Passive sinking into the snow as possible survival strategy during the off-host stage in an insect ectoparasite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaunisto, Sirpa; Ylonen, Hannu; Kortet, Raine

    2015-07-22

    Abiotic and biotic factors determine success or failure of individual organisms, populations and species. The early life stages are often the most vulnerable to heavy mortality due to environmental conditions. The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi Linnaeus, 1758) is an invasive insect ectoparasite of cervids that spends an important period of the life cycle outside host as immobile pupa. During winter, dark-coloured pupae drop off the host onto the snow, where they are exposed to environmental temperature variation and predation as long as the new snowfall provides shelter against these mortality factors. The other possible option is to passively sink into the snow, which is aided by morphology of pupae. Here, we experimentally studied passive snow sinking capacity of pupae of L. cervi. We show that pupae have a notable passive snow sinking capacity, which is the most likely explained by pupal morphology enabling solar energy absorption and pupal weight. The present results can be used when planning future studies and when evaluating possible predation risk and overall survival of this invasive ectoparasite species in changing environmental conditions.

  2. Distribution of VOCs between air and snow at the Jungfraujoch high alpine research station, Switzerland, during CLACE 5 (winter 2006

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Starokozhev

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Volatile organic compounds (VOCs were analyzed in air and snow samples at the Jungfraujoch high alpine research station in Switzerland as part of CLACE 5 (CLoud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment during February/March 2006. The fluxes of individual compounds in ambient air were calculated from gas phase concentrations and wind speed. The highest concentrations and flux values were observed for the aromatic hydrocarbons benzene (14.3 μg.m−2 s−1, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (5.27 μg.m−2 s−1, toluene (4.40 μg.m−2 −1, and the aliphatic hydrocarbons i-butane (7.87 μg.m−2 s−1, i-pentane (3.61 μg.m−2 s−1 and n-butane (3.23 μg.m−2 s−1. The measured concentrations and fluxes were used to calculate the efficiency of removal of VOCs by snow, which is defined as difference between the initial and final concentration/flux values of compounds before and after wet deposition. The removal efficiency was calculated at −24°C (−13.7°C and ranged from 37% (35% for o-xylene to 93% (63% for i-pentane. The distribution coefficients of VOCs between the air and snow phases were derived from published poly-parameter linear free energy relationship (pp-LFER data, and compared with distribution coefficients obtained from the simultaneous measurements of VOC concentrations in air and snow at Jungfraujoch. The coefficients calculated from pp-LFER exceeded those values measured in the present study, which indicates more efficient snow scavenging of the VOCs investigated than suggested by theoretical predictions.

  3. Winter climate controls soil carbon dynamics during summer in boreal forests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haei, Mahsa; Öquist, Mats G; Ilstedt, Ulrik; Laudon, Hjalmar; Kreyling, Juergen

    2013-01-01

    Boreal forests, characterized by distinct winter seasons, store a large proportion of the global terrestrial carbon (C) pool. We studied summer soil C-dynamics in a boreal forest in northern Sweden using a seven-year experimental manipulation of soil frost. We found that winter soil climate conditions play a major role in controlling the dissolution/mineralization of soil organic-C in the following summer season. Intensified soil frost led to significantly higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Intensified soil frost also led to higher rates of basal heterotrophic CO 2 production in surface soil samples. However, frost-induced decline in the in situ soil CO 2 concentrations in summer suggests a substantial decline in root and/or plant associated rhizosphere CO 2 production, which overrides the effects of increased heterotrophic CO 2 production. Thus, colder winter soils, as a result of reduced snow cover, can substantially alter C-dynamics in boreal forests by reducing summer soil CO 2 efflux, and increasing DOC losses. (letter)

  4. Variability in snow cover phenology in China from 1952 to 2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ke, Chang-Qing; Li, Xiu-Cang; Xie, Hongjie; Ma, Dong-Hui; Liu, Xun; Kou, Cheng

    2016-02-01

    Daily snow observation data from 672 stations in China, particularly the 296 stations with over 10 mean snow cover days (SCDs) in a year during the period of 1952-2010, are used in this study. We first examine spatiotemporal variations and trends of SCDs, snow cover onset date (SCOD), and snow cover end date (SCED). We then investigate the relationships of SCDs with number of days with temperature below 0 °C (TBZD), mean air temperature (MAT), and Arctic Oscillation (AO) index. The results indicate that years with a positive anomaly of SCDs for the entire country include 1955, 1957, 1964, and 2010, and years with a negative anomaly of SCDs include 1953, 1965, 1999, 2002, and 2009. The reduced TBZD and increased MAT are the main reasons for the overall late SCOD and early SCED since 1952. This explains why only 12 % of the stations show significant shortening of SCDs, while 75 % of the stations show no significant change in the SCDs trends. Our analyses indicate that the distribution pattern and trends of SCDs in China are very complex and are not controlled by any single climate variable examined (i.e. TBZD, MAT, or AO), but a combination of multiple variables. It is found that the AO has the maximum impact on the shortening trends of SCDs in the Shandong peninsula, Changbai Mountains, Xiaoxingganling, and north Xinjiang, while the combined TBZD and MAT have the maximum impact on the shortening trends of SCDs in the Loess Plateau, Tibetan Plateau, and Northeast Plain.

  5. Aerial view of CERN under the snow

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN PhotoLab

    1963-01-01

    In this photograph taken in the winter of 1963, CERN still looks quite bare under its mantle of snow. The Proton Synchrotron (PS), resembling a bicycle wheel in shape, had been in operation since the summer of 1959. A proposal had just been made for the site of CERN's second large project, the Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR): France was to house the world's first proton-proton collider. In September 1965, the French authorities signed an agreement making more than 40 hectares of land available for the extension of the CERN site established in Switzerland into French territory. The ISR project received final approval from the CERN Council in December 1965. The civil engineering work on the French part began in November 196

  6. Seasonal evolution of the effective thermal conductivity of the snow and the soil in high Arctic herb tundra at Bylot Island, Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domine, Florent; Barrere, Mathieu; Sarrazin, Denis

    2016-11-01

    The values of the snow and soil thermal conductivity, ksnow and ksoil, strongly impact the thermal regime of the ground in the Arctic, but very few data are available to test model predictions for these variables. We have monitored ksnow and ksoil using heated needle probes at Bylot Island in the Canadian High Arctic (73° N, 80° W) between July 2013 and July 2015. Few ksnow data were obtained during the 2013-2014 winter, because little snow was present. During the 2014-2015 winter ksnow monitoring at 2, 12 and 22 cm heights and field observations show that a depth hoar layer with ksnow around 0.02 W m-1 K-1 rapidly formed. At 12 and 22 cm, wind slabs with ksnow around 0.2 to 0.3 W m-1 K-1 formed. The monitoring of ksoil at 10 cm depth shows that in thawed soil ksoil was around 0.7 W m-1 K-1, while in frozen soil it was around 1.9 W m-1 K-1. The transition between both values took place within a few days, with faster thawing than freezing and a hysteresis effect evidenced in the thermal conductivity-liquid water content relationship. The fast transitions suggest that the use of a bimodal distribution of ksoil for modelling may be an interesting option that deserves further testing. Simulations of ksnow using the snow physics model Crocus were performed. Contrary to observations, Crocus predicts high ksnow values at the base of the snowpack (0.12-0.27 W m-1 K-1) and low ones in its upper parts (0.02-0.12 W m-1 K-1). We diagnose that this is because Crocus does not describe the large upward water vapour fluxes caused by the temperature gradient in the snow and soil. These fluxes produce mass transfer between the soil and lower snow layers to the upper snow layers and the atmosphere. Finally, we discuss the importance of the structure and properties of the Arctic snowpack on subnivean life, as species such as lemmings live under the snow most of the year and must travel in the lower snow layer in search of food.

  7. Simulation of High-Latitude Hydrological Processes in the Torne-Kalix Basin: PILPS Phase 2(e). 3; Equivalent Model Representation and Sensitivity Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowling, Laura C.; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.; Nijssen, Bart; Polcher, Jan; Koster, Randal D.; Lohmann, Dag; Houser, Paul R. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    The Project for Intercomparison of Land Surface Parameterization Schemes (PILPS) Phase 2(e) showed that in cold regions the annual runoff production in Land Surface Schemes (LSSs) is closely related to the maximum snow accumulation, which in turn is controlled in large part by winter sublimation. To help further explain the relationship between snow cover, turbulent exchanges and runoff production, a simple equivalent model-(SEM) was devised to reproduce the seasonal and annual fluxes simulated by 13 LSSs that participated in PILPS Phase 2(e). The design of the SEM relates the annual partitioning of precipitation and energy in the LSSs to three primary parameters: snow albedo, effective aerodynamic resistance and evaporation efficiency. Isolation of each of the parameters showed that the annual runoff production was most sensitive to the aerodynamic resistance. The SEM was somewhat successful in reproducing the observed LSS response to a decrease in shortwave radiation and changes in wind speed forcings. SEM parameters derived from the reduced shortwave forcings suggested that increased winter stability suppressed turbulent heat fluxes over snow. Because winter sensible heat fluxes were largely negative, reductions in winter shortwave radiation imply an increase in annual average sensible heat.

  8. Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeuchi, Nozomu

    2013-01-01

    Snow and ice algae are cold tolerant algae growing on the surface of snow and ice, and they play an important role in the carbon cycles for glaciers and snowfields in the world. Seasonal and altitudinal variations in seven major taxa of algae (green algae and cyanobacteria) were investigated on the Gulkana glacier in Alaska at six different elevations from May to September in 2001. The snow algal communities and their biomasses changed over time and elevation. Snow algae were rarely observed on the glacier in May although air temperature had been above 0 ° C since the middle of the month and surface snow had melted. In June, algae appeared in the lower areas of the glacier, where the ablation ice surface was exposed. In August, the distribution of algae was extended to the upper parts of the glacier as the snow line was elevated. In September, the glacier surface was finally covered with new winter snow, which terminated algal growth in the season. Mean algal biomass of the study sites continuously increased and reached 6.3 × 10 μl m −2 in cell volume or 13 mg carbon m −2 in September. The algal community was dominated by Chlamydomonas nivalis on the snow surface, and by Ancylonema nordenskiöldii and Mesotaenium berggrenii on the ice surface throughout the melting season. Other algae were less abundant and appeared in only a limited area of the glacier. Results in this study suggest that algae on both snow and ice surfaces significantly contribute to the net production of organic carbon on the glacier and substantially affect surface albedo of the snow and ice during the melting season. (letter)

  9. Snow Leopard and Himalayan Wolf: Food Habits and Prey Selection in the Central Himalayas, Nepal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madhu Chetri

    Full Text Available Top carnivores play an important role in maintaining energy flow and functioning of the ecosystem, and a clear understanding of their diets and foraging strategies is essential for developing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, we compared diets and prey selection of snow leopards and wolves based on analyses of genotyped scats (snow leopards n = 182, wolves n = 57, collected within 26 sampling grid cells (5×5 km that were distributed across a vast landscape of ca 5000 km2 in the Central Himalayas, Nepal. Within the grid cells, we sampled prey abundances using the double observer method. We found that interspecific differences in diet composition and prey selection reflected their respective habitat preferences, i.e. snow leopards significantly preferred cliff-dwelling wild ungulates (mainly bharal, 57% of identified material in scat samples, whereas wolves preferred typically plain-dwellers (Tibetan gazelle, kiang and argali, 31%. Livestock was consumed less frequently than their proportional availability by both predators (snow leopard = 27%; wolf = 24%, but significant avoidance was only detected among snow leopards. Among livestock species, snow leopards significantly preferred horses and goats, avoided yaks, and used sheep as available. We identified factors influencing diet composition using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Wolves showed seasonal differences in the occurrence of small mammals/birds, probably due to the winter hibernation of an important prey, marmots. For snow leopard, occurrence of both wild ungulates and livestock in scats depended on sex and latitude. Wild ungulates occurrence increased while livestock decreased from south to north, probably due to a latitudinal gradient in prey availability. Livestock occurred more frequently in scats from male snow leopards (males: 47%, females: 21%, and wild ungulates more frequently in scats from females (males: 48%, females: 70%. The sexual difference agrees with

  10. Snow Leopard and Himalayan Wolf: Food Habits and Prey Selection in the Central Himalayas, Nepal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odden, Morten; Wegge, Per

    2017-01-01

    Top carnivores play an important role in maintaining energy flow and functioning of the ecosystem, and a clear understanding of their diets and foraging strategies is essential for developing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, we compared diets and prey selection of snow leopards and wolves based on analyses of genotyped scats (snow leopards n = 182, wolves n = 57), collected within 26 sampling grid cells (5×5 km) that were distributed across a vast landscape of ca 5000 km2 in the Central Himalayas, Nepal. Within the grid cells, we sampled prey abundances using the double observer method. We found that interspecific differences in diet composition and prey selection reflected their respective habitat preferences, i.e. snow leopards significantly preferred cliff-dwelling wild ungulates (mainly bharal, 57% of identified material in scat samples), whereas wolves preferred typically plain-dwellers (Tibetan gazelle, kiang and argali, 31%). Livestock was consumed less frequently than their proportional availability by both predators (snow leopard = 27%; wolf = 24%), but significant avoidance was only detected among snow leopards. Among livestock species, snow leopards significantly preferred horses and goats, avoided yaks, and used sheep as available. We identified factors influencing diet composition using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Wolves showed seasonal differences in the occurrence of small mammals/birds, probably due to the winter hibernation of an important prey, marmots. For snow leopard, occurrence of both wild ungulates and livestock in scats depended on sex and latitude. Wild ungulates occurrence increased while livestock decreased from south to north, probably due to a latitudinal gradient in prey availability. Livestock occurred more frequently in scats from male snow leopards (males: 47%, females: 21%), and wild ungulates more frequently in scats from females (males: 48%, females: 70%). The sexual difference agrees with previous

  11. Snow Leopard and Himalayan Wolf: Food Habits and Prey Selection in the Central Himalayas, Nepal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chetri, Madhu; Odden, Morten; Wegge, Per

    2017-01-01

    Top carnivores play an important role in maintaining energy flow and functioning of the ecosystem, and a clear understanding of their diets and foraging strategies is essential for developing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, we compared diets and prey selection of snow leopards and wolves based on analyses of genotyped scats (snow leopards n = 182, wolves n = 57), collected within 26 sampling grid cells (5×5 km) that were distributed across a vast landscape of ca 5000 km2 in the Central Himalayas, Nepal. Within the grid cells, we sampled prey abundances using the double observer method. We found that interspecific differences in diet composition and prey selection reflected their respective habitat preferences, i.e. snow leopards significantly preferred cliff-dwelling wild ungulates (mainly bharal, 57% of identified material in scat samples), whereas wolves preferred typically plain-dwellers (Tibetan gazelle, kiang and argali, 31%). Livestock was consumed less frequently than their proportional availability by both predators (snow leopard = 27%; wolf = 24%), but significant avoidance was only detected among snow leopards. Among livestock species, snow leopards significantly preferred horses and goats, avoided yaks, and used sheep as available. We identified factors influencing diet composition using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Wolves showed seasonal differences in the occurrence of small mammals/birds, probably due to the winter hibernation of an important prey, marmots. For snow leopard, occurrence of both wild ungulates and livestock in scats depended on sex and latitude. Wild ungulates occurrence increased while livestock decreased from south to north, probably due to a latitudinal gradient in prey availability. Livestock occurred more frequently in scats from male snow leopards (males: 47%, females: 21%), and wild ungulates more frequently in scats from females (males: 48%, females: 70%). The sexual difference agrees with previous

  12. Intercontinental gene flow among western arctic populations of Lesser Snow Geese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shorey, Rainy I.; Scribner, Kim T.; Kanefsky, Jeannette; Samuel, Michael D.; Libants, Scot V.

    2011-01-01

    Quantifying the spatial genetic structure of highly vagile species of birds is important in predicting their degree of population demographic and genetic independence during changing environmental conditions, and in assessing their abundance and distribution. In the western Arctic, Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) provide an example useful for evaluating spatial population genetic structure and the relative contribution of male and female philopatry to breeding and wintering locales. We analyzed biparentally inherited microsatellite loci and maternally inherited mtDNA sequences from geese breeding at Wrangel Island (Russia) and Banks Island (Canada) to estimate gene flow among populations whose geographic overlap during breeding and winter differ. Significant differences in the frequencies of mtDNA haplotypes contrast with the homogeneity of allele frequencies for microsatellite loci. Coalescence simulations revealed high variability and asymmetry between males and females in rates and direction of gene flow between populations. Our results highlight the importance of wintering areas to demographic independence and spatial genetic structure of these populations. Male-mediated gene flow among the populations on northern Wrangel Island, southern Wrangel Island, and Banks Island has been substantial. A high rate of female-mediated gene flow from southern Wrangel Island to Banks Island suggests that population exchange can be achieved when populations winter in a common area. Conversely, when birds from different breeding populations do not share a common wintering area, the probability of population exchange is likely to be dramatically reduced.

  13. Energy expenditure and clearing snow: a comparison of shovel and snow pusher.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smolander, J; Louhevaara, V; Ahonen, E; Polari, J; Klen, T

    1995-04-01

    In order to assess the energy demands of manual clearing of snow, nine men did snow clearing work for 15 min with a shovel and a snow pusher. The depth of the snowcover was 400-600 mm representing a very heavy snowfall. Heart rate (HR), oxygen consumption (VO2), pulmonary ventilation (VE), respiratory exchange ratio (R), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were determined during the work tasks. HR, VE, R, and RPE were not significantly different between the shovel and snow pusher. HR averaged (+/- SD) 141 +/- 20 b min-1 with the shovel, and 142 +/- 19 beats.min-1 with the snow pusher. VO2 was 2.1 +/- 0.41.min-1 (63 +/- 12%VO2 max) in shovelling and 2.6 +/- 0.51.min-1 (75 +/- 14%VO2max) in snow pushing (p < 0.001). In conclusion manual clearing of snow in conditions representing heavy snowfalls was found to be strenuous physical work, not suitable for persons with cardiac risk factors, but which may serve as a mode of physical training in healthy adults.

  14. The power situation in winter 2010/2011; Kraftsituasjonen vinteren 2010/2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pettersen, Finn Erik Ljaastad (ed.)

    2011-07-15

    At the beginning of winter, the reservoir level was record low. Very cold weather before the end of the year contributed to the further tapping. Mild weather and early snow melt caused a rapid increase in water levels in beginning of April. On average, the Norwegian power prices was higher last winter compared with the previous winter. High prices are necessary to get high Norwegian imports and keep consumption down, and thus saving water in the reservoirs. Limitations in transmission capacity between market areas affected the prices and power flow last winter. In the night and weekend hours contributed network problems in southern Sweden to the reduced transmission capacity to Southern Norway. This dampened the Norwegian imports, and Norwegian hydropower producers tapped more of the magazined water than they otherwise would. This emphasizes the need to continue NVE's efforts to explore possibilities for a better utilization of transmission capacities in the network. There were several events that had an impact on the operation of the power system and security of supply last winter. Error events led to interruption for many grid customers, in addition to significant risk of further extensive dark laying of large areas if another failure should occur. (AG

  15. Retrieval of Effective Correlation Length and Snow Water Equivalent from Radar and Passive Microwave Measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juha Lemmetyinen

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Current methods for retrieving SWE (snow water equivalent from space rely on passive microwave sensors. Observations are limited by poor spatial resolution, ambiguities related to separation of snow microstructural properties from the total snow mass, and signal saturation when snow is deep (~>80 cm. The use of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar at suitable frequencies has been suggested as a potential observation method to overcome the coarse resolution of passive microwave sensors. Nevertheless, suitable sensors operating from space are, up to now, unavailable. Active microwave retrievals suffer, however, from the same difficulties as the passive case in separating impacts of scattering efficiency from those of snow mass. In this study, we explore the potential of applying active (radar and passive (radiometer microwave observations in tandem, by using a dataset of co-incident tower-based active and passive microwave observations and detailed in situ data from a test site in Northern Finland. The dataset spans four winter seasons with daily coverage. In order to quantify the temporal variability of snow microstructure, we derive an effective correlation length for the snowpack (treated as a single layer, which matches the simulated microwave response of a semi-empirical radiative transfer model to observations. This effective parameter is derived from radiometer and radar observations at different frequencies and frequency combinations (10.2, 13.3 and 16.7 GHz for radar; 10.65, 18.7 and 37 GHz for radiometer. Under dry snow conditions, correlations are found between the effective correlation length retrieved from active and passive measurements. Consequently, the derived effective correlation length from passive microwave observations is applied to parameterize the retrieval of SWE using radar, improving retrieval skill compared to a case with no prior knowledge of snow-scattering efficiency. The same concept can be applied to future radar

  16. Development and testing of a snow interceptometer to quantify canopy water storage and interception processes in the rain/snow transition zone of the North Cascades, Washington, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Kael A.; Van Stan, John T.; Dickerson-Lange, Susan E.; Lutz, James A.; Berman, Jeffrey W.; Gersonde, Rolf; Lundquist, Jessica D.

    2013-06-01

    Tree canopy snow interception is a significant hydrological process, capable of removing up to 60% of snow from the ground snowpack. Our understanding of canopy interception has been limited by our ability to measure whole canopy water storage in an undisturbed forest setting. This study presents a relatively inexpensive technique for directly measuring snow canopy water storage using an interceptometer, adapted from Friesen et al. (2008). The interceptometer is composed of four linear motion position sensors distributed evenly around the tree trunk. We incorporate a trunk laser-mapping installation method for precise sensor placement to reduce signal error due to sensor misalignment. Through calibration techniques, the amount of canopy snow required to produce the measured displacements can be calculated. We demonstrate instrument performance on a western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) for a snow interception event in November 2011. We find a snow capture efficiency of 83 ± 15% of accumulated ground snowfall with a maximum storage capacity of 50 ± 8 mm snow water equivalent (SWE). The observed interception event is compared to simulated interception, represented by the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) hydrologic model. The model generally underreported interception magnitude by 33% using a leaf area index (LAI) of 5 and 16% using an LAI of 10. The interceptometer captured intrastorm accumulation and melt rates up to 3 and 0.75 mm SWE h-1, respectively, which the model failed to represent. While further implementation and validation is necessary, our preliminary results indicate that forest interception magnitude may be underestimated in maritime areas.

  17. Role of snow in the fate of gaseous and particulate exhaust pollutants from gasoline-powered vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazarenko, Yevgen; Fournier, Sébastien; Kurien, Uday; Rangel-Alvarado, Rodrigo Benjamin; Nepotchatykh, Oleg; Seers, Patrice; Ariya, Parisa A

    2017-04-01

    Little is known about pollution in urban snow and how aerosol and gaseous air pollutants interact with the urban snowpack. Here we investigate interactions of exhaust pollution with snow at low ambient temperature using fresh snow in a temperature-controlled chamber. A gasoline-powered engine from a modern light duty vehicle generated the exhaust and was operated in homogeneous and stratified engine regimes. We determined that, within a timescale of 30 min, snow takes up from the exhaust a large mass of organic pollutants and aerosol particles, which were observed by electron microscopy, mass spectrometry and aerosol sizers. Specifically, the concentration of total organic carbon in the exposed snow increased from 0.948 ± 0.009 to 1.828 ± 0.001 mg/L (homogeneous engine regime) and from 0.275 ± 0.005 to 0.514 ± 0.008 mg/L (stratified engine regime). The concentrations of benzene, toluene and 13 out of 16 measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), particularly naphthalene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene in snow increased upon exposure from near the detection limit to 0.529 ± 0.058, 1.840 ± 0.200, 0.176 ± 0.020, 0.020 ± 0.005, 0.025 ± 0.005 and 0.028 ± 0.005 ng/kg, respectively, for the homogeneous regime. After contact with snow, 50-400 nm particles were present with higher relative abundance compared to the smaller nanoparticles (snow to 51 nm (p pollutants between the atmosphere and cryosphere. The role of the effects we discovered should be evaluated as part of assessment of pollutant loads and exposures in regions with a defined winter season. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Saharan dust particles in snow samples of Alps and Apennines during an exceptional event of transboundary air pollution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telloli, Chiara; Chicca, Milvia; Pepi, Salvatore; Vaccaro, Carmela

    2017-12-21

    Southern European countries are often affected in summer by transboundary air pollution from Saharan dust. However, very few studies deal with Saharan dust pollution at high altitudes in winter. In Italy, the exceptional event occurred on February 19, 2014, colored in red the entire mountain range (Alps and Apennines) and allowed to characterize the particulate matter deposited on snow from a morphological and chemical point of view. Snow samples were collected after this event in four areas in the Alps and one in the Apennines. The particulate matter of the melted snow samples was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). These analyses confirmed the presence of Saharan dust particle components in all areas with similar percentages, supported also by the positive correlations between Mg-Ca, Al-Ca, Al-Mg, and Al-K in all samples.

  19. Research and development of utilization technology of solar thermal energy system for industrial and other use. Research and development of solar system (investigation of popular type snow melting systems); Sangyoyo nado solar system jitsuyoka gijutsu kaihatsu. Solar system no chosa kenkyu (fukyugata yusetsu system no kenkyu chosa)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takita, M [New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Tokyo (Japan)

    1994-12-01

    Described herein are the results of the FY1994 research program for investigation for popular type snow melting systems using solar energy. Two types of technologies are proposed to utilize solar energy for snow melting in winter and create comfortable environments. One is combined (active plus passive) type, which transfers solar heat it collects by the whole wall surfaces to an attic to heat it totally, and makes the whole roof as a radiator to melt snow. However, heat radiated from the roof is insufficient to melt all snow on the roof, allowing it to remain to an extent that it works as an insulator. The other is active type, which transfers heat it collects by the collector to the heat storage tank, from which heat is extracted in winter for various purposes, including snow melting. Such a system must store heat for an extended period, for which a highly insulating heat storage tank is proposed to balance capacity of heat storage between seasons and building size.

  20. Warmer and wetter winters: characteristics and implications of an extreme weather event in the High Arctic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, Brage B; Isaksen, Ketil; Benestad, Rasmus E; Kohler, Jack; Pedersen, Åshild Ø; Loe, Leif E; Coulson, Stephen J; Larsen, Jan Otto; Varpe, Øystein

    2014-01-01

    One predicted consequence of global warming is an increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, or heavy rainfalls. In parts of the Arctic, extreme warm spells and heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) events in winter are already more frequent. How these weather events impact snow-pack and permafrost characteristics is rarely documented empirically, and the implications for wildlife and society are hence far from understood. Here we characterize and document the effects of an extreme warm spell and ROS event that occurred in High Arctic Svalbard in January–February 2012, during the polar night. In this normally cold semi-desert environment, we recorded above-zero temperatures (up to 7 °C) across the entire archipelago and record-breaking precipitation, with up to 98 mm rainfall in one day (return period of >500 years prior to this event) and 272 mm over the two-week long warm spell. These precipitation amounts are equivalent to 25 and 70% respectively of the mean annual total precipitation. The extreme event caused significant increase in permafrost temperatures down to at least 5 m depth, induced slush avalanches with resultant damage to infrastructure, and left a significant ground-ice cover (∼5–20 cm thick basal ice). The ground-ice not only affected inhabitants by closing roads and airports as well as reducing mobility and thereby tourism income, but it also led to high starvation-induced mortality in all monitored populations of the wild reindeer by blocking access to the winter food source. Based on empirical-statistical downscaling of global climate models run under the moderate RCP4.5 emission scenario, we predict strong future warming with average mid-winter temperatures even approaching 0 °C, suggesting increased frequency of ROS. This will have far-reaching implications for Arctic ecosystems and societies through the changes in snow-pack and permafrost properties. (letter)

  1. Warmer and wetter winters: characteristics and implications of an extreme weather event in the High Arctic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Brage B.; Isaksen, Ketil; Benestad, Rasmus E.; Kohler, Jack; Pedersen, Åshild Ø.; Loe, Leif E.; Coulson, Stephen J.; Larsen, Jan Otto; Varpe, Øystein

    2014-11-01

    One predicted consequence of global warming is an increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, or heavy rainfalls. In parts of the Arctic, extreme warm spells and heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) events in winter are already more frequent. How these weather events impact snow-pack and permafrost characteristics is rarely documented empirically, and the implications for wildlife and society are hence far from understood. Here we characterize and document the effects of an extreme warm spell and ROS event that occurred in High Arctic Svalbard in January-February 2012, during the polar night. In this normally cold semi-desert environment, we recorded above-zero temperatures (up to 7 °C) across the entire archipelago and record-breaking precipitation, with up to 98 mm rainfall in one day (return period of >500 years prior to this event) and 272 mm over the two-week long warm spell. These precipitation amounts are equivalent to 25 and 70% respectively of the mean annual total precipitation. The extreme event caused significant increase in permafrost temperatures down to at least 5 m depth, induced slush avalanches with resultant damage to infrastructure, and left a significant ground-ice cover (˜5-20 cm thick basal ice). The ground-ice not only affected inhabitants by closing roads and airports as well as reducing mobility and thereby tourism income, but it also led to high starvation-induced mortality in all monitored populations of the wild reindeer by blocking access to the winter food source. Based on empirical-statistical downscaling of global climate models run under the moderate RCP4.5 emission scenario, we predict strong future warming with average mid-winter temperatures even approaching 0 °C, suggesting increased frequency of ROS. This will have far-reaching implications for Arctic ecosystems and societies through the changes in snow-pack and permafrost properties.

  2. Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Bisht

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. Here, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the E3SM to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ELM-3D v1.0. Multiple 10-year-long simulations were performed for a transect across a polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SR and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model predictions better agreed (higher R2, lower bias and RMSE with observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R2 of 0.59 °C, 1.82 °C, and 0.99, respectively. The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ∼ 10 cm shallower and  ∼ 5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on maximum thaw depths was modest, with mean absolute differences of ∼ 3 cm. Our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and

  3. Snow mechanics and avalanche formation: field experiments on the dynamic response of the snow cover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schweizer, Jürg; Schneebeli, Martin; Fierz, Charles; Föhn, Paul M. B.

    1995-11-01

    Knowledge about snow mechanics and snow avalanche formation forms the basis of any hazard mitigation measures. The crucial point is the snow stability. The most relevant mechanical properties - the compressive, tensile and shear strength of the individual snow layers within the snow cover - vary substantially in space and time. Among other things the strength of the snow layers depends strongly on the state of stress and the strain rate. The evaluation of the stability of the snow cover is hence a difficult task involving many extrapolations. To gain insight in the release mechanism of slab avalanches triggered by skiers, the skier's impact is measured with a load cell at different depths within the snow cover and for different snow conditions. The study focused on the effects of the dynamic loading and of the damping by snow compaction. In accordance with earlier finite-element (FE) calculations the results show the importance of the depth of the weak layer or interface and the snow conditions, especially the sublayering. In order to directly measure the impact force and to study the snow properties in more detail, a new instrument, called rammrutsch was developed. It combines the properties of the rutschblock with the defined impact properties of the rammsonde. The mechanical properties are determined using (i) the impact energy of the rammrutsch and (ii) the deformations of the snow cover measured with accelerometers and digital image processing of video sequences. The new method is well suited to detect and to measure the mechanical processes and properties of the fracturing layers. The duration of one test is around 10 minutes and the method seems appropriate for determining the spatial variability of the snow cover. A series of experiments in a forest opening showed a clear difference in the snow stability between sites below trees and ones in the free field of the opening.

  4. Experimental and model based investigation of the links between snow bidirectional reflectance and snow microstructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumont, M.; Flin, F.; Malinka, A.; Brissaud, O.; Hagenmuller, P.; Dufour, A.; Lapalus, P.; Lesaffre, B.; Calonne, N.; Rolland du Roscoat, S.; Ando, E.

    2017-12-01

    Snow optical properties are unique among Earth surface and crucial for a wide range of applications. The bi-directional reflectance, hereafter BRDF, of snow is sensible to snow microstructure. However the complex interplays between different parameters of snow microstructure namely size parameters and shape parameters on reflectance are challenging to disentangle both theoretically and experimentally. An accurate understanding and modelling of snow BRDF is required to correctly process satellite data. BRDF measurements might also provide means of characterizing snow morphology. This study presents one of the very few dataset that combined bi-directional reflectance measurements over 500-2500 nm and X-ray tomography of the snow microstructure for three different snow samples and two snow types. The dataset is used to evaluate the approach from Malinka, 2014 that relates snow optical properties to the chord length distribution in the snow microstructure. For low and medium absorption, the model accurately reproduces the measurements but tends to slightly overestimate the anisotropy of the reflectance. The model indicates that the deviation of the ice chord length distribution from an exponential distribution, that can be understood as a characterization of snow types, does not impact the reflectance for such absorptions. The simulations are also impacted by the uncertainties in the ice refractive index values. At high absorption and high viewing/incident zenith angle, the simulations and the measurements disagree indicating that some of the assumptions made in the model are not met anymore. The study also indicates that crystal habits might play a significant role for the reflectance under such geometries and wavelengths. However quantitative relationship between crystal habits and reflectance alongside with potential optical methodologies to classify snow morphology would require an extended dataset over more snow types. This extended dataset can likely be obtained

  5. The influence of variable snowpacks on habitat use by mountain caribou

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trevor A. Kinley

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available Mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou in southeastern British Columbia subsist for most of the winter on arboreal hair lichen, mostly Bryoria spp. Foraging occurs mainly in old subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa forests near treeline. Here, the lower limit of Bryoria in the canopy is dictated by snowpack depth because hair lichens die when buried in snow. Bryoria is often beyond the reach of caribou in early winter, prompting caribou to move downslope to where lichen occurs lower in the canopy and other foraging modes are possible. Snowpacks are normally deep enough by late winter that caribou can reach Bryoria where it is most abundant, at high elevations. Extending this to inter-annual comparisons, Bryoria should be less accessible during late winter of low-snow years following normal winters, or of normal to low-snow years after deep-snow winters. We hypothesized that when maximum snowpack in late winter is low relative to the deepest of the previous 5 years, mountain caribou will use lower elevations to facilitate foraging (“lichen-snow-caribou” or LSC hypothesis. We tested this with late-winter data from 13 subpopulations. In the dry climatic region generally and for minor snowfall differences in wet and very wet regions, caribou did not shift downslope or in fact were at higher elevations during relatively low-snow years, possibly reflecting the ease of locomotion. The LSC hypothesis was supported within wet and very wet regions when snowpacks were about 1 m or more lower than in recent years. Elevation declined by 300 m (median to 600 m (25th percentile for snowpack differences of at least 1.5 m. Greater use of lodgepole pine and western hemlock stands sometimes also occurred. Management strategies emphasizing subalpine fir stands near treeline should be re-examined to ensure protection of a broader range of winter habitats used by caribou under variable snowpack conditions.

  6. User Oriented Climatic Information for Planning a Snow Removal Budget.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Stewart J.

    1981-12-01

    Many activities associated with the transportation sector are weather sensitive. This study is concerned with highway maintenance activities, specifically snow removal, and the budgeting of same by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). During the 1978-79 winter, IDOT's snow removal budget was exhausted by the end of January, thereby necessitating the procurement of emergency funds. The following year, the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) was asked to provide specialized climatic design information that could be used to assist IDOT in its budget planning for snow removal.Snow removal is often accomplished by spreading road salt over snow- and ice-covered roads, thus improving traction and reducing the risk of vehicles skidding along slippery surfaces. This study demonstrates the computation of `salt days,' a user-oriented climatic variable that indicates the number of days when road salt is required. This variable is defined using certain temperature and snowfall criteria. Results of a pilot study indicate that it is possible to provide statistical outlooks for salt days two months in advance, using correlation analysis. The analysis for several Illinois stations indicates that at various intervals in the data records, November and December temperatures are significantly correlated with February salt days if short periods of record (5-20 years) are used.IDOT originally requested a `2- to 3-month projection.' However, it became clear that only projections of 12 months or longer could benefit annual budget preparation. Confusion existed between the user and the supplier of climatic information regarding the user's needs, and the applicability of the supplier's `climate products' to the user's budget planning procedure. This demonstrates the need for a prolonged effort by the supplier to fully acquaint the user with the various forms of climatic information available. This gap in communication must be overcome so that applied climatology can be integrated

  7. Modelling snow accumulation and snow melt in a continuous hydrological model for real-time flood forecasting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanzel, Ph; Haberl, U; Nachtnebel, H P

    2008-01-01

    Hydrological models for flood forecasting in Alpine basins need accurate representation of snow accumulation and snow melt processes. A continuous, semi-distributed rainfall-runoff model with snow modelling procedures using only precipitation and temperature as input is presented. Simulation results from an application in an Alpine Danube tributary watershed are shown and evaluated with snow depth measurements and MODIS remote sensing snow cover information. Seasonal variations of runoff due to snow melt were simulated accurately. Evaluation of simulated snow depth and snow covered area showed strengths and limitations of the model and allowed an assessment of input data quality. MODIS snow cover images were found to be valuable sources of information for hydrological modelling in alpine areas, where ground observations are scarce.

  8. Modelling snow accumulation and snow melt in a continuous hydrological model for real-time flood forecasting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stanzel, Ph; Haberl, U; Nachtnebel, H P [Institute of Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna (Austria)], E-mail: philipp.stanzel@boku.ac.at

    2008-11-01

    Hydrological models for flood forecasting in Alpine basins need accurate representation of snow accumulation and snow melt processes. A continuous, semi-distributed rainfall-runoff model with snow modelling procedures using only precipitation and temperature as input is presented. Simulation results from an application in an Alpine Danube tributary watershed are shown and evaluated with snow depth measurements and MODIS remote sensing snow cover information. Seasonal variations of runoff due to snow melt were simulated accurately. Evaluation of simulated snow depth and snow covered area showed strengths and limitations of the model and allowed an assessment of input data quality. MODIS snow cover images were found to be valuable sources of information for hydrological modelling in alpine areas, where ground observations are scarce.

  9. Evaluating UAV and LiDAR Retrieval of Snow Depth in a Coniferous Forest in Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Leeuwen, W. J. D.; Broxton, P.; Biederman, J. A.

    2017-12-01

    Remote sensing of snow depth and cover in forested environments is challenging. Trees interfere with the remote sensing of snowpack below the canopy and cause large variations in the spatial distribution of the snowpack itself (e.g. between below canopy environments to shaded gaps to open clearings). The distribution of trees and topographic variation make it challenging to monitor the snowpack with in-situ observations. Airborne LiDAR has improved our ability to monitor snowpack over large areas in montane and forested environments because of its high sampling rate and ability to penetrate the canopy. However, these LiDAR flights can be too expensive and time-consuming to process, making it hard to use them for real-time snow monitoring. In this research, we evaluate Structure from Motion (SfM) as an alternative to Airborne LiDAR to generate high-resolution snow depth data in forested environments. This past winter, we conducted a snow field campaign over Arizona's Mogollon Rim where we acquired aerial LiDAR, multi-angle aerial photography from a UAV, and extensive field observations of snow depth at two sites. LiDAR and SFM derived snow depth maps were generated by comparing "snow-on" and "snow-off" LiDAR and SfM data. The SfM- and LiDAR-generated snow depth maps were similar at a site with fewer trees, though there were more discrepancies at a site with more trees. Both compared reasonably well with the field observations at the sparser forested site, with poorer agreement at the denser forested site. Finally, although the SfM produced point clouds with much higher point densities than the aerial LiDAR, the SfM was not able to produce meaningful snow depth estimates directly underneath trees and had trouble in areas with deep shadows. Based on these findings, we are optimizing our UAV data acquisition strategies for this upcoming field season. We are using these data, along with high-resolution hydrological modeling, to gain a better understanding of how

  10. Eco-geochemical peculiarities of mercury content in solid residue of snow in the industrial enterprises impacted areas of Tomsk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filimonenko, E. A.; Lyapina, E. E.; Talovskaya, A. V.; Parygina, I. A.

    2014-11-01

    Snow, as short-term consignation Wednesday, has several properties that lead to its widespread use in ecologicalgeochemical and geological research. By studying the chemical composition of the dust fallout you can indirectly assess the condition of atmospheric air.1-2. Determining the content of mercury in snow cover, you can define its contribution for the longest period of the year in our region, with the most intensive use of various types of fuel (coal, gas, firewood), that puts a strain on urban ecosystems in terms of ecology.3-4. In addition, snow cleans the atmosphere of mercury, but it accumulates in the snow, and during the spring melting of snow hits the ground and rivers, polluting them. Part of the mercury back into the atmosphere. It should also be note the special nature of the circulation of air masses over the city in winter, creating a heat CAP, which contributes to air pollution of the city. 5-6-7. The high load areas of industrial impact were detected during the eco-geochemical investigations of mercury load index in the impacted areas of enterprises of Tomsk. It was found out, that aerosol particles of industrial emissions in Tomsk contain mercury. The contamination transfer character of mercury sources and occurrence modes of pollutants in snow solid residue were detected during the researches of industrial impact.

  11. Summer warming and changes in snow depth is reflected in the growth rings of Alaskan tundra shrubs (Toolik Lake)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchwal, A.; Welker, J. M.

    2016-12-01

    Arctic change is being manifested by shifts in the vegetation composition and abundance throughout many regions of the Arctic. These changes are primarily reflected by increases in shrub growth and density, but the extent to which shrub growth is expressed in greater shrub ring width and the degree to which natural and experimental warming correspond and or whether the secondary effect of deeper snow in winter acts to alter shrub ring growh and or shrub biomass is yet to be determined for Arctic Alaska. In order to explore growth response of arctic shrubs to on-going and predicted temperature and snow depth increase we investigated shrubs' annual growth rings using dendrochronological methods applied to plants growing under control and experimental treatments in Toolik Lake, Northern Alaska. Specifically we evaluated the effects of a 20-year experimental warming (due to open top chambers, OTC's) and snow depth increases on the growth rings pattern of two common shrub species of Northern Alaska, i.e. Betula nana and Salix pulchra. By applying a serial sectioning method patterns of annual growth were investigated across the entire plant including below-ground parts. Moreover this procedure allowed for a complete cross-dating and a detection of irregular radial growth, including common missing and partially missing rings. We found that the natural warming in Alaska occurring over the past 20 years is stimulating shrub ring growth, more so for Betula than for Salix. Experimental warming (simulating conditions in approximately 2030) stimulated the secondary growth ratio; however the allocation pattern between below-ground and above-ground is quite variable between individual shrubs. In addition, annual growth rings analyses were supplemented by quantitative wood anatomy properties, such as vessel size and density. Our findings indicate that there can be differential growth ring responses of deciduous shrubs to natural climate warming, that growth ring increases reflect

  12. Snow snake performance monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-12-01

    A recent study, Three-Dimensional Roughness Elements for Snow Retention (FHWA-WY-06/04F) (Tabler 2006), demonstrated : positive evidence for the effectiveness of Snow Snakes, a new type of snow fence suitable for use within the highway right-of...

  13. Winter radiation extinction and reflection in a boreal pine canopy: measurements and modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pomeroy, J.W.; Dion, K.

    1996-01-01

    Predicting the rate of snow melt and intercepted snow sublimation in boreal forests requires an understanding of the effects of snow-covered conifers on the exchange of radiant energy. This study examined the amount of intercepted snow on a jack pine canopy in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan and the shortwave and net radiation exchange with this canopy, to determine the effect of intercepted snow and canopy structure on shortwave radiation reflection and extinction and net radiation attenuation in a boreal forest. The study focused on clear sky conditions, which are common during winter in the continental boreal forest. Intercepted snow was found to have no influence on the clear-sky albedo of the canopy, the extinction of short wave radiation by the canopy or ratio of net radiation at the canopy top to that at the surface snow cover. Because of the low albedo of the snow-covered canopy, net radiation at the canopy top remains positive and a large potential source of energy for sublimation. The canopy albedo declines somewhat as the extinction efficiency of the underlying canopy increases. The extinction efficiency of short wave radiation in the canopy depends on solar angle because of the approximately horizontal orientation of pine branches. For low solar angles above the horizon, the extinction efficiency is quite low and short wave transmissivity through the canopy is relatively high. As the solar angle increases, extinction increases up to angles of about 50°, and then declines. Extinction of short wave radiation in the canopy strongly influences the attenuation of net radiation by the canopy. Short wave radiation that is extinguished by branches is radiated as long wave, partly downwards to the snow cover. The ratio of net radiation at the canopy top to that at the snow cover surface increases with the extinction of short wave radiation and is negative for low extinction efficiencies. For the pine canopy examined, the daily mean net radiation at

  14. Forecasting of wet snow avalanche activity: Proof of concept and operational implementation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gobiet, Andreas; Jöbstl, Lisa; Rieder, Hannes; Bellaire, Sascha; Mitterer, Christoph

    2017-04-01

    State-of-the-art tools for the operational assessment of avalanche danger include field observations, recordings from automatic weather stations, meteorological analyses and forecasts, and recently also indices derived from snowpack models. In particular, an index for identifying the onset of wet-snow avalanche cycles (LWCindex), has been demonstrated to be useful. However, its value for operational avalanche forecasting is currently limited, since detailed, physically based snowpack models are usually driven by meteorological data from automatic weather stations only and have therefore no prognostic ability. Since avalanche risk management heavily relies on timely information and early warnings, many avalanche services in Europe nowadays start issuing forecasts for the following days, instead of the traditional assessment of the current avalanche danger. In this context, the prognostic operation of detailed snowpack models has recently been objective of extensive research. In this study a new, observationally constrained setup for forecasting the onset of wet-snow avalanche cycles with the detailed snow cover model SNOWPACK is presented and evaluated. Based on data from weather stations and different numerical weather prediction models, we demonstrate that forecasts of the LWCindex as indicator for wet-snow avalanche cycles can be useful for operational warning services, but is so far not reliable enough to be used as single warning tool without considering other factors. Therefore, further development currently focuses on the improvement of the forecasts by applying ensemble techniques and suitable post processing approaches to the output of numerical weather prediction models. In parallel, the prognostic meteo-snow model chain is operationally used by two regional avalanche warning services in Austria since winter 2016/2017 for the first time. Experiences from the first operational season and first results from current model developments will be reported.

  15. Simulating snow maps for Norway: description and statistical evaluation of the seNorge snow model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. M. Saloranta

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Daily maps of snow conditions have been produced in Norway with the seNorge snow model since 2004. The seNorge snow model operates with 1 × 1 km resolution, uses gridded observations of daily temperature and precipitation as its input forcing, and simulates, among others, snow water equivalent (SWE, snow depth (SD, and the snow bulk density (ρ. In this paper the set of equations contained in the seNorge model code is described and a thorough spatiotemporal statistical evaluation of the model performance from 1957–2011 is made using the two major sets of extensive in situ snow measurements that exist for Norway. The evaluation results show that the seNorge model generally overestimates both SWE and ρ, and that the overestimation of SWE increases with elevation throughout the snow season. However, the R2-values for model fit are 0.60 for (log-transformed SWE and 0.45 for ρ, indicating that after removal of the detected systematic model biases (e.g. by recalibrating the model or expressing snow conditions in relative units the model performs rather well. The seNorge model provides a relatively simple, not very data-demanding, yet nonetheless process-based method to construct snow maps of high spatiotemporal resolution. It is an especially well suited alternative for operational snow mapping in regions with rugged topography and large spatiotemporal variability in snow conditions, as is the case in the mountainous Norway.

  16. Assessment of the Performance of Several Roadway Mixes under Rain, Snow, and Winter Maintenance Activities

    OpenAIRE

    Flintsch, Gerardo W.

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the relative functional performance, including skid resistance and splash and spray, of five hot-mix-asphalt (HMA) surfaces and a tinned portland cement concrete highway surface during controlled wet and wintry weather events. The study compared the way that these surfaces respond to various deicing and anti-icing snow removal and ice control techniques under artificial wintry conditions. In addition, the splash and spray characteristics of the surfaces...

  17. Snow Precipitation and Snow Cover Climatic Variability for the Period 1971–2009 in the Southwestern Italian Alps: The 2008–2009 Snow Season Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Fratianni

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Snow cover greatly influences the climate in the Alpine region and is one of the most relevant parameters for the climate change analysis. Nevertheless, snow precipitation variability is a relatively underexplored field of research because of the lack of long-term, continuous and homogeneous time series. After a historical research aiming to recover continuous records, three high quality time series of snow precipitation and snow depth recorded in the southwestern Italian Alps were analyzed. The comparison between the climatological indices over the 30 years reference period 1971–2000 and the decade 2000–2009 outlined a general decrease in the amount of snow precipitation, and a shift in the seasonal distribution of the snow precipitation in the most recent period. In the analysis of the last decade snow seasons characteristics, the attention was focused on the heavy snowfalls that occurred in Piedmont during the 2008–2009 snow season: MODerate resolution Imager Spectroradiometer (MODIS snow cover products were used to evaluate snow cover extension at different times during the snow season, and the results were set in relation to the temperatures.

  18. Experimental log hauling through a traditional caribou wintering area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harold G. Cumming

    1998-03-01

    Full Text Available A 3-year field experiment (fall 1990-spring 1993 showed that woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou altered their dispersion when logs were hauled through their traditional wintering area. Unlike observations in control years 1 and 3, radio-collared caribou that had returned to the study area before the road was plowed on January 6 of the experimental year 2, moved away 8-60 km after logging activities began. Seasonal migration to Lake Nipigon islands usually peaked in April, but by February 22 of year 2, 4 of the 6 had returned. The islands provide summer refuge from predation, but not when the lake is frozen. Tracks in snow showed that some caribou remained but changed locations. They used areas near the road preferentially in year 1, early year 2, and year 3, but moved away 2-5 km after the road was plowed in year 2. In a nearby undisturbed control area, no such changes occurred. Caribou and moose partitioned habitat on a small scale; tracks showed gray wolf (Canis lupus remote from caribou but close to moose tracks. No predation on caribou was observed within the wintering area; 2 kills were found outside it. Due to the possibility of displacing caribou from winter refugia to places with higher predation risk, log hauling through important caribou winter habitat should be minimized.

  19. Snow accretion on overhead wires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sakamoto, Y. [Meteorological Research Inst. for Technology Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Tachizaki, S.; Sudo, N. [Tohoku Electric Power Co. Ltd., Miyagi (Japan)

    2005-07-01

    Wet snow accretion can cause extensive damage to transmission systems. This paper reviewed some of the difficulties faced by researchers in the study of wet snow accretion on overhead lines in Japan. The study of snow accretion phenomena is complicated by the range of phase changes in water. Snowflakes produced in an upper atmospheric layer with a temperature below freezing do not melt when they go through a lower atmospheric layer with a temperature above freezing, but are in a mixed state of solid and liquid due to the latent heat of melting. The complicated properties of water make studies of snow accretion difficult, as well as the fact that snow changes its physical properties rapidly, due to the effects of ambient temperature, rainfall, and solar radiation. The adhesive forces that cause snow accretion include freezing; bonding through freezing; sintering; condensation and freezing of vapor in the air; mechanical intertwining of snowflakes; capillary action due to liquids; coherent forces between ice particles and water formed through the metamorphosis of snowflakes. In addition to these complexities, differences in laboratory room environments and natural snow environments can also pose difficulties for researchers. Equations describing the relationship between the density of accreted snow and the meteorological parameters involved were presented, as well as empirical equations which suggested that snow accretion efficiency has a dependency on air temperature. An empirical model for estimating snow loads in Japan was outlined, as well as various experiments observing show shedding. Correlations for wet snow accretion included precipitation intensity; duration of precipitation; air temperature; wind speed and wind direction in relation to the overhead line. Issues concerning topography and wet snow accretion were reviewed. It was concluded that studies of snow accretion will benefit by the collection of data in each matrix of the relevant parameters. 12 refs

  20. Snow occurrence time on the Russia’s territory in the early 21st century (from satellite data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. B. Titkova

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Time of the snow cover appearance, existence and disappearance on the Russia’s territory in the early 21st century (2000–2015 was corrected using the MODIS/Terra satellite data (the 8-day discreteness, and the 0.5×0.5° resolution. The satellite data errors were estimated from data of the ground stations observations. The errors were found to be maximal in autumn and minimal in spring. The relationship between the snow cover characteristics and the climate ones was investigated using data obtained at the ground-based stations together with correlation between dates of snow appearance and loss and the climate parameters. The dependences obtained were tested by means of correlation and regression analysis over the longitudinal sectors. Significant coefficients of correlation (the Student criterion of probability was equal to 0.95 were found between time of the snow cover presence and dates of the temperature drop below 0 °С and the amount of days with negative temperatures. Changes in the climate characteristics result in that due to decreasing of the solid precipitation in winter time the snow presence duration becomes shorter over the European part of Russia and in the Western Siberia. The shortening in the Middle Siberia is caused by the spring warming. Durations of the snow occurrence in the Far East area are different. On the Chukotka peninsula the duration is longer because of the autumn fall in temperature while in the Kamchatka region the snow occurrence time is shorter due to significant decrease of a period with negative temperatures in both the autumn and spring seasons.

  1. Changes in Andes snow cover from MODIS data, 2000–2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. A. Saavedra

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The Andes span a length of 7000 km and are important for sustaining regional water supplies. Snow variability across this region has not been studied in detail due to sparse and unevenly distributed instrumental climate data. We calculated snow persistence (SP as the fraction of time with snow cover for each year between 2000 and 2016 from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS satellite sensors (500 m, 8-day maximum snow cover extent. This analysis is conducted between 8 and 36° S due to high frequency of cloud (>  30 % of the time south and north of this range. We ran Mann–Kendall and Theil–Sens analyses to identify areas with significant changes in SP and snowline (the line at lower elevation where SP  =  20 %. We evaluated how these trends relate to temperature and precipitation from Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA2 and University of Delaware datasets and climate indices as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO, Southern Annular Mode (SAM, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO. Areas north of 29° S have limited snow cover, and few trends in snow persistence were detected. A large area (34 370 km2 with persistent snow cover between 29 and 36° S experienced a significant loss of snow cover (2–5 fewer days of snow year−1. Snow loss was more pronounced (62 % of the area with significant trends on the east side of the Andes. We also found a significant increase in the elevation of the snowline at 10–30 m year−1 south of 29–30° S. Decreasing SP correlates with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature, and the magnitudes of these correlations vary with latitude and elevation. ENSO climate indices better predicted SP conditions north of 31° S, whereas the SAM better predicted SP south of 31° S.

  2. Subpixel Snow-covered Area Including Differentiated Grain Size from AVIRIS Data Over the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, R.; Calvin, W. M.; Harpold, A. A.

    2016-12-01

    Mountain snow storage is the dominant source of water for humans and ecosystems in western North America. Consequently, the spatial distribution of snow-covered area is fundamental to both hydrological, ecological, and climate models. Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data were collected along the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range extending from north of Lake Tahoe to south of Mt. Whitney during the 2015 and 2016 snow-covered season. The AVIRIS dataset used in this experiment consists of 224 contiguous spectral channels with wavelengths ranging 400-2500 nanometers at a 15-meter spatial pixel size. Data from the Sierras were acquired on four days: 2/24/15 during a very low snow year, 3/24/16 near maximum snow accumulation, and 5/12/16 and 5/18/16 during snow ablation and snow loss. Previous retrieval of subpixel snow-covered area in alpine regions used multiple snow endmembers due to the sensitivity of snow spectral reflectance to grain size. We will present a model that analyzes multiple endmembers of varying snow grain size, vegetation, rock, and soil in segmented regions along the Sierra Nevada to determine snow-cover spatial extent, snow sub-pixel fraction and approximate grain size or melt state. The root mean squared error will provide a spectrum-wide assessment of the mixture model's goodness-of-fit. Analysis will compare snow-covered area and snow-cover depletion in the 2016 year, and annual variation from the 2015 year. Field data were also acquired on three days concurrent with the 2016 flights in the Sagehen Experimental Forest and will support ground validation of the airborne data set.

  3. Water availability forecasting for Naryn River using ground-based and satellite snow cover data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. Y. Kalashnikova

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The main source of river nourishment in arid regions of Central Asia is the melting of seasonal snow accu‑ mulated in mountains during the cold period. In this study, we analyzed data on seasonal snow cover by ground‑based observations from Kyrgyzhydromet network, as well as from MODIS satellite imagery for the period of 2000–2015. This information was used to compile the forecast methods of water availability of snow‑ice and ice‑snow fed rivers for the vegetation period. The Naryn river basin was chosen as a study area which is the main tributary of Syrdarya River and belongs to the Aral Sea basin. The representative mete‑ orological stations with ground‑based observations of snow cover were identified and regression analysis between mean discharge for the vegetation period and number of snow covered days, maximum snow depth based on in‑situ data as well as snow cover area based on MODIS images was conducted. Based on this infor‑ mation, equations are derived for seasonal water availability forecasting using multiple linear regression anal‑ ysis. Proposed equations have high correlation coefficients (R = 0.89÷0.92 and  and fore‑ casting accuracy. The methodology was implemented in Kyrgyzhydromet and is used for forecasting of water availability in Naryn basin and water inflow into Toktogul Reservoir.

  4. Estimation of Snow Particle Model Suitable for a Complex and Forested Terrain: Lessons from SnowEx

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gatebe, C. K.; Li, W.; Stamnes, K. H.; Poudyal, R.; Fan, Y.; Chen, N.

    2017-12-01

    SnowEx 2017 obtained consistent and coordinated ground and airborne remote sensing measurements over Grand Mesa in Colorado, which feature sufficient forested stands to have a range of density and height (and other forest conditions); a range of snow depth/snow water equivalent (SWE) conditions; sufficiently flat snow-covered terrain of a size comparable to airborne instrument swath widths. The Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) data from SnowEx are unique and can be used to assess the accuracy of Bidirectional Reflectance-Distribution Functions (BRDFs) calculated by different snow models. These measurements provide multiple angle and multiple wavelength data needed for accurate surface BRDF characterization. Such data cannot easily be obtained by current satellite remote sensors. Compared to ground-based snow field measurements, CAR measurements minimize the effect of self-shading, and are adaptable to a wide variety of field conditions. We plan to use the CAR measurements as the validation data source for our snow modeling effort. By comparing calculated BRDF results from different snow models to CAR measurements, we can determine which model best explains the snow BRDFs, and is therefore most suitable for application to satellite remote sensing of snow parameters and surface energy budget calculations.

  5. Using Air Temperature to Quantitatively Predict the MODIS Fractional Snow Cover Retrieval Errors over the Continental US (CONUS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Jiarui; Ek, Mike; Hall, Dorothy K.; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Cosgrove, Brian; Miller, Jeff; Riggs, George A.; Xia, Youlong

    2013-01-01

    In the middle to high latitude and alpine regions, the seasonal snow pack can dominate the surface energy and water budgets due to its high albedo, low thermal conductivity, high emissivity, considerable spatial and temporal variability, and ability to store and then later release a winters cumulative snowfall (Cohen, 1994; Hall, 1998). With this in mind, the snow drought across the U.S. has raised questions about impacts on water supply, ski resorts and agriculture. Knowledge of various snow pack properties is crucial for short-term weather forecasts, climate change prediction, and hydrologic forecasting for producing reliable daily to seasonal forecasts. One potential source of this information is the multi-institution North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) project (Mitchell et al., 2004). Real-time NLDAS products are used for drought monitoring to support the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and as initial conditions for a future NCEP drought forecast system. Additionally, efforts are currently underway to assimilate remotely-sensed estimates of land-surface states such as snowpack information into NLDAS. It is believed that this assimilation will not only produce improved snowpack states that better represent snow evolving conditions, but will directly improve the monitoring of drought.

  6. Winter Radiation Extinction and Reflection in a Boreal Pine Canopy: Measurements and Modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomeroy, J. W.; Dion, K.

    1996-12-01

    Predicting the rate of snowmelt and intercepted snow sublimation in boreal forests requires an understanding of the effects of snow-covered conifers on the exchange of radiant energy. This study examined the amount of intercepted snow on a jack pine canopy in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan and the shortwave and net radiation exchange with this canopy, to determine the effect of intercepted snow and canopy structure on shortwave radiation reflection and extinction and net radiation attenuation in a boreal forest. The study focused on clear sky conditions, which are common during winter in the continental boreal forest. Intercepted snow was found to have no influence on the clear-sky albedo of the canopy, the extinction of short wave radiation by the canopy or ratio of net radiation at the canopy top to that at the surface snow cover. Because of the low albedo of the snow-covered canopy, net radiation at the canopy top remains positive and a large potential source of energy for sublimation. The canopy albedo declines somewhat as the extinction efficiency of the underlying canopy increases. The extinction efficiency of short wave radiation in the canopy depends on solar angle because of the approximately horizontal orientation of pine branches. For low solar angles above the horizon, the extinction efficiency is quite low and short wave transmissivity through the canopy is relatively high. As the solar angle increases, extinction increases up to angles of about 50̂, and then declines. Extinction of short wave radiation in the canopy strongly influences the attenuation of net radiation by the canopy. Short wave radiation that is extinguished by branches is radiated as long wave, partly downwards to the snow cover. The ratio of net radiation at the canopy top to that at the snow cover surface increases with the extinction of short wave radiation and is negative for low extinction efficiencies. For the pine canopy examined, the daily mean net radiation at the

  7. Radiative effects of light-absorbing particles deposited in snow over Himalayas using WRF-Chem simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarangi, C.; Qian, Y.; Painter, T. H.; Liu, Y.; Lin, G.; Wang, H.

    2017-12-01

    Radiative forcing induced by light-absorbing particles (LAP) deposited on snow is an important surface forcing. It has been debated that an aerosol-induced increase in atmospheric and surface warming over Tibetan Plateau (TP) prior to the South Asian summer monsoon can have a significant effect on the regional thermodynamics and South Asian monsoon circulation. However, knowledge about the radiative effects due to deposition of LAP in snow over TP is limited. In this study we have used a high-resolution WRF-Chem (coupled with online chemistry and snow-LAP-radiation model) simulations during 2013-2014 to estimate the spatio-temporal variation in LAP deposition on snow, specifically black carbon (BC) and dust particles, in Himalayas. Simulated distributions in meteorology, aerosol concentrations, snow albedo, snow grain size and snow depth are evaluated against satellite and in-situ measurements. The spatio-temporal change in snow albedo and snow grain size with variation in LAP deposition is investigated and the resulting shortwave LAP radiative forcing at surface is calculated. The LAP-radiative forcing due to aerosol deposition, both BC and dust, is higher in magnitude over Himalayan slopes (terrain height below 4 km) compared to that over TP (terrain height above 4 km). We found that the shortwave aerosol radiative forcing efficiency at surface due to increase in deposited mass of BC particles in snow layer ( 25 (W/m2)/ (mg/m2)) is manifold higher than the efficiency of dust particles ( 0.1 (W/m2)/ (mg/m2)) over TP. However, the radiative forcing of dust deposited in snow is similar in magnitude (maximum 20-30 W/m2) to that of BC deposited in snow over TP. This is mainly because the amount of dust deposited in snow over TP can be about 100 times greater than the amount of BC deposited in snow during polluted conditions. The impact of LAP on surface energy balance, snow melting and atmospheric thermodynamics is also examined.

  8. Deriving Snow-Cover Depletion Curves for Different Spatial Scales from Remote Sensing and Snow Telemetry Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassnacht, Steven R.; Sexstone, Graham A.; Kashipazha, Amir H.; Lopez-Moreno, Juan Ignacio; Jasinski, Michael F.; Kampf, Stephanie K.; Von Thaden, Benjamin C.

    2015-01-01

    During the melting of a snowpack, snow water equivalent (SWE) can be correlated to snow-covered area (SCA) once snow-free areas appear, which is when SCA begins to decrease below 100%. This amount of SWE is called the threshold SWE. Daily SWE data from snow telemetry stations were related to SCA derived from moderate-resolution imaging spectro radiometer images to produce snow-cover depletion curves. The snow depletion curves were created for an 80,000 sq km domain across southern Wyoming and northern Colorado encompassing 54 snow telemetry stations. Eight yearly snow depletion curves were compared, and it is shown that the slope of each is a function of the amount of snow received. Snow-cover depletion curves were also derived for all the individual stations, for which the threshold SWE could be estimated from peak SWE and the topography around each station. A stations peak SWE was much more important than the main topographic variables that included location, elevation, slope, and modelled clear sky solar radiation. The threshold SWE mostly illustrated inter-annual consistency.

  9. Snow clearance

    CERN Multimedia

    Mauro Nonis

    2005-01-01

    In reply to the numerous questions received, we should like to inform you of the actions and measures taken in an effort to maintain the movements of vehicles and pedestrians since the heavy snow fall on Sunday 23 January. Our contractor's employees began clearing the snow during the morning of Sunday 23 January on the main CERN sites (Meyrin, Prévessin), but an accident prevented them from continuing. The vehicle in question was repaired by Monday morning when two other vehicles joined it to resume snow clearing; priority was given to access points to the main sites and the LHC sites, as well as to the main roads inside the sites. The salt sprinklers were also brought into action that same day; the very low temperature during the night from Monday to Tuesday prevented the snow from melting and compacted the ice; the continuing cold during the day on Tuesday (-6°C at 10:00 on the Meyrin site) meant that all efforts to remove the ice were doomed to failure. In order to ensure more efficie...

  10. The effects of studded tires on fatal crashes with passenger cars and the benefits of electronic stability control (ESC) in Swedish winter driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strandroth, Johan; Rizzi, Matteo; Olai, Maria; Lie, Anders; Tingvall, Claes

    2012-03-01

    This study set out to examine the effects of studded tires on fatal crashes on roads covered with ice or snow in Sweden and also to investigate the extra benefits of electronic stability control (ESC) during the winter months. Two different studies are presented in this paper. Both studies used an induced exposure approach. In the main study, 369 in-depth studies of fatal crashes with passenger cars were analyzed to determine whether loss-of-control (LOC) had been a major component or not. Only crashes involving cars without ESC and equipped with approved studded or non-studded winter tires were analyzed. The additional study used police-reported crashes that occurred during the winter seasons 2003-2010, involving passenger cars with and without ESC. While police records in Sweden do not include any tire information, it was assumed that most cars involved in crashes during the winter period would be equipped with studded tires. Findings in the main study showed that in 64% of the fatal crashes on roads covered with ice or snow LOC had been a major component. Furthermore, in 82% of LOC crashes, the passenger car over-steered prior to collision. Studded tires were found to have a statistically significant effect of 42% in terms of fatal crash reduction on roads covered with ice or snow, compared to non-studded winter tires. The effect on dry or wet roads in the winter was negative, although statistically non-significant. In the additional study, it was found that ESC further reduced crashes with injuries by 29%. The benefits on severe and fatal crashes were slightly greater (32%), although the lower 95% confidence limit was lower. Although studded tires were shown to reduce the risk of fatal crash involvement, compared to non-studded winter tires, the proportion of LOC and over-steering among cars with studded tires was large (59% and 49%, respectively). It was therefore concluded that studded tires do not prevent all LOC crashes, while ESC has benefits in those

  11. Weather Support for the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horel, J.; Potter, T.; Dunn, L.; Steenburgh, W. J.; Eubank, M.; Splitt, M.; Onton, D. J.

    2002-02-01

    The 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be hosted by Salt Lake City, Utah, during February-March 2002. Adverse weather during this period may delay sporting events, while snow and ice-covered streets and highways may impede access by the athletes and spectators to the venues. While winter snowstorms and other large-scale weather systems typically have widespread impacts throughout northern Utah, hazardous winter weather is often related to local terrain features (the Wasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake are the most prominent ones). Examples of such hazardous weather include lake-effect snowstorms, ice fog, gap winds, downslope windstorms, and low visibility over mountain passes.A weather support system has been developed to provide weather information to the athletes, games officials, spectators, and the interested public around the world. This system is managed by the Salt Lake Olympic Committee and relies upon meteorologists from the public, private, and academic sectors of the atmospheric science community. Weather forecasting duties will be led by National Weather Service forecasters and a team of private, weather forecasters organized by KSL, the Salt Lake City NBC television affiliate. Other government agencies, commercial firms, and the University of Utah are providing specialized forecasts and support services for the Olympics. The weather support system developed for the 2002 Winter Olympics is expected to provide long-term benefits to the public through improved understanding,monitoring, and prediction of winter weather in the Intermountain West.

  12. Projected changes of snow conditions and avalanche activity in a warming climate: the French Alps over the 2020-2050 and 2070-2100 periods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castebrunet, H.; Eckert, N.; Giraud, G.; Durand, Y.; Morin, S.

    2014-09-01

    Projecting changes in snow cover due to climate warming is important for many societal issues, including the adaptation of avalanche risk mitigation strategies. Efficient modelling of future snow cover requires high resolution to properly resolve the topography. Here, we introduce results obtained through statistical downscaling techniques allowing simulations of future snowpack conditions including mechanical stability estimates for the mid and late 21st century in the French Alps under three climate change scenarios. Refined statistical descriptions of snowpack characteristics are provided in comparison to a 1960-1990 reference period, including latitudinal, altitudinal and seasonal gradients. These results are then used to feed a statistical model relating avalanche activity to snow and meteorological conditions, so as to produce the first projection on annual/seasonal timescales of future natural avalanche activity based on past observations. The resulting statistical indicators are fundamental for the mountain economy in terms of anticipation of changes. Whereas precipitation is expected to remain quite stationary, temperature increase interacting with topography will constrain the evolution of snow-related variables on all considered spatio-temporal scales and will, in particular, lead to a reduction of the dry snowpack and an increase of the wet snowpack. Overall, compared to the reference period, changes are strong for the end of the 21st century, but already significant for the mid century. Changes in winter are less important than in spring, but wet-snow conditions are projected to appear at high elevations earlier in the season. At the same altitude, the southern French Alps will not be significantly more affected than the northern French Alps, which means that the snowpack will be preserved for longer in the southern massifs which are higher on average. Regarding avalanche activity, a general decrease in mean (20-30%) and interannual variability is

  13. Estimating Snow Water Storage in North America Using CLM4, DART, and Snow Radiance Data Assimilation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Yonghwan; Yang, Zong-Liang; Zhao, Long; Hoar, Timothy J.; Toure, Ally M.; Rodell, Matthew

    2016-01-01

    This paper addresses continental-scale snow estimates in North America using a recently developed snow radiance assimilation (RA) system. A series of RA experiments with the ensemble adjustment Kalman filter are conducted by assimilating the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) brightness temperature T(sub B) at 18.7- and 36.5-GHz vertical polarization channels. The overall RA performance in estimating snow depth for North America is improved by simultaneously updating the Community Land Model, version 4 (CLM4), snow/soil states and radiative transfer model (RTM) parameters involved in predicting T(sub B) based on their correlations with the prior T(sub B) (i.e., rule-based RA), although degradations are also observed. The RA system exhibits a more mixed performance for snow cover fraction estimates. Compared to the open-loop run (0.171m RMSE), the overall snow depth estimates are improved by 1.6% (0.168m RMSE) in the rule-based RA whereas the default RA (without a rule) results in a degradation of 3.6% (0.177mRMSE). Significant improvement of the snow depth estimates in the rule-based RA as observed for tundra snow class (11.5%, p < 0.05) and bare soil land-cover type (13.5%, p < 0.05). However, the overall improvement is not significant (p = 0.135) because snow estimates are degraded or marginally improved for other snow classes and land covers, especially the taiga snow class and forest land cover (7.1% and 7.3% degradations, respectively). The current RA system needs to be further refined to enhance snow estimates for various snow types and forested regions.

  14. A new strategy for snow-cover mapping using remote sensing data and ensemble based systems techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberge, S.; Chokmani, K.; De Sève, D.

    2012-04-01

    The snow cover plays an important role in the hydrological cycle of Quebec (Eastern Canada). Consequently, evaluating its spatial extent interests the authorities responsible for the management of water resources, especially hydropower companies. The main objective of this study is the development of a snow-cover mapping strategy using remote sensing data and ensemble based systems techniques. Planned to be tested in a near real-time operational mode, this snow-cover mapping strategy has the advantage to provide the probability of a pixel to be snow covered and its uncertainty. Ensemble systems are made of two key components. First, a method is needed to build an ensemble of classifiers that is diverse as much as possible. Second, an approach is required to combine the outputs of individual classifiers that make up the ensemble in such a way that correct decisions are amplified, and incorrect ones are cancelled out. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of ensemble systems to snow-cover mapping using remote sensing data. The chosen classifier is a sequential thresholds algorithm using NOAA-AVHRR data adapted to conditions over Eastern Canada. Its special feature is the use of a combination of six sequential thresholds varying according to the day in the winter season. Two versions of the snow-cover mapping algorithm have been developed: one is specific for autumn (from October 1st to December 31st) and the other for spring (from March 16th to May 31st). In order to build the ensemble based system, different versions of the algorithm are created by varying randomly its parameters. One hundred of the versions are included in the ensemble. The probability of a pixel to be snow, no-snow or cloud covered corresponds to the amount of votes the pixel has been classified as such by all classifiers. The overall performance of ensemble based mapping is compared to the overall performance of the chosen classifier, and also with ground observations at meteorological

  15. Satellite Image-based Estimates of Snow Water Equivalence in Restored Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northern Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sankey, T.; Springer, A. E.; O'Donnell, F. C.; Donald, J.; McVay, J.; Masek Lopez, S.

    2014-12-01

    The U.S. Forest Service plans to conduct forest restoration treatments through the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) on hundreds of thousands of acres of ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona over the next 20 years with the goals of reducing wildfire hazard and improving forest health. The 4FRI's key objective is to thin and burn the forests to create within-stand openings that "promote snowpack accumulation and retention which benefit groundwater recharge and watershed processes at the fine (1 to 10 acres) scale". However, little is known about how these openings created by restoration treatments affect snow water equivalence (SWE) and soil moisture, which are key parts of the water balance that greatly influence water availability for healthy trees and for downstream water users in the Sonoran Desert. We have examined forest canopy cover by calculating a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a key indicator of green vegetation cover, using Landsat satellite data. We have then compared NDVI between treatments at our study sites in northern Arizona and have found statistically significant differences in tree canopy cover between treatments. The control units have significantly greater forest canopy cover than the treated units. The thinned units also have significantly greater tree canopy cover than the thin-and-burn units. Winter season Landsat images have also been analyzed to calculate Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), a key indicator of snow water equivalence and snow accumulation at the treated and untreated forests. The NDSI values from these dates are examined to determine if snow accumulation and snow water equivalence vary between treatments at our study sites. NDSI is significantly greater at the treated units than the control units. In particular, the thinned forest units have significantly greater snow cover than the control units. Our results indicate that forest restoration treatments result in increased snow pack

  16. Commodifying snow, taming the waters. Socio-ecological niche construction in an Alpine village.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gross, Robert; Winiwarter, Verena

    White belts of snow clad mountains all over the world each winter. Even if there is no snow, the tourism industry is able to produce the white finery at the push of the button, thereby consuming large amounts of water. Studying Damüls, a well-known ski resort in Austria's westernmost province Vorarlberg, we can show that the development of a service sector within agro-pastoral landscapes was connected with novel water uses and massive interventions into Alpine landscapes. Human niche construction theory offers a unique avenue for studying the development of Alpine communities, but also highlights side effects accompanying the change from agrarian to tourism livelihoods. One aim of this paper is to broaden the scope of human niche construction theory. Inceptive, counteractive and relocational niche construction activities were coupled to the differentiation of actor groups. To incorporate social dynamics, indispensable for studies in environmental history, we propose the concept of socio-ecological niche construction. The paper investigates how villagers balanced resource limitations typical for an agrarian society with the differentiation of sub-niches, mediating selective forces on the population. When the valleys were industrialized, Damüls was almost given up as a permanent settlement. Then, tourists entered the stage, by and by turning the wheel of local development into a different direction. A tourism niche based on natural snow evolved from the 1930s onwards. While the socio-ecological niches of agriculture and tourism coexisted in the interwar years, this changed when ski lifts were built, embedded into a debt-based economy that made the tourism niche vulnerable to snow availability. Snow-dependency became a powerful selective force. It was mediated by the ski lift companies through a range of niche construction activities that turned water into an important resource of snowmaking systems.

  17. Modeling the influence of snow cover temperature and water content on wet-snow avalanche runout

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Vera Valero

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Snow avalanche motion is strongly dependent on the temperature and water content of the snow cover. In this paper we use a snow cover model, driven by measured meteorological data, to set the initial and boundary conditions for wet-snow avalanche calculations. The snow cover model provides estimates of snow height, density, temperature and liquid water content. This information is used to prescribe fracture heights and erosion heights for an avalanche dynamics model. We compare simulated runout distances with observed avalanche deposition fields using a contingency table analysis. Our analysis of the simulations reveals a large variability in predicted runout for tracks with flat terraces and gradual slope transitions to the runout zone. Reliable estimates of avalanche mass (height and density in the release and erosion zones are identified to be more important than an exact specification of temperature and water content. For wet-snow avalanches, this implies that the layers where meltwater accumulates in the release zone must be identified accurately as this defines the height of the fracture slab and therefore the release mass. Advanced thermomechanical models appear to be better suited to simulate wet-snow avalanche inundation areas than existing guideline procedures if and only if accurate snow cover information is available.

  18. Air-snow exchange of nitrogen oxides and ozone at a polluted mid-latitude site

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Jennifer G.; Hong, Angela C.; Quinn, Patricia K.; Bates, Tim

    2017-04-01

    Vertical gradients of O3, NO, NO2 and NOywere measured within and above the snowpack between January 17 to February 14, 2014 as part of the Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Study. During the first half of the campaign, the snowpack was relatively aged and contained high levels of inorganic ions and dissolved and particulate organics. A snowfall on Jan 31 added 5 cm of fresh snow with lower solute concentrations to the top of the snowpack. Vertical gradients (ΔC = C(25cm) - C(125cm)) in the measured gas phase species were used to investigate the role of the snowpack as a source or sink. Small positive gradients were seen for NO, peaking in the middle of the day, which much larger negative gradients were seen for O3 and NOy. Comparing the fresh to the aged snowpacks, there was a noticeable decrease in the gradient for O3, but not for NOy over the fresh snow, implying a chemical control of O3 deposition to the snow. The ratio of the gradient of NOx to the gradient of NOy was used to determine a snowpack NOy recycling ratio (emission/deposition) of approximately 4 %, consistent with independent estimates of low nitrate photolysis rates inferred from nitrogen isotopes by Zatko et al., (2016). Reference Zatko et al., The magnitude of the snow-sourced reactive nitrogen flux to the boundary layer in the Uintah Basin, Utah, USA, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13837-13851, 2016.

  19. Impacts of Snow Darkening by Absorbing Aerosols on Eurasian Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kyu-Myong; Lau, William K M.; Yasunari, Teppei J.; Kim, Maeng-Ki; Koster, Randal D.

    2016-01-01

    The deposition of absorbing aerosols on snow surfaces reduces snow-albedo and allows snowpack to absorb more sunlight. This so-called snow darkening effect (SDE) accelerates snow melting and leads to surface warming in spring. To examine the impact of SDE on weather and climate during late spring and early summer, two sets of NASA GEOS-5 model simulations with and without SDE are conducted. Results show that SDE-induced surface heating is particularly pronounced in Eurasian regions where significant depositions of dust transported from the North African deserts, and black carbon from biomass burning from Asia and Europe occur. In these regions, the surface heating due to SDE increases surface skin temperature by 3-6 degrees Kelvin near the snowline in spring. Surface energy budget analysis indicates that SDE-induced excess heating is associated with a large increase in surface evaporation, subsequently leading to a significant reduction in soil moisture, and increased risks of drought and heat waves in late spring to early summer. Overall, we find that rainfall deficit combined with SDE-induced dry soil in spring provide favorable condition for summertime heat waves over large regions of Eurasia. Increased frequency of summer heat waves with SDE and the region of maximum increase in heat-wave frequency are found along the snow line, providing evidence that early snowmelt by SDE may increase the risks of extreme summer heat wave. Our results suggest that climate models that do not include SDE may significantly underestimate the effect of global warming over extra-tropical continental regions.

  20. The cold-induced defensin TAD1 confers resistance against snow mold and Fusarium head blight in transgenic wheat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, Kentaro; Kuwabara, Chikako; Umeki, Natsuki; Fujioka, Mari; Saburi, Wataru; Matsui, Hirokazu; Abe, Fumitaka; Imai, Ryozo

    2016-06-20

    TAD1 (Triticum aestivum defensin 1) is induced during cold acclimation in winter wheat and encodes a plant defensin with antimicrobial activity. In this study, we demonstrated that recombinant TAD1 protein inhibits hyphal growth of the snow mold fungus, Typhula ishikariensis in vitro. Transgenic wheat plants overexpressing TAD1 were created and tested for resistance against T. ishikariensis. Leaf inoculation assays revealed that overexpression of TAD1 confers resistance against the snow mold. In addition, the TAD1-overexpressors showed resistance against Fusarium graminearum, which causes Fusarium head blight, a devastating disease in wheat and barley. These results indicate that TAD1 is a candidate gene to improve resistance against multiple fungal diseases in cereal crops. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Evaluating the performance of coupled snow-soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrere, Mathieu; Domine, Florent; Decharme, Bertrand; Morin, Samuel; Vionnet, Vincent; Lafaysse, Matthieu

    2017-09-01

    Climate change projections still suffer from a limited representation of the permafrost-carbon feedback. Predicting the response of permafrost temperature to climate change requires accurate simulations of Arctic snow and soil properties. This study assesses the capacity of the coupled land surface and snow models ISBA-Crocus and ISBA-ES to simulate snow and soil properties at Bylot Island, a high Arctic site. Field measurements complemented with ERA-Interim reanalyses were used to drive the models and to evaluate simulation outputs. Snow height, density, temperature, thermal conductivity and thermal insulance are examined to determine the critical variables involved in the soil and snow thermal regime. Simulated soil properties are compared to measurements of thermal conductivity, temperature and water content. The simulated snow density profiles are unrealistic, which is most likely caused by the lack of representation in snow models of the upward water vapor fluxes generated by the strong temperature gradients within the snowpack. The resulting vertical profiles of thermal conductivity are inverted compared to observations, with high simulated values at the bottom of the snowpack. Still, ISBA-Crocus manages to successfully simulate the soil temperature in winter. Results are satisfactory in summer, but the temperature of the top soil could be better reproduced by adequately representing surface organic layers, i.e., mosses and litter, and in particular their water retention capacity. Transition periods (soil freezing and thawing) are the least well reproduced because the high basal snow thermal conductivity induces an excessively rapid heat transfer between the soil and the snow in simulations. Hence, global climate models should carefully consider Arctic snow thermal properties, and especially the thermal conductivity of the basal snow layer, to perform accurate predictions of the permafrost evolution under climate change.

  2. Distribution and variability of total mercury in snow cover-a case study from a semi-urban site in Poznań, Poland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siudek, Patrycja

    2016-12-01

    In the present paper, the inter-seasonal Hg variability in snow cover was examined based on multivariate statistical analysis of chemical and meteorological data. Samples of freshly fallen snow cover were collected at the semi-urban site in Poznań (central Poland), during 3-month field measurements in winter 2013. It was showed that concentrations of atmospherically deposited Hg were highly variable in snow cover, from 0.43 to 12.5 ng L -1 , with a mean value of 4.62 ng L -1 . The highest Hg concentration in snow cover coincided with local intensification of fossil fuel burning, indicating large contribution from various anthropogenic sources such as commercial and domestic heating, power generation plants, and traffic-related pollution. Moreover, the variability of Hg in collected snow samples was associated with long-range transport of pollutants, nocturnal inversion layer, low boundary layer height, and relatively low air temperature. For three snow episodes, Hg concentration in snow cover was attributed to southerly advection, suggesting significant contribution from the highly polluted region of Poland (Upper Silesia) and major European industrial hotspots. However, the peak Hg concentration was measured in samples collected during predominant N to NE advection of polluted air masses and after a relatively longer period without precipitation. Such significant contribution to the higher Hg accumulation in snow cover was associated with intensive emission from anthropogenic sources (coal combustion) and atmospheric conditions in this area. These results suggest that further measurements are needed to determine how the Hg transformation paths in snow cover change in response to longer/shorter duration of snow cover occurrence and to determine the interactions between mercury and absorbing carbonaceous aerosols in the light of climate change.

  3. The Goddard Snow Radiance Assimilation Project: An Integrated Snow Radiance and Snow Physics Modeling Framework for Snow/cold Land Surface Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, E.; Tedesco, M.; Reichle, R.; Choudhury, B.; Peters-Lidard C.; Foster, J.; Hall, D.; Riggs, G.

    2006-01-01

    Microwave-based retrievals of snow parameters from satellite observations have a long heritage and have so far been generated primarily by regression-based empirical "inversion" methods based on snapshots in time. Direct assimilation of microwave radiance into physical land surface models can be used to avoid errors associated with such retrieval/inversion methods, instead utilizing more straightforward forward models and temporal information. This approach has been used for years for atmospheric parameters by the operational weather forecasting community with great success. Recent developments in forward radiative transfer modeling, physical land surface modeling, and land data assimilation are converging to allow the assembly of an integrated framework for snow/cold lands modeling and radiance assimilation. The objective of the Goddard snow radiance assimilation project is to develop such a framework and explore its capabilities. The key elements of this framework include: a forward radiative transfer model (FRTM) for snow, a snowpack physical model, a land surface water/energy cycle model, and a data assimilation scheme. In fact, multiple models are available for each element enabling optimization to match the needs of a particular study. Together these form a modular and flexible framework for self-consistent, physically-based remote sensing and water/energy cycle studies. In this paper we will describe the elements and the integration plan. All modules will operate within the framework of the Land Information System (LIS), a land surface modeling framework with data assimilation capabilities running on a parallel-node computing cluster. Capabilities for assimilation of snow retrieval products are already under development for LIS. We will describe plans to add radiance-based assimilation capabilities. Plans for validation activities using field measurements will also be discussed.

  4. Snow conditions and usability value of pastureland for semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus in northern boreal forest area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jouko Kumpula

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available We studied variation in snow conditions and selection of pasture area according to altitude by semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus during 1999 - 2002 in a pine forest area utilised by forest industry in the Ivalo reindeer herding district, northern Finland. Snow conditions were measured over the course of three winters along equilateral triangles (side 3.5 km for three times per winter. The altitudinal selection of pasture area by reindeer was studied using GPS tracking data (10 977 locations from 29 female reindeer. We observed that interannual weather variation mostly affected the depth, density and hardness of snow in the study area. At the forest landscape level, snow depth and density increased with altitude. Thinnest and deepest snow cover occurred on western and northern slopes, respectively. In contrast, forest harvesting did not seem to affect snow conditions. From spring to autumn, reindeer mainly used higher altitudes in pastures. In early and mid-winter, when snow conditions were easy or moderate reindeer still preferred higher altitudes, but in late winter when snow conditions and food accession were at their most difficult, they preferred lower altitudes. We conclude that especially the use of high elevation forestland pastures may become more difficult for reindeer if the global climatic change causes higher winter precipitation to the northern boreal forest area. In general, the low-elevation forestland areas have primary winter grazing value for reindeer but these areas are also intensively used by forest industry.Abstract in Finnish / Tiivistelmä:Lumiolosuhteet ja laidunten käyttöarvo poronhoidossa pohjoisella havumetsäaluella Lumiolosuhteiden vaihtelua ja porojen (Rangifer tarandus tarandus laidunalueen valintaa maaston korkeuden perusteella tutkittiin vuosina 1999–2002 metsätalouden hyödyntämällä mäntymetsäalueella Ivalon paliskunnassa, Pohjois-Suomessa. Lumiolosuhteet mitattiin kolme kertaa

  5. Chemical composition of arctic snow: concentration levels and regional distribution of major elements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Caritat, Patrice; Hall, Gwendy; Gìslason, Sigurdur; Belsey, William; Braun, Marlene; Goloubeva, Natalia I; Olsen, Hans Kristian; Scheie, Jon Ove; Vaive, Judy E

    2005-01-05

    At the end of the northern winter 1996/1997, 21 snow samples were collected from 17 arctic localities in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Svalbard, Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Iceland. Major element concentrations of the filtered (0.45 mum) melted snow indicate that most samples are consistent with a diluted seawater composition. Deviations from this behaviour indicate additional SO(4)(2-) and Cl(-) relative to seawater, suggesting a minor contribution from (probably local) coal combustion emissions (Alaska, Finland, Sweden, Svalbard). The samples with the highest Na and Cl(-) content (Canada, Russia) also have higher Na/SO(4)(2-) and Cl(-)/SO(4)(2-) ratios than seawater, suggesting a slight contamination from (probably local) deicing activities. Local soil or rock dust inputs in the snow are indicated by 'excess' Ca contents (Alaska, Svalbard, Greenland, Sweden). No overall relationship was found between pH (range: 4.6-6.1) and total or non-seasalt SO(4)(2-) (NSS), suggesting that acidification due to long-range transport of SO(2) pollution is not operating on an arctic-wide scale. In a few samples (Alaska, Finland, Sweden, Svalbard), a significant proportion (>50%) of SO(4)(2-) is non-marine in origin. Sources for this non-marine SO(4)(2-) need not all be found in long-range atmospheric transport and more likely sources are local industry (Finland, Sweden), road traffic (Alaska) or minor snow-scooting traffic (one Svalbard locality). A few samples from northern Europe show a relatively weak trend of decreasing pH with increasing NO(3)(-).

  6. Modelling of snow exceedances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordanova, Pavlina K.; Sadovský, Zoltán; Stehlík, Milan

    2017-07-01

    Modelling of snow exceedances is of great importance and interest for ecology, civil engineering and general public. We suggest the favorable fit for exceedances related to the exceptional snow loads from Slovakia, assuming that the data is driven by Generalised Pareto Distribution or Generalized Extreme Value Distribution. Further, the statistical dependence between the maximal snow loads and the corresponding altitudes is studied.

  7. Springtime Observations of Black Carbon in Arctic Snow across Northern Russia During IPY 2007-2008

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grenfell, T. C.; Warren, S. G.; Radionov, V. F.; Kogan, S. E.

    2008-12-01

    Black carbon (BC) in snow at ppb levels can significantly reduce the visible and near IR albedo. The effect is important for climate in regions where large areas of snow-covered surfaces are exposed to significant sunlight. The initial study of Clarke and Noone (1985) across the western Arctic in 1983-84 indicated albedo reduction of about 0-4 percent due to BC; however, their survey did not include results from the Russian Arctic. During April and May of 2007 and 2008, as part of the International Polar Year Program, two cooperative U.S.-Russian expeditions obtained the first set of BC observations at selected sites near the communities of Naryan Mar, Vorkuta, Dikson, Khatanga, Tiksi, Chersky, Bilibino, and Pevek, spanning almost the entire northern coastal zone of Russia. Samples were also obtained near Yakutsk, a sub-Arctic region of boreal forest with a severe winter climate. This time period was chosen to provide access to the full winter snowpack just prior to the onset of spring melt. This project is a critical component of a repeat and extension of the original 1985 survey, which now includes sites spanning the entire Arctic. A discussion of this work is the topic of an invited presentation by S. G. Warren in session "Snow and Ice Impurities as Climate Forcing Agents and Records" (C04). This project required access to restricted border regions of Russia, which was facilitated by the political prominence of the IPY program in the Russian government. Generous logistical assistance and advice were provided by Dr. V. N. Makarov of the Permafrost Institute in Yakutsk, Dr. Sergei Zimov of the Northeast Scientific Station at Chersky, and the Hydrometeorological Service at Pevek. Commercial air travel to the above-mentioned communities, in conjunction with local transportation, provided access to the observation sites, which were located at distances of 15-100 km from local sources to sample background levels of BC. At each site, snow samples and density profiles

  8. Snow water equivalent monitoring retrieved by assimilating passive microwave observations in a coupled snowpack evolution and microwave emission models over North-Eastern Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royer, A.; Larue, F.; De Sève, D.; Roy, A.; Vionnet, V.; Picard, G.; Cosme, E.

    2017-12-01

    Over northern snow-dominated basins, the snow water equivalent (SWE) is of primary interest for spring streamflow forecasting. SWE retrievals from satellite data are still not well resolved, in particular from microwave (MW) measurements, the only type of data sensible to snow mass. Also, the use of snowpack models is challenging due to the large uncertainties in meteorological input forcings. This project aims to improve SWE prediction by assimilation of satellite brightness temperature (TB), without any ground-based observations. The proposed approach is the coupling of a detailed multilayer snowpack model (Crocus) with a MW snow emission model (DMRT-ML). The assimilation scheme is a Sequential Importance Resampling Particle filter, through ensembles of perturbed meteorological forcings according to their respective uncertainties. Crocus simulations driven by operational meteorological forecasts from the Canadian Global Environmental Multiscale model at 10 km spatial resolution were compared to continuous daily SWE measurements over Québec, North-Eastern Canada (56° - 45°N). The results show a mean bias of the maximum SWE overestimated by 16% with variations up to +32%. This observed large variability could lead to dramatic consequences on spring flood forecasts. Results of Crocus-DMRT-ML coupling compared to surface-based TB measurements (at 11, 19 and 37 GHz) show that the Crocus snowpack microstructure described by sticky hard spheres within DMRT has to be scaled by a snow stickiness of 0.18, significantly reducing the overall RMSE of simulated TBs. The ability of assimilation of daily TBs to correct the simulated SWE is first presented through twin experiments with synthetic data, and then with AMSR-2 satellite time series of TBs along the winter taking into account atmospheric and forest canopy interferences (absorption and emission). The differences between TBs at 19-37 GHz and at 11-19 GHz, in vertical polarization, were assimilated. This assimilation

  9. Interactions between mafic eruptions and glacial ice or snow: implications of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, eruption for hazard assessments in the central Oregon Cascades

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKay, D.; Cashman, K. V.

    2010-12-01

    The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, demonstrated the importance of addressing hazards specific to mafic eruptions in regions where interactions with glacial ice or snow are likely. One such region is the central Oregon Cascades, where there are hundreds of mafic vents, many of which are Holocene in age. Here we present field observations and quantitative analyses of tephra deposits from recent eruptions at Sand Mountain, Yapoah Cone, and Collier Cone (all advance, which lasted from ~2 to 8 ka in the central Oregon Cascades (Marcott et al., 2009). During the Neoglacial, winter snowfall was likely ~23% greater and summer temperatures ~1.4°C cooler than present (Marcott, 2009). Although ice did not advance to the elevation of the Sand Mountain vents during this time, the eruption could have occurred through several meters of snow. We have also seen very fine-grained tephra at Yapoah Cone, which is located at a higher elevation and may have interacted with glacial ice. In addition to being characterized by unusually fine grainsize, the Yapoah tephra blanket is deposited directly on top of hyaloclastite in several locations. Tephra from Collier Cone is not characterized by unusually fine grainsize, but several sections of the deposit exhibit features that suggest deposition on top of, or interbedding with, snow that later melted away. Identification of features in mafic tephra that suggest interactions with glacial ice or snow has significant implications for regional volcanic hazard assessments. Specifically, the unique hazards posed by Eyjafjallajökull, especially hazards to air travel caused by unusually fine-grained tephra, could be repeated in the Cascades. Although glacial ice is presently limited to elevations above ~2300 m in the central Oregon Cascades, winter snowpack can exceed 5 m at elevations of ~1800 m and above. If a cinder cone eruption were to occur during winter months, interaction with snow could generate phreatomagmatic activity and

  10. Canopy structure and topography effects on snow distribution at a catchment scale: Application of multivariate approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenicek Michal

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The knowledge of snowpack distribution at a catchment scale is important to predict the snowmelt runoff. The objective of this study is to select and quantify the most important factors governing the snowpack distribution, with special interest in the role of different canopy structure. We applied a simple distributed sampling design with measurement of snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE at a catchment scale. We selected eleven predictors related to character of specific localities (such as elevation, slope orientation and leaf area index and to winter meteorological conditions (such as irradiance, sum of positive air temperature and sum of new snow depth. The forest canopy structure was described using parameters calculated from hemispherical photographs. A degree-day approach was used to calculate melt factors. Principal component analysis, cluster analysis and Spearman rank correlation were applied to reduce the number of predictors and to analyze measured data. The SWE in forest sites was by 40% lower than in open areas, but this value depended on the canopy structure. The snow ablation in large openings was on average almost two times faster compared to forest sites. The snow ablation in the forest was by 18% faster after forest defoliation (due to the bark beetle. The results from multivariate analyses showed that the leaf area index was a better predictor to explain the SWE distribution during accumulation period, while irradiance was better predictor during snowmelt period. Despite some uncertainty, parameters derived from hemispherical photographs may replace measured incoming solar radiation if this meteorological variable is not available.

  11. Antarctic snow and global climate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Granberg, H.B.

    2001-01-01

    Global circulation models (GCM) indicate that global warming will be most pronounced at polar regions and high latitudes, causing concern about the stability of the Antarctic ice cap. A project entitled the Seasonal Snow in Antarctica examined the properties of the near surface snow to determine the current conditions that influence snow cover development. The goal was to assess the response of the snow cover in Queen Maud Land (QML) to an increased atmospheric carbon dioxide content. The Antarctic snow cover in QML was examined as part of the FINNARP expeditions in 1999 and 2000 which examined the processes that influence the snow cover. Its energy and mass balance were also assessed by examining the near surface snow strata in shallow (1-2 m) pits and by taking measurements of environmental variables. This made it possible to determine if the glacier is in danger of melting at this northerly location in the Antarctic. The study also made it possible to determine which variables need to change and by how much, for significant melting to occur. It was shown that the Antarctic anticyclone creates particular conditions that protect the snow cover from melting. The anticyclone brings dry air from the stratosphere during most of the year and is exempt from the water vapour feedback. It was concluded that even a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide will not produce major snow melt runoff. 8 refs

  12. Soot on snow in Iceland: First results on black carbon and organic carbon in Iceland 2016 snow and ice samples, including the glacier Solheimajökull

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinander, Outi; Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavla; Gritsevich, Maria; Aurela, Minna; Arnalds, Olafur; Dragosics, Monika; Virkkula, Aki; Svensson, Jonas; Peltoniemi, Jouni; Kontu, Anna; Kivekäs, Niku; Leppäranta, Matti; de Leeuw, Gerrit; Laaksonen, Ari; Lihavainen, Heikki; Arslan, Ali N.; Paatero, Jussi

    2017-04-01

    , where mining and refining industries are located. SNICAR-model showed that the impurities absorb irradiance the more the shorter the wavelength. We have also presented a hypothesis that soot can decrease the liquid-water retention capacity of melting snow. There we also presented data, where both the snow density and elemental carbon content were measured. In our snow density related experiments, artificially added light-absorbing impurities decreased the density of seasonally melting natural snow. No relationship was found in case of natural non-melting snow. Our experimental results on Icelandic volcanic ash have showed that Eyjafjällajökull ash with grain size smaller than 500 μm insulated the ice below at a thickness of 9-15 mm (called as 'critical thickness'). For the 90 μm grain size, the insulation thickness was 13 mm. The maximum melt occurred at thickness of 1mm for the larger particles, and at the thickness of < 1-2 mm for the smaller particles (called as 'effective thickness'). Earlier, similar threshold dust layer thickness values have been given for Mt St Helens (1980) ash, and Hekla (1947) tephra, but our results were the first ones reported for the Eyjafjällajökull ash. In Iceland, the dust layers in the nature can be from mm scale up to tens of meters. Our results clearly demonstrate how important it is in the Arctic to perform measurements of BC, OC, and dust in the snow to fully understand the effects of light absorbing impurities on the cryosphere.

  13. Ecosystem CO2 production during winter in a Swedish subarctic region: the relative importance of climate and vegetation type

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grogan, Paul; Jonasson, Sven Evert

    2006-01-01

    General circulation models consistently predict that regional warming will be most rapid in the Arctic, that this warming will be predominantly in the winter season, and that it will often be accompanied by increasing snowfall. Paradoxically, despite the strong cold season emphasis in these predi...... will respond to climate change during winter because they indicate a threshold (~1 m) above which there would be little effect of increased snow accumulation on wintertime biogeochemical cycling....... in these predictions, we know relatively little about the plot and landscape-level controls on tundra biogeochemical cycling in wintertime as compared to summertime. We investigated the relative influence of vegetation type and climate on CO2 production rates and total wintertime CO2 release in the Scandinavian...... subarctic. Ecosystem respiration rates and a wide range of associated environmental and substrate pool size variables were measured in the two most common vegetation types of the region (birch understorey and heath tundra) at four paired sites along a 50 km transect through a strong snow depth gradient...

  14. The economic aspects of artificial snow production in the perspective of climate change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonseth, C.

    2012-04-01

    Snowmaking is now used by ski resorts worldwide as a measure to cope with both natural snow reduction and variability. This extensive recourse casts doubt on its sustainability mainly because of the large amount of natural resources being used (energy, water). In the middle to long run, this problem is expected to increase with future climate change triggering the production of more snow. The research field that focuses on the economic aspects of artificial snow production is still in its infancy but potentially covers a wide array of issues. Among these issues, benefits and costs of snowmaking are important ones. On the one hand, benefits arise as snowmaking extends or preserves the operating period of ski areas. Several empirical studies speculate or show that snowmaking considerably reduces the sensitivity of tourism consumption to variations in snow conditions. These benefits have long been neglected in studies analyzing the consequences of climate change for the winter tourism sector. While failing to introduce these benefits, many studies have generated overly high costs of climate change. On the other hand, investments and operating costs of artificial snow production depend upon several factors, such as technology and local conditions. Consequently, costs vary considerably from one location to another and over time, yet indicative values can be found in the literature. In addition, artificial snow production generates external costs, i.e. costs that are not born by those producing it. Typical of these external costs are environmental ones that are related to CO2 emissions or biodiversity losses. To our knowledge, very little has been done so far to integrate these costs in economic studies. To the extent that vertical integration is absent, it may happen as well that snow production generates important external benefits for different stakeholders at a given ski resort. From an economic point of view, both types of externalities could lead to investment

  15. Evaluation of snow cover and snow depth on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau derived from passive microwave remote sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Dai

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Snow cover on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP plays a significant role in the global climate system and is an important water resource for rivers in the high-elevation region of Asia. At present, passive microwave (PMW remote sensing data are the only efficient way to monitor temporal and spatial variations in snow depth at large scale. However, existing snow depth products show the largest uncertainties across the QTP. In this study, MODIS fractional snow cover product, point, line and intense sampling data are synthesized to evaluate the accuracy of snow cover and snow depth derived from PMW remote sensing data and to analyze the possible causes of uncertainties. The results show that the accuracy of snow cover extents varies spatially and depends on the fraction of snow cover. Based on the assumption that grids with MODIS snow cover fraction > 10 % are regarded as snow cover, the overall accuracy in snow cover is 66.7 %, overestimation error is 56.1 %, underestimation error is 21.1 %, commission error is 27.6 % and omission error is 47.4 %. The commission and overestimation errors of snow cover primarily occur in the northwest and southeast areas with low ground temperature. Omission error primarily occurs in cold desert areas with shallow snow, and underestimation error mainly occurs in glacier and lake areas. With the increase of snow cover fraction, the overestimation error decreases and the omission error increases. A comparison between snow depths measured in field experiments, measured at meteorological stations and estimated across the QTP shows that agreement between observation and retrieval improves with an increasing number of observation points in a PMW grid. The misclassification and errors between observed and retrieved snow depth are associated with the relatively coarse resolution of PMW remote sensing, ground temperature, snow characteristics and topography. To accurately understand the variation in snow

  16. Improving snow fraction spatio-temporal continuity using a combination of MODIS and Fengyun-2 satellites over China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, L.; Wang, G.

    2017-12-01

    Snow cover is one of key elements in the investigations of weather, climatic change, water resource, and snow hazard. Satellites observations from on-board optical sensors provides the ability to snow cover mapping through the discrimination of snow from other surface features and cloud. MODIS provides maximum of snow cover data using 8-day composition data in order to reduce the cloud obscuration impacts. However, snow cover mapping is often required to obtain at the temporal scale of less than one day, especially in the case of disasters. Geostationary satellites provide much higher temporal resolution measurements (typically at 15 min or half or one hour), which has a great potential to reduce cloud cover problem and observe ground surface for identifying snow. The proposed method in this work is that how to take the advantages of polar-orbiting and geostationary optical sensors to accurately map snow cover without data gaps due to cloud. FY-2 geostationary satellites have high temporal resolution observations, however, they are lacking enough spectral bands essential for snow cover monitoring, such as the 1.6 μm band. Based on our recent work (Wang et al., 2017), we improved FY-2/VISSR fractional snow cover estimation with a linear spectral unmixing analysis method. The linear approach is applied then using the reflectance observed at the certain hourly image of FY-2 to calculate pixel-wise snow cover fraction. The composition of daily factional snow cover employs the sun zenith angle, where the snow fraction under lowest sun zenith angle is considered as the most confident result. FY-2/VISSR fractional snow cover map has less cloud due to the composition of multi-temporal snow maps in a single day. In order to get an accurate and cloud-reduced fractional snow cover map, both of MODIS and FY-2/VISSR daily snow fraction maps are blended together. With the combination of FY-2E/VISSR and MODIS, there are still some cloud existing in the daily snow fraction map

  17. The use of remotely-sensed snow, soil moisture and vegetation indices to develop resilience to climate change in Kazakhstan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saidaliyeva, Zarina; Davenport, Ian; Nobakht, Mohamad; White, Kevin; Shahgedanova, Maria

    2017-04-01

    Kazakhstan is a major producer of grain. Large scale grain production dominates in the north, making Kazakhstan one of the largest exporters of grain in the world. Agricultural production accounts for 9% of the national GDP, providing 25% of national employment. The south relies on grain production from household farms for subsistence, and has low resilience, so is vulnerable to reductions in output. Yields in the south depend on snowmelt and glacier runoff. The major limit to production is water supply, which is affected by glacier retreat and frequent droughts. Climate change is likely to impact all climate drivers negatively, leading to a decrease in crop yield, which will impact Kazakhstan and countries dependent on importing its produce. This work makes initial steps in modelling the impact of climate change on crop yield, by identifying the links between snowfall, soil moisture and agricultural productivity. Several remotely-sensed data sources are being used. The availability of snowmelt water over the period 2010-2014 is estimated by extracting the annual maximum snow water equivalent (SWE) from the Globsnow dataset, which assimilates satellite microwave observations with field observations to produce a spatial map. Soil moisture over the period 2010-2016 is provided by the ESA Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. Vegetation density is approximated by the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) produced from NASA's MODIS instruments. Statistical information on crop yields is provided by the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Committee on Statistics. Demonstrating the link between snowmelt yield and agricultural productivity depends on showing the impact of snow mass during winter on remotely-sensed soil moisture, the link between soil moisture and vegetation density, and finally the link between vegetation density and crop yield. Soil moisture maps were extracted from SMOS observations, and resampled onto a 40km x

  18. MODIS Snow and Sea Ice Products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Dorothy K.; Riggs, George A.; Salomonson, Vincent V.

    2004-01-01

    In this chapter, we describe the suite of Earth Observing System (EOS) Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra and Aqua snow and sea ice products. Global, daily products, developed at Goddard Space Flight Center, are archived and distributed through the National Snow and Ice Data Center at various resolutions and on different grids useful for different communities Snow products include binary snow cover, snow albedo, and in the near future, fraction of snow in a 5OO-m pixel. Sea ice products include ice extent determined with two different algorithms, and sea ice surface temperature. The algorithms used to develop these products are described. Both the snow and sea ice products, available since February 24,2000, are useful for modelers. Validation of the products is also discussed.

  19. Summer monsoon rainfall variability over North East regions of India and its association with Eurasian snow, Atlantic Sea Surface temperature and Arctic Oscillation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabhu, Amita; Oh, Jaiho; Kim, In-won; Kripalani, R. H.; Mitra, A. K.; Pandithurai, G.

    2017-10-01

    This observational study during the 29-year period from 1979 to 2007 evaluates the potential role of Eurasian snow in modulating the North East-Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall with a lead time of almost 6 months. This link is manifested by the changes in high-latitude atmospheric winter snow variability over Eurasia associated with Arctic Oscillation (AO). Excessive wintertime Eurasian snow leads to an anomalous cooling of the overlying atmosphere and is associated with the negative mode of AO, inducing a meridional wave-train descending over the tropical north Atlantic and is associated with cooling of this region. Once the cold anomalies are established over the tropical Atlantic, it persists up to the following summer leading to an anomalous zonal wave-train further inducing a descending branch over NE-India resulting in weak summer monsoon rainfall.

  20. Using idealized snow forcing to test teleconnections with the Indian summer monsoon in the Hadley Centre GCM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turner, A.G. [University of Reading, NCAS-Climate, Walker Institute for Climate System Research, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom); Slingo, J.M. [University of Reading, NCAS-Climate, Walker Institute for Climate System Research, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom); Met Office, Exeter (United Kingdom)

    2011-05-15

    Anomalous heavy snow during winter or spring has long been regarded as a possible precursor of deficient Indian monsoon rainfall during the subsequent summer. However previous work in this field is inconclusive, in terms of the mechanism that communicates snow anomalies to the monsoon summer, and even the region from which snow has the most impact. In this study we explore these issues in coupled and atmosphere-only versions of the Hadley Centre model. A 1050-year control integration of the HadCM3 coupled model, which well represents the seasonal cycle of snow cover over the Eurasian continent, is analysed and shows evidence for weakened monsoons being preceded by strong snow forcing (in the absence of ENSO) over either the Himalaya/Tibetan Plateau or north/west Eurasia regions. However, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of springtime interannual variability in snow depth shows the leading mode to have opposite signs between these two regions, suggesting that competing mechanisms may be possible. To determine the dominant region, ensemble integrations are carried out using HadAM3, the atmospheric component of HadCM3, and a variety of anomalous snow forcing initial conditions obtained from the control integration of the coupled model. Forcings are applied during spring in separate experiments over the Himalaya/Tibetan Plateau and north/west Eurasia regions, in conjunction with climatological SSTs in order to avoid the direct effects of ENSO. With the aid of idealized forcing conditions in sensitivity tests, we demonstrate that forcing from the Himalaya region is dominant in this model via a Blanford-type mechanism involving reduced surface sensible heat and longwave fluxes, reduced heating of the troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau and consequently a reduced meridional tropospheric temperature gradient which weakens the monsoon during early summer. Snow albedo is shown to be key to the mechanism, explaining around 50% of the perturbation in sensible

  1. Assessing the spatial variability of mountain precipitation in California's Sierra Nevada using the Airborne Snow Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandt, T.; Deems, J. S.; Painter, T. H.; Dozier, J.

    2016-12-01

    In California's Sierra Nevada, 10 or fewer winter storms are responsible for most of the annual precipitation, which falls mostly as snow. Presently, surface stations are used to measure the dynamics of mountain precipitation. However, even in places like the Sierra Nevada—one of the most gauged regions in the world—the paucity of surface stations can lead to large errors in precipitation thereby biasing both total water year and short-term streamflow forecasts. Remotely sensed snow depth and water equivalent, at a time scale that resolves storms, might provide a novel solution to the problems of: (1) quantifying the spatial variability of mountain precipitation; and (2) assessing gridded precipitation products that are mostly based on surface station interpolation. NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO), an imaging spectrometer and LiDAR system, has measured snow in the Tuolumne River Basin in California's Sierra Nevada for the past four years, 2013-2016; and, measurements will continue. Principally, ASO monitors the progression of melt for water supply forecasting, nonetheless, a number of flights bracketed storms allowing for estimates of snow accumulation. In this study we examine a few of the ASO recorded storms to determine both the basin and subbasin orographic effect as well as the spatial patterns in total precipitation. We then compare these results to a number of gridded climate products and weather models including: Daymet, the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2), and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Finally, to put each ASO recorded storm into context, we use a climatology produced from snow pillows and the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) for 2014-2016 to examine key accumulation events, and classify storms based on their integrated water vapor flux.

  2. Bacterial-based additives for the production of artificial snow: What are the risks to human health?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lagriffoul, A. [Agence Francaise de Securite Sanitaire de l' Environnement et du Travail, 253, avenue du General Leclerc, 94701 Maisons-Alfort (France); Boudenne, J.L. [Universite de Provence, Laboratoire Chimie Provence, UMR6264, 3 Place Victor Hugo case 29 13331 Marseille CEDEX 3 (France); Absi, R. [Institut Polytechnique Saint-Louis, Ecole de Biologie Industrielle, Laboratoire EBInnov, 32 Boulevard du Port, 95094 Cergy-Pontoise (France); Ballet, J.J. [Laboratoire d' immunologie et immunopathologie, Centre hospitalo-universitaire de Caen, avenue de la cote de nacre 14000 Caen (France); Berjeaud, J.M. [Universite de Poitiers, Laboratoire de Chimie et Microbiologie de l' Eau, UMR6008, 40 avenue du recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers CEDEX (France); Chevalier, S. [Universite de Rouen, Laboratoire de Microbiologie du Froid, Signaux et Micro-Environnement, EA 4312, Normandie Securite Sanitaire, 55 rue St Germain, 27000 Evreux (France); Creppy, E.E. [Universite Bordeaux 2, UFR des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Laboratoire de Toxicologie, 146, rue Leo-Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux CEDEX (France); Gilli, E. [Universite Paris 8, Departement de geographie, 2, rue de la Liberte, 93526 Saint Denis CEDEX (France); UMR Espace 6012, 98 bd Edouard Herriot, 06204, Nice, CEDEX 3 (France); Gadonna, J.P. [Institut Polytechnique Saint-Louis, Ecole de Biologie Industrielle, Laboratoire EBInnov, 32 Boulevard du Port, 95094 Cergy-Pontoise (France); Gadonna-Widehem, P. [Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais, departement STAI, rue P. Waguet BP 30313, 60026 Beauvais CEDEX (France); Morris, C.E. [INRA, Unite de Pathologie Vegetale UR407, F-84140 Montfavet (France); Zini, S., E-mail: sylvie.zini@afsset.fr [Agence Francaise de Securite Sanitaire de l' Environnement et du Travail, 253, avenue du General Leclerc, 94701 Maisons-Alfort (France)

    2010-03-01

    For around two decades, artificial snow has been used by numerous winter sports resorts to ensure good snow cover at low altitude areas or more generally, to lengthen the skiing season. Biological additives derived from certain bacteria are regularly used to make artificial snow. However, the use of these additives has raised doubts concerning the potential impact on human health and the environment. In this context, the French health authorities have requested the French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Afsset) to assess the health risks resulting from the use of such additives. The health risk assessment was based on a review of the scientific literature, supplemented by professional consultations and expertise. Biological or chemical hazards from additives derived from the ice nucleation active bacterium Pseudomonas syringae were characterised. Potential health hazards to humans were considered in terms of infectious, toxic and allergenic capacities with respect to human populations liable to be exposed and the means of possible exposure. Taking into account these data, a qualitative risk assessment was carried out, according to four exposure scenarios, involving the different populations exposed, and the conditions and routes of exposure. It was concluded that certain health risks can exist for specific categories of professional workers (mainly snowmakers during additive mixing and dilution tank cleaning steps, with risks estimated to be negligible to low if workers comply with safety precautions). P. syringae does not present any pathogenic capacity to humans and that the level of its endotoxins found in artificial snow do not represent a danger beyond that of exposure to P. syringae endotoxins naturally present in snow. However, the risk of possible allergy in some particularly sensitive individuals cannot be excluded. Another important conclusion of this study concerns use of poor microbiological water quality to make artificial snow.

  3. Bacterial-based additives for the production of artificial snow: what are the risks to human health?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagriffoul, A; Boudenne, J L; Absi, R; Ballet, J J; Berjeaud, J M; Chevalier, S; Creppy, E E; Gilli, E; Gadonna, J P; Gadonna-Widehem, P; Morris, C E; Zini, S

    2010-03-01

    For around two decades, artificial snow has been used by numerous winter sports resorts to ensure good snow cover at low altitude areas or more generally, to lengthen the skiing season. Biological additives derived from certain bacteria are regularly used to make artificial snow. However, the use of these additives has raised doubts concerning the potential impact on human health and the environment. In this context, the French health authorities have requested the French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Afsset) to assess the health risks resulting from the use of such additives. The health risk assessment was based on a review of the scientific literature, supplemented by professional consultations and expertise. Biological or chemical hazards from additives derived from the ice nucleation active bacterium Pseudomonas syringae were characterised. Potential health hazards to humans were considered in terms of infectious, toxic and allergenic capacities with respect to human populations liable to be exposed and the means of possible exposure. Taking into account these data, a qualitative risk assessment was carried out, according to four exposure scenarios, involving the different populations exposed, and the conditions and routes of exposure. It was concluded that certain health risks can exist for specific categories of professional workers (mainly snowmakers during additive mixing and dilution tank cleaning steps, with risks estimated to be negligible to low if workers comply with safety precautions). P. syringae does not present any pathogenic capacity to humans and that the level of its endotoxins found in artificial snow do not represent a danger beyond that of exposure to P. syringae endotoxins naturally present in snow. However, the risk of possible allergy in some particularly sensitive individuals cannot be excluded. Another important conclusion of this study concerns use of poor microbiological water quality to make artificial snow.

  4. Bacterial-based additives for the production of artificial snow: What are the risks to human health?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lagriffoul, A.; Boudenne, J.L.; Absi, R.; Ballet, J.J.; Berjeaud, J.M.; Chevalier, S.; Creppy, E.E.; Gilli, E.; Gadonna, J.P.; Gadonna-Widehem, P.; Morris, C.E.; Zini, S.

    2010-01-01

    For around two decades, artificial snow has been used by numerous winter sports resorts to ensure good snow cover at low altitude areas or more generally, to lengthen the skiing season. Biological additives derived from certain bacteria are regularly used to make artificial snow. However, the use of these additives has raised doubts concerning the potential impact on human health and the environment. In this context, the French health authorities have requested the French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Afsset) to assess the health risks resulting from the use of such additives. The health risk assessment was based on a review of the scientific literature, supplemented by professional consultations and expertise. Biological or chemical hazards from additives derived from the ice nucleation active bacterium Pseudomonas syringae were characterised. Potential health hazards to humans were considered in terms of infectious, toxic and allergenic capacities with respect to human populations liable to be exposed and the means of possible exposure. Taking into account these data, a qualitative risk assessment was carried out, according to four exposure scenarios, involving the different populations exposed, and the conditions and routes of exposure. It was concluded that certain health risks can exist for specific categories of professional workers (mainly snowmakers during additive mixing and dilution tank cleaning steps, with risks estimated to be negligible to low if workers comply with safety precautions). P. syringae does not present any pathogenic capacity to humans and that the level of its endotoxins found in artificial snow do not represent a danger beyond that of exposure to P. syringae endotoxins naturally present in snow. However, the risk of possible allergy in some particularly sensitive individuals cannot be excluded. Another important conclusion of this study concerns use of poor microbiological water quality to make artificial snow.

  5. An Experimental High-Resolution Forecast System During the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mailhot, J.; Milbrandt, J. A.; Giguère, A.; McTaggart-Cowan, R.; Erfani, A.; Denis, B.; Glazer, A.; Vallée, M.

    2014-01-01

    Environment Canada ran an experimental numerical weather prediction (NWP) system during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, consisting of nested high-resolution (down to 1-km horizontal grid-spacing) configurations of the GEM-LAM model, with improved geophysical fields, cloud microphysics and radiative transfer schemes, and several new diagnostic products such as density of falling snow, visibility, and peak wind gust strength. The performance of this experimental NWP system has been evaluated in these winter conditions over complex terrain using the enhanced mesoscale observing network in place during the Olympics. As compared to the forecasts from the operational regional 15-km GEM model, objective verification generally indicated significant added value of the higher-resolution models for near-surface meteorological variables (wind speed, air temperature, and dewpoint temperature) with the 1-km model providing the best forecast accuracy. Appreciable errors were noted in all models for the forecasts of wind direction and humidity near the surface. Subjective assessment of several cases also indicated that the experimental Olympic system was skillful at forecasting meteorological phenomena at high-resolution, both spatially and temporally, and provided enhanced guidance to the Olympic forecasters in terms of better timing of precipitation phase change, squall line passage, wind flow channeling, and visibility reduction due to fog and snow.

  6. Observations of distributed snow depth and snow duration within diverse forest structures in a maritime mountain watershed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickerson-Lange, Susan E.; Lutz, James A.; Gersonde, Rolf; Martin, Kael A.; Forsyth, Jenna E.; Lundquist, Jessica D.

    2015-11-01

    Spatially distributed snow depth and snow duration data were collected over two to four snow seasons during water years 2011-2014 in experimental forest plots within the Cedar River Municipal Watershed, 50 km east of Seattle, Washington, USA. These 40 × 40 m forest plots, situated on the western slope of the Cascade Range, include unthinned second-growth coniferous forests, variable density thinned forests, forest gaps in which a 20 m diameter (approximately equivalent to one tree height) gap was cut in the middle of each plot, and old-growth forest. Together, this publicly available data set includes snow depth and density observations from manual snow surveys, distributed snow duration observations from ground temperature sensors and time-lapse cameras, meteorological data collected at two open locations and three forested locations, and forest canopy data from airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and hemispherical photographs. These colocated snow, meteorological, and forest data have the potential to improve understanding of forest influences on snow processes, and provide a unique model-testing data set for hydrological analyses in a forested, maritime watershed. We present empirical snow depletion curves within forests to illustrate an application of these data to improve subgrid representation of snow cover in distributed modeling.

  7. Impact of a reduced winter snowpack on litter arthropod abundance and diversity in a northern hardwood forest ecosystem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pamela H. Templer; Andrew F. Schiller; Nathan W. Fuller; Anne M. Socci; John L. Campbell; John E. Drake; Thomas H. Kunz

    2012-01-01

    Projected changes in climate for the northeastern USA over the next 100 years include a reduction in the depth and duration of the winter snowpack, which could affect soil temperatures and frost regimes. We conducted a snow-removal experiment in a northern hardwood forest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in central New Hampshire over 2 years to induce soil...

  8. Combining low-cost GPS receivers with upGPR to derive continuously liquid water content, snow height and snow water equivalent in Alpine snow covers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, Franziska; Schmid, Lino; Prasch, Monika; Heilig, Achim; Eisen, Olaf; Schweizer, Jürg; Mauser, Wolfram

    2015-04-01

    The temporal evolution of Alpine snowpacks is important for assessing water supply, hydropower generation, flood predictions and avalanche forecasts. Especially in high mountain regions with an extremely varying topography, it is until now often difficult to derive continuous and non-destructive information on snow parameters. Since autumn 2012, we are running a new low-cost GPS (Global Positioning System) snow measurement experiment at the high alpine study site Weissfluhjoch (2450 m a.s.l.) in Switzerland. The globally and freely broadcasted GPS L1-band (1.57542 GHz) was continuously recorded with GPS antennas, which are installed at the ground surface underneath the snowpack. GPS raw data, containing carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0) as well as elevation and azimuth angle information for each time step of 1 s, was stored and analyzed for all 32 GPS satellites. Since the dielectric permittivity of an overlying wet snowpack influences microwave radiation, the bulk volumetric liquid water content as well as daily melt-freeze cycles can be derived non-destructively from GPS signal strength losses and external snow height information. This liquid water content information is qualitatively in good accordance with meteorological and snow-hydrological data and quantitatively highly agrees with continuous data derived from an upward-looking ground-penetrating radar (upGPR) working in a similar frequency range. As a promising novelty, we combined the GPS signal strength data with upGPR travel-time information of active impulse radar rays to the snow surface and back from underneath the snow cover. This combination allows determining liquid water content, snow height and snow water equivalent from beneath the snow cover without using any other external information. The snow parameters derived by combining upGPR and GPS data are in good agreement with conventional sensors as e.g. laser distance gauges or snow pillows. As the GPS sensors are cheap, they can easily

  9. Everywhere and nowhere: snow and its linkages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiemstra, C. A.

    2017-12-01

    Interest has grown in quantifying higher latitude precipitation change and snow-related ecosystem and economic impacts. There is a high demand for creating and using snow-related datasets, yet available datasets contain limitations, aren't scale appropriate, or lack thorough validation. Much of the uncertainty in snow estimates relates to ongoing snow measurement problems that are chronic and pervasive in windy, Arctic environments. This, coupled with diminishing support for long-term snow field observations, creates formidable hydrologic gaps in snow dominated landscapes. Snow touches most aspects of high latitude landscapes and spans albedo, ecosystems, soils, permafrost, and sea ice. In turn, snow can be impacted by disturbances, landscape change, ecosystem, structure, and later arrival of sea or lake ice. Snow, and its changes touch infrastructure, housing, and transportation. Advances in snow measurements, modeling, and data assimilation are under way, but more attention and a concerted effort is needed in a time of dwindling resources to make required advances during a time of rapid change.

  10. [Characteristics of mercury exchange flux between soil and atmosphere under the snow retention and snow melting control].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Gang; Wang, Ning; Ai, Jian-Chao; Zhang, Lei; Yang, Jing; Liu, Zi-Qi

    2013-02-01

    Jiapigou gold mine, located in the upper Songhua River, was once the largest mine in China due to gold output, where gold extraction with algamation was widely applied to extract gold resulting in severe mercury pollution to ambient environmental medium. In order to study the characteristics of mercury exchange flux between soil (snow) and atmosphere under the snow retention and snow melting control, sampling sites were selected in equal distances along the slope which is situated in the typical hill-valley terrain unit. Mercury exchange flux between soil (snow) and atmosphere was determined with the method of dynamic flux chamber and in all sampling sites the atmosphere concentration from 0 to 150 cm near to the earth in the vertical direction was measured. Furthermore, the impact factors including synchronous meteorology, the surface characteristics under the snow retention and snow melting control and the mercury concentration in vertical direction were also investigated. The results are as follows: During the period of snow retention and melting the air mercury tends to gather towards valley bottom along the slope and an obvious deposit tendency process was found from air to the earth's surface under the control of thermal inversion due to the underlying surface of cold source (snow surface). However, during the period of snow melting, mercury exchange flux between the soil and atmosphere on the surface of the earth with the snow being melted demonstrates alternative deposit and release processes. As for the earth with snow covered, the deposit level of mercury exchange flux between soil and atmosphere is lower than that during the period of snow retention. The relationship between mercury exchange flux and impact factors shows that in snow retention there is a remarkable negative linear correlation between mercury exchange flux and air mercury concentration as well as between the former and the air temperature. In addition, in snow melting mercury exchange

  11. Measured Black Carbon Deposition on the Sierra Nevada Snow Pack and Implication for Snow Pack Retreat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hadley, O.L.; Corrigan, C.E.; Kirchstetter, T.W.; Cliff, S.S.; Ramanathan, V.

    2010-01-12

    Modeling studies show that the darkening of snow and ice by black carbon deposition is a major factor for the rapid disappearance of arctic sea ice, mountain glaciers and snow packs. This study provides one of the first direct measurements for the efficient removal of black carbon from the atmosphere by snow and its subsequent deposition to the snow packs of California. The early melting of the snow packs in the Sierras is one of the contributing factors to the severe water problems in California. BC concentrations in falling snow were measured at two mountain locations and in rain at a coastal site. All three stations reveal large BC concentrations in precipitation, ranging from 1.7 ng/g to 12.9 ng/g. The BC concentrations in the air after the snow fall were negligible suggesting an extremely efficient removal of BC by snow. The data suggest that below cloud scavenging, rather than ice nuclei, was the dominant source of BC in the snow. A five-year comparison of BC, dust, and total fine aerosol mass concentrations at multiple sites reveals that the measurements made at the sampling sites were representative of large scale deposition in the Sierra Nevada. The relative concentration of iron and calcium in the mountain aerosol indicates that one-quarter to one-third of the BC may have been transported from Asia.

  12. Sierra Nevada, California, U.S.A., Snow Algae: Snow albedo changes, algal-bacterial interrelationships and ultraviolet radiation effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, W.H.; Duval, B.

    1995-01-01

    In the Tioga Pass area (upper LeeVining Creek watershed) of the Sierra Nevada (California), snow algae were prevalent in the early summers of 1993 and 1994. Significant negative correlations were found between snow water content. However, red snow caused by algal blooms did not decrease mean albedos in representative snowfields. This was due to algal patchiness; mean albedos would not decrease over the whole water catchment basin; and water supplies would not be affected by the presence of algae. Albedo was also reduced by dirt on the snow, and wind-blown dirt may provide a source of allochthonous organic matter for snow bacteria. However, several observations emphasize the importance of an autochthonous source for bacterial nutrition. Bacterial abundances and production rates were higher in red snow containing algae than in noncolored snow. Bacterial production was about two orders-of-magnitude lower than photosynthetic algal production. Bacteria were also sometimes attached to algal cells. In experiments where snow algae were contained in UV-transmitting quartz tubes, ultraviolet radiation inhibited red snow (collected form open, sunlit areas) photosynthesis about 25%, while green snow (collected from forested, shady locations) photosynthesis was inhibited by 85%. Methanol extracts of red snow algae had greater absorbances in blue and UV spectral regions than did algae from green snow. These differences in UV responses and spectra may be due to habitat (sun vs shade) differences, or may be genetic, since different species were found in the two snow types. However, both habitat and genetic mechanisms may be operating together to cause these differences. 53 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs

  13. Response of alpine vegetation growth dynamics to snow cover phenology on the Tibetan Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, X.; Wu, C.

    2017-12-01

    Alpine vegetation plays a crucial role in global energy cycles with snow cover, an essential component of alpine land cover showing high sensitivity to climate change. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has a typical alpine vegetation ecosystem and is rich of snow resources. With global warming, the snow of the TP has undergone significant changes that will inevitably affect the growth of alpine vegetation, but observed evidence of such interaction is limited. In particular, a comprehensive understanding of the responses of alpine vegetation growth to snow cover variability is still not well characterized on TP region. To investigate this, we calculated three indicators, the start (SOS) and length (LOS) of growing season, and the maximum of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVImax) as proxies of vegetation growth dynamics from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data for 2000-2015. Snow cover duration (SCD) and melt (SCM) dates were also extracted during the same time frame from the combination of MODIS and the Interactive Multi-sensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) data. We found that the snow cover phenology had a strong control on alpine vegetation growth dynamics. Furthermore, the responses of SOS, LOS and NDVImax to snow cover phenology varied among plant functional types, eco-geographical zones, and temperature and precipitation gradients. The alpine steppes showed a much stronger negative correlation between SOS and SCD, and also a more evidently positive relationship between LOS and SCD than other types, indicating a longer SCD would lead to an earlier SOS and longer LOS. Most areas showed positive correlation between SOS and SCM, while a contrary response was also found in the warm but drier areas. Both SCD and SCM showed positive correlations with NDVImax, but the relationship became weaker with the increase of precipitation. Our findings provided strong evidences between vegetation growth and snow cover phenology, and changes in

  14. Evaluation of SNODAS snow depth and snow water equivalent estimates for the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clow, David W.; Nanus, Leora; Verdin, Kristine L.; Schmidt, Jeffrey

    2012-01-01

    The National Weather Service's Snow Data Assimilation (SNODAS) program provides daily, gridded estimates of snow depth, snow water equivalent (SWE), and related snow parameters at a 1-km2 resolution for the conterminous USA. In this study, SNODAS snow depth and SWE estimates were compared with independent, ground-based snow survey data in the Colorado Rocky Mountains to assess SNODAS accuracy at the 1-km2 scale. Accuracy also was evaluated at the basin scale by comparing SNODAS model output to snowmelt runoff in 31 headwater basins with US Geological Survey stream gauges. Results from the snow surveys indicated that SNODAS performed well in forested areas, explaining 72% of the variance in snow depths and 77% of the variance in SWE. However, SNODAS showed poor agreement with measurements in alpine areas, explaining 16% of the variance in snow depth and 30% of the variance in SWE. At the basin scale, snowmelt runoff was moderately correlated (R2 = 0.52) with SNODAS model estimates. A simple method for adjusting SNODAS SWE estimates in alpine areas was developed that uses relations between prevailing wind direction, terrain, and vegetation to account for wind redistribution of snow in alpine terrain. The adjustments substantially improved agreement between measurements and SNODAS estimates, with the R2 of measured SWE values against SNODAS SWE estimates increasing from 0.42 to 0.63 and the root mean square error decreasing from 12 to 6 cm. Results from this study indicate that SNODAS can provide reliable data for input to moderate-scale to large-scale hydrologic models, which are essential for creating accurate runoff forecasts. Refinement of SNODAS SWE estimates for alpine areas to account for wind redistribution of snow could further improve model performance. Published 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  15. LiDAR Remote Sensing of Forest Structure and GPS Telemetry Data Provide Insights on Winter Habitat Selection of European Roe Deer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Ewald

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The combination of GPS-Telemetry and resource selection functions is widely used to analyze animal habitat selection. Rapid large-scale assessment of vegetation structure allows bridging the requirements of habitat selection studies on grain size and extent, particularly in forest habitats. For roe deer, the cold period in winter forces individuals to optimize their trade off in searching for food and shelter. We analyzed the winter habitat selection of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus in a montane forest landscape combining estimates of vegetation cover in three different height strata, derived from high resolution airborne Laser-scanning (LiDAR, Light detection and ranging, and activity data from GPS telemetry. Specifically, we tested the influence of temperature, snow height, and wind speed on site selection, differentiating between active and resting animals using mixed-effects conditional logistic regression models in a case-control design. Site selection was best explained by temperature deviations from hourly means, snow height, and activity status of the animals. Roe deer tended to use forests of high canopy cover more frequently with decreasing temperature, and when snow height exceeded 0.6 m. Active animals preferred lower canopy cover, but higher understory cover. Our approach demonstrates the potential of LiDAR measures for studying fine scale habitat selection in complex three-dimensional habitats, such as forests.

  16. Snow nitrate photolysis in polar regions and the mid-latitudes: Impact on boundary layer chemistry and implications for ice core records

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zatko, Maria C.

    The formation and recycling of nitrogen oxides (NOx=NO+NO 2) associated with snow nitrate photolysis has important implications for air quality and the preservation of nitrate in ice core records. This dissertation examines snow nitrate photolysis in polar and mid-latitude regions using field and laboratory based observations combined with snow chemistry column models and a global chemical transport model to explore the impacts of snow nitrate photolysis on boundary layer chemistry and the preservation of nitrate in polar ice cores. Chapter 1 describes how a global chemical transport model is used to calculate the photolysis-driven flux and redistribution of nitrogen across Antarctica, and Chapter 2 presents similar work for Greenland. Snow-sourced NOx is most dependent on the quantum yield for nitrate photolysis as well as the concentration of photolabile nitrate and light-absorbing impurities (e.g., black carbon, dust, organics) in snow. Model-calculated fluxes of snow-sourced NOx are similar in magnitude in Antarctica (0.5--7.8x108 molec cm-2 s -1) and Greenland (0.1--6.4x108 molec cm-2 s-1) because both nitrate and light-absorbing impurity concentrations in snow are higher (by factors of 2 and 10, respectively) in Greenland. Snow nitrate photolysis influences boundary layer chemistry and ice-core nitrate preservation less in Greenland compared to Antarctica largely due to Greenland's proximity to NOx-source regions. Chapter 3 describes how a snow chemistry column model combined with chemistry and optical measurements from the Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) 2014 is used to calculate snow-sourced NOx in eastern Utah. Daily-averaged fluxes of snow-sourced NOx (2.9x10 7--1.3x108 molec cm-2 s-1) are similar in magnitude to polar snow-sourced NO x fluxes, but are only minor components of the Uintah Basin boundary layer NOx budget and can be neglected when developing ozone reduction strategies for the region. Chapter 4 presents chemical and optical

  17. Snow observations in Mount Lebanon (2011-2016)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fayad, Abbas; Gascoin, Simon; Faour, Ghaleb; Fanise, Pascal; Drapeau, Laurent; Somma, Janine; Fadel, Ali; Bitar, Ahmad Al; Escadafal, Richard

    2017-08-01

    We present a unique meteorological and snow observational dataset in Mount Lebanon, a mountainous region with a Mediterranean climate, where snowmelt is an essential water resource. The study region covers the recharge area of three karstic river basins (total area of 1092 km2 and an elevation up to 3088 m). The dataset consists of (1) continuous meteorological and snow height observations, (2) snowpack field measurements, and (3) medium-resolution satellite snow cover data. The continuous meteorological measurements at three automatic weather stations (MZA, 2296 m; LAQ, 1840 m; and CED, 2834 m a.s.l.) include surface air temperature and humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, incoming and reflected shortwave irradiance, and snow height, at 30 min intervals for the snow seasons (November-June) between 2011 and 2016 for MZA and between 2014 and 2016 for CED and LAQ. Precipitation data were filtered and corrected for Geonor undercatch. Observations of snow height (HS), snow water equivalent, and snow density were collected at 30 snow courses located at elevations between 1300 and 2900 m a.s.l. during the two snow seasons of 2014-2016 with an average revisit time of 11 days. Daily gap-free snow cover extent (SCA) and snow cover duration (SCD) maps derived from MODIS snow products are provided for the same period (2011-2016). We used the dataset to characterize mean snow height, snow water equivalent (SWE), and density for the first time in Mount Lebanon. Snow seasonal variability was characterized with high HS and SWE variance and a relatively high snow density mean equal to 467 kg m-3. We find that the relationship between snow depth and snow density is specific to the Mediterranean climate. The current model explained 34 % of the variability in the entire dataset (all regions between 1300 and 2900 m a.s.l.) and 62 % for high mountain regions (elevation 2200-2900 m a.s.l.). The dataset is suitable for the investigation of snow dynamics and for the forcing

  18. Insights on nitrate sources at Dome C (East Antarctic Plateau from multi-year aerosol and snow records

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita Traversi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Here we present the first multi-year record of nitrate in the atmospheric aerosol (2005–2008 and surface snow (2006–08 from central Antarctica. PM10 and size-segregated aerosol, together with superficial snow, have been collected all year-round at high resolution (daily for all the snow samples and for most of aerosol samples at Dome C since the 2004/05 field season and analysed for main and trace ionic markers. The suitability of the sampling location in terms of possible contamination from the base is shown in detail. In spite of the relevance of nitrate in Antarctic atmosphere, both for better understanding the chemistry of N cycle in the plateau boundary layer and for improving the interpretation of long-term nitrate records from deep ice core records, nitrate sources in Antarctica are not well constrained yet, neither in extent nor in timing. A recurring seasonal pattern was pointed out in both aerosol and snow records, showing summer maxima and winter minima, although aerosol maxima lead the snow ones of 1–2 months, possibly due to a higher acidity in the atmosphere in mid-summer, favouring the repartition of nitrate as nitric acid and thus its uptake by the surface snow layers. On the basis of a meteorological analysis of one major nitrate event, of data related to PSC I extent and of irradiance values, we propose that the high nitrate summer levels in aerosol and snow are likely due to a synergy of enhanced source of nitrate and/or its precursors (such as the stratospheric inputs, higher solar irradiance and higher oxidation rates in this season. Moreover, we show here a further evidence of the substantial contribution of HNO3/NOx re-emission from the snowpack, already shown in previous works, and which can explain a significant fraction of atmospheric nitrate, maintaining the same seasonal pattern in the snow. As concerning snow specifically, the presented data suggest that nitrate is likely to be controlled mainly by atmospheric

  19. Snow, ice and solar radiation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuipers Munneke, P.

    2009-01-01

    The snow-covered ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland reflect most of the incoming solar radiation. The reflectivity, commonly called the albedo, of snow on these ice sheets has been observed to vary in space and time. In this thesis, temporal and spatial changes in snow albedo is found to depend

  20. Moving sidewalk for snow board gelande; Snow board gerendemuke ugoku hodo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-04-20

    This is a moving sidewalk installed on the indoor type artificial snow board gelande at Shigenobu-cho, Ehime prefecture, constructed for the first time in Shikoku. It carries snow boarders in gelande. The main specifications are as follows. Type: 800 type. Sidewalk width: 600mm. Length: 76.0m. Speed: 30m/min. Inclination angle: 13 degrees (inclination type). The features are as follows. (1) The tread is rubber-belt made and skid-resistant if it gets wet. (2) It is equipped with the each-part antifreezer, considering the snow quality and the environment where it is used at low temperature. (translated by NEDO)

  1. Testing a blowing snow model against distributed snow measurements at Upper Sheep Creek, Idaho, United States of America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajiv Prasad; David G. Tarboton; Glen E. Liston; Charles H. Luce; Mark S. Seyfried

    2001-01-01

    In this paper a physically based snow transport model (SnowTran-3D) was used to simulate snow drifting over a 30 m grid and was compared to detailed snow water equivalence (SWE) surveys on three dates within a small 0.25 km2 subwatershed, Upper Sheep Creek. Two precipitation scenarios and two vegetation scenarios were used to carry out four snow transport model runs in...

  2. Sentinels for snow science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gascoin, S.; Grizonnet, M.; Baba, W. M.; Hagolle, O.; Fayad, A.; Mermoz, S.; Kinnard, C.; Fatima, K.; Jarlan, L.; Hanich, L.

    2017-12-01

    Current spaceborne sensors do not allow retrieving the snow water equivalent in mountain regions, "the most important unsolved problem in snow hydrology" (Dozier, 2016). While the NASA is operating an airborne mission to survey the SWE in the western USA, elsewhere, however, snow scientists and water managers do not have access to routine SWE measurements at the scale of a mountain range. In this presentation we suggest that the advent of the Copernicus Earth Observation programme opens new perspectives to address this issue in mountain regions worldwide. The Sentinel-2 mission will provide global-scale multispectral observations at 20 m resolution every 5-days (cloud permitting). The Sentinel-1 mission is already imaging the global land surface with a C-band radar at 10 m resolution every 6 days. These observations are unprecedented in terms of spatial and temporal resolution. However, the nature of the observation (radiometry, wavelength) is in the continuity of previous and ongoing missions. As a result, it is relatively straightforward to re-use algorithms that were developed by the remote sensing community over the last decades. For instance, Sentinel-2 data can be used to derive maps of the snow cover extent from the normalized difference snow index, which was initially proposed for Landsat. In addition, the 5-days repeat cycle allows the application of gap-filling algorithms, which were developed for MODIS based on the temporal dimension. The Sentinel-1 data can be used to detect the wet snow cover and track melting areas as proposed for ERS in the early 1990's. Eventually, we show an example where Sentinel-2-like data improved the simulation of the SWE in the data-scarce region of the High Atlas in Morocco through assimilation in a distributed snowpack model. We encourage snow scientists to embrace Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data to enhance our knowledge on the snow cover dynamics in mountain regions.

  3. Aircraft and ground vehicle friction correlation test results obtained under winter runway conditions during joint FAA/NASA Runway Friction Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yager, Thomas J.; Vogler, William A.; Baldasare, Paul

    1988-01-01

    Aircraft and ground vehicle friction data collected during the Joint FAA/NASA Runway Friction Program under winter runway conditions are discussed and test results are summarized. The relationship between the different ground vehicle friction measurements obtained on compacted snow- and ice-covered conditions is defined together with the correlation to aircraft tire friction performance under similar runway conditions.

  4. Statistical-Dynamical Seasonal Forecasts of Central-Southwest Asian Winter Precipitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tippett, Michael K.; Goddard, Lisa; Barnston, Anthony G.

    2005-06-01

    Interannual precipitation variability in central-southwest (CSW) Asia has been associated with East Asian jet stream variability and western Pacific tropical convection. However, atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) forced by observed sea surface temperature (SST) poorly simulate the region's interannual precipitation variability. The statistical-dynamical approach uses statistical methods to correct systematic deficiencies in the response of AGCMs to SST forcing. Statistical correction methods linking model-simulated Indo-west Pacific precipitation and observed CSW Asia precipitation result in modest, but statistically significant, cross-validated simulation skill in the northeast part of the domain for the period from 1951 to 1998. The statistical-dynamical method is also applied to recent (winter 1998/99 to 2002/03) multimodel, two-tier December-March precipitation forecasts initiated in October. This period includes 4 yr (winter of 1998/99 to 2001/02) of severe drought. Tercile probability forecasts are produced using ensemble-mean forecasts and forecast error estimates. The statistical-dynamical forecasts show enhanced probability of below-normal precipitation for the four drought years and capture the return to normal conditions in part of the region during the winter of 2002/03.May Kabul be without gold, but not without snow.—Traditional Afghan proverb

  5. Validating numerical simulations of snow avalanches using dendrochronology: the Cerro Ventana event in Northern Patagonia, Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Casteller

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available The damage caused by snow avalanches to property and human lives is underestimated in many regions around the world, especially where this natural hazard remains poorly documented. One such region is the Argentinean Andes, where numerous settlements are threatened almost every winter by large snow avalanches. On 1 September 2002, the largest tragedy in the history of Argentinean mountaineering took place at Cerro Ventana, Northern Patagonia: nine persons were killed and seven others injured by a snow avalanche. In this paper, we combine both numerical modeling and dendrochronological investigations to reconstruct this event. Using information released by local governmental authorities and compiled in the field, the avalanche event was numerically simulated using the avalanche dynamics programs AVAL-1D and RAMMS. Avalanche characteristics, such as extent and date were determined using dendrochronological techniques. Model simulation results were compared with documentary and tree-ring evidences for the 2002 event. Our results show a good agreement between the simulated projection of the avalanche and its reconstructed extent using tree-ring records. Differences between the observed and the simulated avalanche, principally related to the snow height deposition in the run-out zone, are mostly attributed to the low resolution of the digital elevation model used to represent the valley topography. The main contributions of this study are (1 to provide the first calibration of numerical avalanche models for the Patagonian Andes and (2 to highlight the potential of Nothofagus pumilio tree-ring records to reconstruct past snow-avalanche events in time and space. Future research should focus on testing this combined approach in other forested regions of the Andes.

  6. Decrease in hydroclimatic conditions generating floods in the southeast of Belgium over the last 50 years resulting from changes in seasonal snow cover and extreme precipitation events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyard, Coraline; Fettweis, Xavier

    2016-04-01

    As a consequence of climate change, several studies concluded that winter flood occurrence could increase in the future in many rivers of northern and western Europe in response to an increase in extreme precipitation events. This study aims to determine if trends in extreme hydroclimatic events generating floods can already be detected over the last century. In particular, we focus on the Ourthe River (southeast of Belgium) which is one of the main tributaries of the Meuse River with a catchment area of 3500 km². In this river, most of the floods occur during winter and about 50% of them are due to rainfall events associated with the melting of the snow which covers the Ardennes during winter. In this study, hydroclimatic conditions favorable to flooding were reconstructed over the 20th century using the regional climate model MAR ("Modèle Atmosphérique Régional") forced by the following reanalyses: the ERA-20C, the ERA-Interim and the NCEP/NCAR-v1. The use of the MAR model allows to compute precipitation, snow depth and run-off resulting from precipitation events and snow melting in any part of the Ourthe river catchment area. Therefore, extreme hydroclimatic events, namely extreme run-off events, which could potentially generate floods, can be reconstructed using the MAR model. As validation, the MAR results were compared to weather station-based data. A trend analysis was then performed in order to study the evolution of conditions favorable to flooding in the Ourthe River catchment. The results show that the MAR model allows the detection of more than 95% of the hydroclimatic conditions which effectively generated observed floods in the Ourthe River over the 1974-2014 period. Conditions favorable to flooding present a negative trend over the last 50 years as a result of a decrease in snow accumulation and in extreme precipitation events. However, significance of these trends depends on the reanalysis used to force the regional climate model as well as the

  7. Long-term analyses of snow dynamics within the french Alps on the 1900-2100 period. Analyses of historical snow water equivalent observations, modelisations and projections of a hundred of snow courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathevet, T.; Joel, G.; Gottardi, F.; Nemoz, B.

    2017-12-01

    The aim of this communication is to present analyses of climate variability and change on snow water equivalent (SWE) observations, reconstructions (1900-2016) and scenarii (2020-2100) of a hundred of snow courses dissiminated within the french Alps. This issue became particularly important since a decade, in regions where snow variability had a large impact on water resources availability, poor snow conditions in ski resorts and artificial snow production. As a water resources manager in french mountainuous regions, EDF (french hydropower company) has developed and managed a hydrometeorological network since 1950. A recent data rescue research allowed to digitize long term SWE manual measurments of a hundred of snow courses within the french Alps. EDF have been operating an automatic SWE sensors network, complementary to the snow course network. Based on numerous SWE observations time-series and snow accumulation and melt model (Garavaglia et al., 2017), continuous daily historical SWE time-series have been reconstructed within the 1950-2016 period. These reconstructions have been extented to 1900 using 20 CR reanalyses (ANATEM method, Kuentz et al., 2015) and up to 2100 using GIEC Climate Change scenarii. Considering various mountainous areas within the french Alps, this communication focuses on : (1) long term (1900-2016) analyses of variability and trend of total precipitation, air temperature, snow water equivalent, snow line altitude, snow season length , (2) long term variability of hydrological regime of snow dominated watersheds and (3) future trends (2020 -2100) using GIEC Climate Change scenarii. Comparing historical period (1950-1984) to recent period (1984-2016), quantitative results within a region in the north Alps (Maurienne) shows an increase of air temperature by 1.2 °C, an increase of snow line height by 200m, a reduction of SWE by 200 mm/year and a reduction of snow season length by 15 days. These analyses will be extended from north to south

  8. Altitudinal gradients, midwinter melt, and wind effects on snow accumulation in semiarid midlatitude Andes under La Niña conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayala, A.; McPhee, J.; Vargas, X.

    2014-04-01

    The Andes Cordillera remains a sparsely monitored and studied snow hydrology environment in comparison to similar mountain ranges in the Northern Hemisphere. In order to uncover some of the key processes driving snow water equivalent (SWE) spatial variability, we present and analyze a distributed SWE data set, sampled at the end of accumulation season 2011. Three representative catchments across the region were monitored, obtaining measurements in an elevation range spanning 2000 to 3900 m asl and from 32.4° to 34.0°S in latitude. Climatic conditions during this season corresponded to a moderate La Niña phenomenon, which is generally correlated with lower-than normal accumulation. Collected measurements can be described at the regional and watershed extents by altitudinal gradients that imply an increase by a factor of two in snow depth between 2200 and 3000 m asl, though with significant variability at the upper sites. In these upper sites, we found north-facing, wind-sheltered slopes showing 25% less average SWE values than south-facing, wind-exposed ones. This suggests that under these conditions, solar radiation dominated wind transport effects in controlling end-of-winter variability. Nevertheless, we found clusters of snow depth measurements above 3000 m asl that can be explained by wind exposure differences. This is the first documented snow depth data set of this spatial extent for this region, and it is framed within an ongoing research effort aimed at improving understanding and modeling of snow hydrology in the extratropical Andes Cordillera.

  9. Winter-to-winter variations in indoor radon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mose, D.G.; Mushrush, G.W.; Kline, S.W.

    1989-01-01

    Indoor radon concentrations in northern Virginia and central Maryland show a strong dependence on weather. Winter tends to be associated with higher than average indoor radon, and summer with lower than average. However, compared to the winter of 1986-1987, the winter of 1987-1988 was warmer and drier. Consequently, winter-to-winter indoor radon decreased by about 25%. This winter-to-winter decrease is unexpectedly large, and simulates winter-to-summer variations that have been reported

  10. [Snow cover pollution monitoring in Ufa].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daukaev, R A; Suleĭmanov, R A

    2008-01-01

    The paper presents the results of examining the snow cover polluted with heavy metals in the large industrial town of Ufa. The level of man-caused burden on the snow cover of the conventional parts of the town was estimated and compared upon exposure to a wide range of snow cover pollutants. The priority snow cover pollutants were identified among the test heavy metals.

  11. How much runoff originates as snow in the western United States and what its future changes tell us?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, D.; Wrzesien, M.; Durand, M. T.; Adam, J. C.; Lettenmaier, D. P.

    2017-12-01

    Snow is a vital hydrologic cycle component in the western United States. The seasonal phase of snowmelt bridges between winter-dominant precipitation and summer-dominant human and ecosystem water demand. Current estimates of the fraction of total annual runoff generated by snowmelt (f_Q,snow) are not based on defensible, systematic analyses. Here, based on hydrological model simulations, we describe a new algorithm that explicitly quantifies the contribution of snow to runoff in the Western U.S. Specifically, the algorithm tracks the fate of the snowmelt runoff in the modeled hydrological fluxes in the soil, surface water, and the atmosphere, and accounts for the exchanges among the three. The hydrological fluxes are simulated by the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model using an ensemble of ten general circulation model (GCM) outputs trained by ground observations. We conducted the tracking to the VIC modeling ensemble and reported the mean of the ten tracking results. We computed the historical f_Q,snow with the modeling estimates from 1960 to 2005, and predicted the future f_Q,snow using the modeling estimates from 2006 to 2100 in the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Our tracking results show that from 1960 to 2005, slightly over one-half of the total runoff in the western United States originated as snowmelt, despite only 37% of the region's total precipitation falling as snow; snowfall is more efficient than rainfall in runoff generation. Snow's importance varies physiographically: snowmelt from the mountains is responsible for over 70% of the total runoff in the West. Snowmelt-derived runoff currently makes up about 2/3 of the inflow to the region's major reservoirs; for Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are the two largest reservoirs of the nation, snow contributes over 70% of their storage. The contribution of snowmelt to the total runoff will decrease in a warmer climate, by about 1/3 over the West by 2100. Snow will melt earlier and the snowmelt

  12. Identification of mineral dust layers in high alpine snow packs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greilinger, Marion; Kau, Daniela; Schauer, Gerhard; Kasper-Giebl, Anne

    2017-04-01

    Deserts serve as a major source for aerosols in the atmosphere with mineral dust as a main contributor to primary aerosol mass. Especially the Sahara, the largest desert in the world, contributes roughly half of the primarily emitted aerosol mass found in the atmosphere [1]. The eroded Saharan dust is episodically transported over thousands of kilometers with synoptic wind patterns towards Europe [2] and reaches Austria about 20 to 30 days per year. Once the Saharan dust is removed from the atmosphere via dry or wet deposition processes, the chemical composition of the precipitation or the affected environment is significantly changed. Saharan dust serves on the one hand as high ionic input leading to an increase of ionic species such as calcium, magnesium or sulfate. On the other hand Saharan dust provides a high alkaline input neutralizing acidic components and causing the pH to increase [3]. Based on these changes in the ion composition, the pH and cross plots of the ion and conductivity balance [4] we tried to develop a method to identify Saharan dust layers in high alpine snow packs. We investigated seasonal snow packs of two high alpine sampling sites situated on the surrounding glaciers of the meteorological Sonnblick observatory serving as a global GAW (Global Atmospheric Watch) station located in the National Park Hohe Tauern in the Austrian Alps. Samples with 10 cm resolution representing the whole winter accumulation period were taken just prior to the start of snow melt at the end of April 2016. In both snow packs two layers with clearly different chemical behavior were observed. In comparison with the aerosol data from the Sonnblick observatory, these layers could be clearly identified as Saharan dust layers. Identified Saharan dust layers in the snow pack allow calculations of the ecological impact of deposited ions, with and without Saharan dust, during snow melt. Furthermore the chemical characteristics for the identification of Saharan dust layers

  13. Use of a thermal imager for snow pit temperatures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Shea

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Weak snow of interest to avalanche forecasting often forms and changes as thin layers. Thermometers, the current field technology for measuring the temperature gradients across such layers – and for thus estimating the expected vapour flux and future type of crystal metamorphism – are difficult to use at distances shorter than 1 cm. In contrast, a thermal imager can provide thousands of simultaneous temperature measurements across small distances with better accuracy. However, a thermal imager only senses the exposed surface, complicating its methods for access and accuracy of buried temperatures. This paper presents methods for exposing buried layers on pit walls and using a thermal imager to measure temperatures on these walls, correct for lens effects with snow, adjust temperature gradients, adjust time exposed, and calculate temperature gradients over millimetre distances. We find lens error on temperature gradients to be on the order of 0.03 °C between image centre and corners. We find temperature gradient change over time to usually decrease – as expected with atmospheric equalization as a strong effect. Case studies including thermal images and visual macro photographs of crystals, collected during the 2010–2011 winter, demonstrate large temperature differences over millimetre-scale distances that are consistent with observed kinetic metamorphism. Further study is needed to use absolute temperatures independently of supporting gradient data.

  14. Parameterizations for narrowband and broadband albedo of pure snow and snow containing mineral dust and black carbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dang, Cheng; Brandt, Richard E.; Warren, Stephen G.

    2015-06-01

    The reduction of snow spectral albedo by black carbon (BC) and mineral dust, both alone and in combination, is computed using radiative transfer modeling. Broadband albedo is shown for mass fractions covering the full range from pure snow to pure BC and pure dust, and for snow grain radii from 5 µm to 2500 µm, to cover the range of possible grain sizes on planetary surfaces. Parameterizations are developed for opaque homogeneous snowpacks for three broad bands used in general circulation models and several narrower bands. They are functions of snow grain radius and the mass fraction of BC and/or dust and are valid up to BC content of 10 ppm, needed for highly polluted snow. A change of solar zenith angle can be mimicked by changing grain radius. A given mass fraction of BC causes greater albedo reduction in coarse-grained snow; BC and grain radius can be combined into a single variable to compute the reduction of albedo relative to pure snow. The albedo reduction by BC is less if the snow contains dust, a common situation on mountain glaciers and in agricultural and grazing lands. Measured absorption spectra of mineral dust are critically reviewed as a basis for specifying dust properties for modeling. The effect of dust on snow albedo at visible wavelengths can be represented by an "equivalent BC" amount, scaled down by a factor of about 200. Dust has little effect on the near-IR albedo because the near-IR albedo of pure dust is similar to that of pure snow.

  15. The Dominant Snow-forming Process in Warm and Cold Mixed-phase Orographic Clouds: Effects of Cloud Condensation Nuclei and Ice Nuclei

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, J.; Rosenfeld, D.; Leung, L. R.; DeMott, P. J.

    2014-12-01

    Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter and spring from long-range transport can be efficient ice nuclei (IN) and enhance snow precipitation in mixed-phase orographic clouds. On the other hand, local pollution particles can serve as good CCN and suppress warm rain, but their impacts on cold rain processes are uncertain. The main snow-forming mechanism in warm and cold mixed-phase orographic clouds (refer to as WMOC and CMOC, respectively) could be very different, leading to different precipitation response to CCN and IN. We have conducted 1-km resolution model simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a spectral-bin cloud microphysical model for WMOC and CMOC cases from CalWater2011. We investigated the response of cloud microphysical processes and precipitation to CCN and IN with extremely low to extremely high concentrations using ice nucleation parameterizations that connect with dust and implemented based on observational evidences. We find that riming is the dominant process for producing snow in WMOC while deposition plays a more important role than riming in CMOC. Increasing IN leads to much more snow precipitation mainly due to an increase of deposition in CMOC and increased rimming in WMOC. Increasing CCN decreases precipitation in WMOC by efficiently suppressing warm rain, although snow is increased. In CMOC where cold rain dominates, increasing CCN significantly increases snow, leading to a net increase in precipitation. The sensitivity of supercooled liquid to CCN and IN has also been analyzed. The mechanism for the increased snow by CCN and caveats due to uncertainties in ice nucleation parameterizations will be discussed.

  16. The History of Winter Thermochron Mission: Utilizing An Innovative Technology to Promote Science Research in the Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bender, K. J.

    2007-12-01

    The goal of the Thermochron Mission, an embedded strand of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center History of Winter (HOW) Program, is to engage participants actively in research methods while focusing on the observation and analysis of changes in ambient temperature. Through experiential learning opportunities, peer coaching, and expert instruction sessions, participants including in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, and ultimately their K-12 students, enhance their understanding of the processes and methods of science research. The initial engagement and exploration training has been provided to participants in the History of Winter (HOW) workshop since 2004. Supportive web-based multimedia resources utilized through modeling within the training program are available to participants online for continued later use within a classroom setting. The Thermochron Mission echoes the learning cycle embedded within the History of Winter Program. Emphasized are critical aspects of inquiry investigation including active and immersive experiences, opportunities for comparison and analysis of data, application of findings to new situations, and the communication of information in an appropriate forum. As a result, past HOW participants have utilized the Thermochron in settings as different as environmental studies through an outdoor education center and the study of acid mine drainage and its effect on local stream. In 2007, we collaborated with the FINNMARK 2007 and the GO NORTH expeditions, providing snow collection information and Thermochrons to gather a continual temperature record during these remote expeditions to the Arctic region. Both FINNMARK2007 and the POLAR Husky GoNorth 2007 dog sled expeditions took a complement of Thermochrons with multimedia instructions and the tools and protocols of the Global Snowflake Network (GSN), an International Polar Year project of the History of Winter Program, to measure temperature and the shape and characteristics of snow

  17. Review of ice and snow runway pavements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greg White

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, most remote and most pristine place on Earth. Polar operations depend heavily on air transportation and support for personnel and equipment. It follows that improvement in snow and ice runway design, construction and maintenance will directly benefit polar exploration and research. Current technologies and design methods for snow and ice runways remain largely reliant on work performed in the 1950s and 1960s. This paper reviews the design and construction of polar runways using snow and ice as geomaterials. The inability to change existing snow and ice thickness or temperature creates a challenge for polar runway design and construction, as does the highly complex mechanical behaviour of snow, including the phenomena known as sintering. It is recommended that a modern approach be developed for ice and snow runway design, based on conventional rigid and flexible pavement design principles. This requires the development on an analytical model for the prediction of snow strength, based on snow age, temperature history and density. It is also recommended that the feasibility of constructing a snow runway at the South Pole be revisited, in light of contemporary snow sintering methods. Such a runway would represent a revolutionary advance for the logistical support of Antarctic research efforts. Keywords: Runway, Pavement, Snow, Ice, Antarctic

  18. Pavement Snow Melting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lund, John W.

    2005-01-01

    The design of pavement snow melting systems is presented based on criteria established by ASHRAE. The heating requirements depends on rate of snow fall, air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity. Piping materials are either metal or plastic, however, due to corrosion problems, cross-linked polyethylene pipe is now generally used instead of iron. Geothermal energy is supplied to systems through the use of heat pipes, directly from circulating pipes, through a heat exchanger or by allowing water to flow directly over the pavement, by using solar thermal storage. Examples of systems in New Jersey, Wyoming, Virginia, Japan, Argentina, Switzerland and Oregon are presented. Key words: pavement snow melting, geothermal heating, heat pipes, solar storage, Wyoming, Virginia, Japan, Argentina, Klamath Falls.

  19. Monitoring of the Liquid Water Content During Snowmelt Using C-Band SAR Data and the Snow Model CROCUS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rondeau-Genesse, G.; Trudel, M.; Leconte, R.

    2014-12-01

    Coupling C-Band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to a multilayer snow model is a step in better understanding the temporal evolution of the radar backscattering coefficient during snowmelt. The watershed used for this study is the Nechako River Basin, located in the Rocky Mountains of British-Columbia (Canada). This basin has a snowpack of several meters in depth and part of its water is diverted to the Kemano hydropower system, managed by Rio-Tinto Alcan. Eighteen RADARSAT-2 ScanSAR Wide archive images were acquired in VV/VH polarization for the winter of 2011-2012, under different snow conditions. They are interpreted along with CROCUS, a multilayer physically-based snow model developed by Météo-France. This model discretizes the snowpack into 50 layers, which makes it possible to monitor various characteristics, such as liquid water content (LWC), throughout the season. CROCUS is used to model three specific locations of the Nechako River Basin. Results vary from one site to another, but in general there is a good agreement between the modeled LWC of the first layer of the snowpack and the backscattering coefficient of the RADARSAT-2 images, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.80 and more. The radar images themselves were processed using an updated version of Nagler's methodology, which consists of subtracting an image in wet snow conditions to one in dry snow conditions, as wet snow can then be identified using a soft threshold centered around -3 dB. A second filter was used in order to differentiate dry snow and bare soil. That filter combines a VH/VV ratio threshold and an altitude criterion. The ensuing maps show a good agreement with the MODIS snow-covered area, which is already obtained daily over the Nechako River Basin, but with additional information on the location of wet snow and without sensibility to cloud cover. As a next step, the outputs of CROCUS will be used in Mätzler's Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks (MEMLS) to

  20. Snow cover as a source of technogenic pollution of surface water during the snow melting period

    OpenAIRE

    Labuzova Olga; Noskova Tatyana; Lysenko Maria; Ovcharenko Elena; Papina Tatyana

    2016-01-01

    The study of pollutants in melt water of snow cover and snow disposal sites in the city of Barnaul showed that during the snow melting period the surface water is not subjected to significant technogenic impact according to a number of studied indices. The oils content is an exception: it can exceed MAC more than 20 times in river- water due to the melting of city disposal sites. Environmental damage due to an oils input into water resources during the snow melting period...

  1. Comparison of snowpack and winter wet-deposition chemistry in the Rocky Mountains, USA: implications for winter dry deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clow, David W.; Ingersoll, George P.; Mast, M. Alisa; Turk, John T.; Campbell, Donald H.

    Depth-integrated snowpack chemistry was measured just prior to maximum snowpack depth during the winters of 1992-1999 at 12 sites co-located with National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trend Network (NADP/NTN) sites in the central and southern Rocky Mountains, USA. Winter volume-weighted mean wet-deposition concentrations were calculated for the NADP/NTN sites, and the data were compared to snowpack concentrations using the paired t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. No statistically significant differences were indicated in concentrations of SO 42- or NO 3- ( p>0.1). Small, but statistically significant differences ( p⩽0.03) were indicated for all other solutes analyzed. Differences were largest for Ca 2+ concentrations, which on average were 2.3 μeq l -1 (43%) higher in the snowpack than in winter NADP/NTN samples. Eolian carbonate dust appeared to influence snowpack chemistry through both wet and dry deposition, and the effect increased from north to south. Dry deposition of eolian carbonates was estimated to have neutralized an average of 6.9 μeq l -1 and a maximum of 12 μeq l -1 of snowpack acidity at the southernmost sites. The good agreement between snowpack and winter NADP/NTN SO 42- and NO 3- concentrations indicates that for those solutes the two data sets can be combined to increase data density in high-elevation areas, where few NADP/NTN sites exist. This combination of data sets will allow for better estimates of atmospheric deposition of SO 42- and NO 3- across the Rocky Mountain region.

  2. New nitrogen uptake strategy: specialized snow roots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onipchenko, Vladimir G; Makarov, Mikhail I; van Logtestijn, Richard S P; Ivanov, Viktor B; Akhmetzhanova, Assem A; Tekeev, Dzhamal K; Ermak, Anton A; Salpagarova, Fatima S; Kozhevnikova, Anna D; Cornelissen, Johannes H C

    2009-08-01

    The evolution of plants has yielded a wealth of adaptations for the acquisition of key mineral nutrients. These include the structure, physiology and positioning of root systems. We report the discovery of specialized snow roots as a plant strategy to cope with the very short season for nutrient uptake and growth in alpine snow-beds, i.e. patches in the landscape that remain snow-covered well into the summer. We provide anatomical, chemical and experimental (15)N isotope tracking evidence that the Caucasian snow-bed plant Corydalis conorhiza forms extensive networks of specialized above-ground roots, which grow against gravity to acquire nitrogen directly from within snow packs. Snow roots capture nitrogen that would otherwise partly run off down-slope over a frozen surface, thereby helping to nourish these alpine ecosystems. Climate warming is changing and will change mountain snow regimes, while large-scale anthropogenic N deposition has increased snow N contents. These global changes are likely to impact on the distribution, abundance and functional significance of snow roots.

  3. High fidelity remote sensing of snow properties from MODIS and the Airborne Snow Observatory: Snowflakes to Terabytes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Painter, T.; Mattmann, C. A.; Brodzik, M.; Bryant, A. C.; Goodale, C. E.; Hart, A. F.; Ramirez, P.; Rittger, K. E.; Seidel, F. C.; Zimdars, P. A.

    2012-12-01

    The response of the cryosphere to climate forcings largely determines Earth's climate sensitivity. However, our understanding of the strength of the simulated snow albedo feedback varies by a factor of three in the GCMs used in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, mainly caused by uncertainties in snow extent and the albedo of snow-covered areas from imprecise remote sensing retrievals. Additionally, the Western US and other regions of the globe depend predominantly on snowmelt for their water supply to agriculture, industry and cities, hydroelectric power, and recreation, against rising demand from increasing population. In the mountains of the Upper Colorado River Basin, dust radiative forcing in snow shortens snow cover duration by 3-7 weeks. Extended to the entire upper basin, the 5-fold increase in dust load since the late-1800s results in a 3-week earlier peak runoff and a 5% annual loss of total runoff. The remotely sensed dynamics of snow cover duration and melt however have not been factored into hydrological modeling, operational forecasting, and policymaking. To address these deficiencies in our understanding of snow properties, we have developed and validated a suite of MODIS snow products that provide accurate fractional snow covered area and radiative forcing of dust and carbonaceous aerosols in snow. The MODIS Snow Covered Area and Grain size (MODSCAG) and MODIS Dust Radiative Forcing in Snow (MODDRFS) algorithms, developed and transferred from imaging spectroscopy techniques, leverage the complete MODIS surface reflectance spectrum. The two most critical properties for understanding snowmelt runoff and timing are the spatial and temporal distributions of snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow albedo. We have created the Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO), an imaging spectrometer and scanning LiDAR system, to quantify SWE and snow albedo, generate unprecedented knowledge of snow properties, and provide complete

  4. Seasonal rhythms of body temperature in the free-ranging raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) with special emphasis on winter sleep.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustonen, Anne-Mari; Asikainen, Juha; Kauhala, Kaarina; Paakkonen, Tommi; Nieminen, Petteri

    2007-01-01

    The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is the only canid with passive overwintering in areas with cold winters, but the depth and rhythmicity of wintertime hypothermia in the wild raccoon dog are unknown. To study the seasonal rhythms of body temperature (T(b)), seven free-ranging animals were captured and implanted with intra-abdominal T(b) loggers and radio-tracked during years 2004-2006. The average size of the home ranges was 306+/-26 ha, and the average 24 h T(b) was 38.0+/-dogs were hypothermic for 5 h in the morning (06:00-11:00 h), whereas the highest T(b) values were recorded between 16:00-23:00 h. The range of the 24 h oscillations increased by approximately 0.6 degrees C, and the rhythmicity was more pronounced than in the snow-free period. The ambient temperature and depth of snow cover were important determinants of the seasonal T(b) rhythms. The overwintering strategy of the raccoon dog resembled the patterns of winter sleep in bears and badgers, but the wintertime passivity of the species was more intermittent and the decrease in the T(b) less pronounced.

  5. A webgis supported snow information system with long time satellite data for Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surer, S.; Bolat, K.; Akyurek, Z.

    2012-04-01

    KARBILSIS is an online platform which is developed in order to provide end-users with daily remote sensing snow products for Turkey (www.karbilsis.com). The project has been started as a research activity after an award by Ministry of Science and Technology has been granted to our company. At the first stage of our project MODIS atmospherically corrected reflectance data has been downloaded covering the period of 2000-2011 which makes more than ten years of satellite imagery for Turkey. The archived MODIS data that have been obtained from National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is mainly MOD09GA product that includes seven spectral bands. Only the tiles which are covering Turkey have been archived namely 19&20 horizontal and 4&5 vertical ones. In order to provide scientists with a website giving the availability of analysis of snow covered area for long terms based on their area of interests, a fractional snow extent (FSE) product has been generated. For FSE product a normalized difference snow index (NDSI) based algorithm has been developed using daily land surface reflectance values (MOD09GA). In addition to MODIS data, four different Landsat images belonging to different days of snowy period (January, March, and May) have been used during algorithm development taking into account a better representation of different reflectance values of snow which highly varies depending on the accumulation and melting periods. Landsat images were used as reference images. First the Landsat images were orthorectified and mapped to a cartographic projection. Then image segmentation was applied to obtain homogeneous tiles, where the homogeneity is defined as similarity in pixel values. The mean-shift segmentation approach, where each pixel was associated with a significant mode of the joint domain density located in its neighborhood, was applied. After segmentation, the image was classified into snow and no-snow classes with Maximum Likelihood Classification Method. FSE

  6. Deriving Snow Cover Metrics for Alaska from MODIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuck Lindsay

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS daily snow cover products provide an opportunity for determining snow onset and melt dates across broad geographic regions; however, cloud cover and polar darkness are limiting factors at higher latitudes. This study presents snow onset and melt dates for Alaska, portions of western Canada and the Russian Far East derived from Terra MODIS snow cover daily 500 m grid data (MOD10A1 and evaluates our method for filling data gaps caused by clouds or polar darkness. Pixels classified as cloud or no data were reclassified by: spatial filtering using neighboring pixel values; temporal filtering using pixel values for days before/after cloud cover; and snow-cycle filtering based on a time series assessment of a pixel’s position within snow accumulation, cover or melt periods. During the 2012 snow year, these gap-filling methods reduced cloud pixels from 27.7% to 3.1%. A total of 12 metrics (e.g., date of first and last snow, date of persistent snow cover and periods of intermittence for each pixel were calculated by snow year. A comparison of MODIS-derived snow onset and melt dates with in situ observations from 244 weather stations generally showed an early bias in MODIS-derived dates and an effect of increasing cloudiness exacerbating bias. Our results show that mean regional duration of seasonal snow cover is 179–311 days/year and that snow cover is often intermittent, with 41% of the area experiencing ≥2 snow-covered periods during a snow season. Other regional-scale patterns in the timing of snow onset and melt are evident in the yearly 500 m gridded products publically available at http://static.gina.alaska.edu/NPS_products/MODIS_snow/.

  7. The U.S. Federal Highway Administration winter Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pisano, P.A. [Federal Highway Administration, Road Weather Managment Program, Washington, D.C. (United States); Stern, A.D. [Mitretek Systems, Inc., Oceanic, Atmospheric and Space Systems, Falls Church, VA (United States); Mahoney, W.P. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Research Applications Program, Boulder, CO (United States)

    2004-07-01

    Managing a winter maintenance program today is an increasingly complex endeavor. Just making sure that a plow blade is at the ready when the first flake falls is only a small part of the task. With tight budgets and the high expectation of the public for keeping roads clear of snow and ice, today's maintenance manager has to be able to handle multiple tasks or risk getting behind the onslaught of winter weather. Good information leads to effective practices, however all of the regulations concerning chemical applications, environmental impacts and multiple, often contradictory weather forecasts can lead to information overload. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recognized this potential problem in the late 1990's as part of its Road Weather Management (RWM) program. Generally speaking, there were plenty of weather forecasts, along with a few companies that issued road-specific forecasts, but there was a lack of linkage between the information available and the decisions made by winter maintenance managers. It was this weak link that became the genesis for the winter Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS). The MDSS has since matured into a functional prototype. During the winter of 2002-2003, the prototype was deployed at several maintenance garages in central Iowa for a field demonstration. This paper will document the implementation of the demonstration, a summary of lessons learned, and technology transfer activities. It will also describe plans for a longer, more comprehensive demonstration during the winter of 2003-2004. (orig.)

  8. Hydrological Modelling and data assimilation of Satellite Snow Cover Area using a Land Surface Model, VIC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Naha

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The snow cover plays an important role in Himalayan region as it contributes a useful amount to the river discharge. So, besides estimating rainfall runoff, proper assessment of snowmelt runoff for efficient management and water resources planning is also required. A Land Surface Model, VIC (Variable Infiltration Capacity is used at a high resolution grid size of 1 km. Beas river basin up to Thalot in North West Himalayas (NWH have been selected as the study area. At first model setup is done and VIC has been run in its energy balance mode. The fluxes obtained from VIC has been routed to simulate the discharge for the time period of (2003-2006. Data Assimilation is done for the year 2006 and the techniques of Data Assimilation considered in this study are Direct Insertion (D.I and Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF that uses observations of snow covered area (SCA to update hydrologic model states. The meteorological forcings were taken from 0.5 deg. resolution VIC global forcing data from 1979-2006 with daily maximum temperature, minimum temperature from Climate Research unit (CRU, rainfall from daily variability of NCEP and wind speed from NCEP-NCAR analysis as main inputs and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD data of 0.25 °. NBSSLUP soil map and land use land cover map of ISRO-GBP project for year 2014 were used for generating the soil parameters and vegetation parameters respectively. The threshold temperature i.e. the minimum rain temperature is -0.5°C and maximum snow temperature is about +0.5°C at which VIC can generate snow fluxes. Hydrological simulations were done using both NCEP and IMD based meteorological Forcing datasets, but very few snow fluxes were obtained using IMD data met forcing, whereas NCEP based met forcing has given significantly better snow fluxes throughout the simulation years as the temperature resolution as given by IMD data is 0.5°C and rainfall resolution of 0.25°C. The simulated discharge has been validated

  9. Early thawing after snow removal and no straw mulching accelerates organic carbon cycling in a paddy soil in Northeast China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hao; Tang, Jie; Liang, Shuang; Li, Zhaoyang; Wang, Jingjing; Wang, Sining

    2018-03-01

    Variations in soil organic carbon (SOC) have implications for atmospheric CO 2 concentrations and the greenhouse effect. However, the effects of snow cover and straw mulching on the variations in SOC fractions across winter remain largely unknown. In this study, soil samples were collected during different stages of winter from an in situ experiment comprising three treatments: 1) snow removal with no straw mulching (Sn-SM-); 2) snow cover with no straw mulching (SC), and; 3) snow cover with straw mulching (SC + SM+). Results showed that labile organic carbon, semi-labile organic carbon, recalcitrant organic carbon (ROC), the light fraction of organic carbon (LFOC), and easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC) contents did not vary significantly (P > .05) during the unfrozen to hard frost stages. Compared to the unfrozen stage, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) contents decreased by 519.03 mg kg -1 , 325.21 mg kg -1 , and 244.09 mg kg -1 and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contents increased by 473.36 mg kg -1 , 348.10 mg kg -1 , and 258.89 mg kg -1  at the hard frost stage in Sn-SM-, SC, and SC + SM + treatments, respectively. Throughout all thawing stages, > 61% and 59% of SOC and ROC accumulation, respectively in the three treatments were observed in thawing stage II, indicating that higher temperatures and microbial activities in thawing stage II accelerated the inputs of SOC and ROC. ROC accumulation accounted for >65% of the SOC accumulation and the proportions of ROC in SOC increased in the three treatments during the thawing stages. SC + SM + treatment maintained lower EOC contents during thawing stages than other treatments. The observation of lowest SOC and LFOC accumulation and contents in the SC + SM + treatment during thawing stages showed that SC + SM + experienced the least inputs of SOC in the soil. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Temporally delineated sources of major chemical species in high Arctic snow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. M. Macdonald

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Long-range transport of aerosol from lower latitudes to the high Arctic may be a significant contributor to climate forcing in the Arctic. To identify the sources of key contaminants entering the Canadian High Arctic an intensive campaign of snow sampling was completed at Alert, Nunavut, from September 2014 to June 2015. Fresh snow samples collected every few days were analyzed for black carbon, major ions, and metals, and this rich data set provided an opportunity for a temporally refined source apportionment of snow composition via positive matrix factorization (PMF in conjunction with FLEXPART (FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model potential emission sensitivity analysis. Seven source factors were identified: sea salt, crustal metals, black carbon, carboxylic acids, nitrate, non-crustal metals, and sulfate. The sea salt and crustal factors showed good agreement with expected composition and primarily northern sources. High loadings of V and Se onto Factor 2, crustal metals, was consistent with expected elemental ratios, implying these metals were not primarily anthropogenic in origin. Factor 3, black carbon, was an acidic factor dominated by black carbon but with some sulfate contribution over the winter-haze season. The lack of K+ associated with this factor, a Eurasian source, and limited known forest fire events coincident with this factor's peak suggested a predominantly anthropogenic combustion source. Factor 4, carboxylic acids, was dominated by formate and acetate with a moderate correlation to available sunlight and an oceanic and North American source. A robust identification of this factor was not possible; however, atmospheric photochemical reactions, ocean microlayer reaction, and biomass burning were explored as potential contributors. Factor 5, nitrate, was an acidic factor dominated by NO3−, with a likely Eurasian source and mid-winter peak. The isolation of NO3− on a separate factor may reflect its complex atmospheric

  11. Mapping snow depth in alpine terrain with remotely piloted aerial systems and structure-from-motion photogrammetry - first results from a pilot study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Marc; Fromm, Reinhard; Bühler, Yves; Bösch, Ruedi; Ginzler, Christian

    2016-04-01

    Detailed information on the spatio-temporal distribution of seasonal snow in the alpine terrain plays a major role for the hydrological cycle, natural hazard management, flora and fauna, as well as tourism. Current methods are mostly only valid on a regional scale or require a trade-off between the data's availability, cost and resolution. During a one-year pilot study, we investigated the potential of remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS) and structure-from-motion photogrammetry for snow depth mapping. We employed multi-copter and fixed-wing RPAS, equipped with different low-cost, off-the shelf sensors, at four test sites in Austria and Switzerland. Over 30 flights were performed during the winter 2014/15, where different camera settings, filters and lenses, as well as data collection routines were tested. Orthophotos and digital surface models (DSM) where calculated from the imagery using structure-from-motion photogrammetry software. Snow height was derived by subtracting snow-free from snow-covered DSMs. The RPAS-results were validated against data collected using a variety of well-established remote sensing (i.e. terrestrial laser scanning, large frame aerial sensors) and in-situ measurement techniques. The results show, that RPAS i) are able to map snow depth within accuracies of 0.07-0.15 m root mean square error (RMSE), when compared to traditional in-situ data; ii) can be operated at lower cost, easier repeatability, less operational constraints and higher GSD than large frame aerial sensors on-board manned aircraft, while achieving significantly higher accuracies; iii) are able to acquire meaningful data even under harsh environmental conditions above 2000 m a.s.l. (turbulence, low temperature and high irradiance, low air density). While providing a first prove-of-concept, the study also showed future challenges and limitations of RPAS-based snow depth mapping, including a high dependency on correct co-registration of snow-free and snow-covered height

  12. Snow darkening caused by black carbon emitted from fires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engels, Jessica; Kloster, Silvia; Bourgeois, Quentin

    2014-05-01

    We implemented the effect of snow darkening caused by black carbon (BC) emitted from forest fires into the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Earth System Model (MPI-M ESM) to estimate its potential climate impact of present day fire occurrence. Considerable amounts of black carbon emitted from fires are transported into snow covered regions. Already very small quantities of black carbon reduce the snow reflectance, with consequences for snow melting and snow spatial coverage. Therefore, the SNICAR (SNow And Ice Radiation) model (Flanner and Zender (2005)) is implemented in the land surface component (JSBACH) of the atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM6, developed at the MPI-M. The SNICAR model includes amongst other processes a complex calculation of the snow albedo depending on black carbon in snow and snow grain growth depending on water vapor fluxes for a five layer snow scheme. For the implementation of the SNICAR model into the one layer scheme of ECHAM6-JSBACH, we used the SNICAR-online version (http://snow.engin.umich.edu). This single-layer simulator provides the albedo of snow for selectable combinations of impurity content (e.g. black carbon), snow grain size, and incident solar flux characteristics. From this scheme we derived snow albedo values for black carbon in snow concentrations ranging between 0 and 1500 ng(BC)/g(snow) and for different snow grain sizes for the visible (0.3 - 0.7 µm) and near infrared range (0.7 - 1.5 µm). As snow grains grow over time, we assign different snow ages to different snow grain sizes (50, 150, 500, and 1000 µm). Here, a radius of 50 µm corresponds to new snow, whereas a radius of 1000 µm corresponds to old snow. The required snow age is taken from the BATS (Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer Scheme, Dickinson et al. (1986)) snow albedo implementation in ECHAM6-JSBACH. Here, we will present an extended evaluation of the model including a comparison of modeled black carbon in snow concentrations to observed

  13. Impact of Santiago de Chile urban atmospheric pollution on anthropogenic trace elements enrichment in snow precipitation at Cerro Colorado, Central Andes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cereceda-Balic, F.; Palomo-Marín, M. R.; Bernalte, E.; Vidal, V.; Christie, J.; Fadic, X.; Guevara, J. L.; Miro, C.; Pinilla Gil, E.

    2012-02-01

    Seasonal snow precipitation in the Andes mountain range is evaluated as an environmental indicator of the composition of atmospheric emissions in Santiago de Chile metropolitan area, by measuring a set of representative trace elements in snow samples by ICP-MS. Three late winter sampling campaigns (2003, 2008 and 2009) were conducted in three sampling areas around Cerro Colorado, a Central Andes mountain range sector NE of Santiago (36 km). Nevados de Chillán, a sector in The Andes located about 500 km south from the metropolitan area, was selected as a reference area. The experimental results at Cerro Colorado and Nevados de Chillán were compared with previously published data of fresh snow from remote and urban background sites. High snow concentrations of a range of anthropogenic marker elements were found at Cerro Colorado, probably derived from Santiago urban aerosol transport and deposition combined with the effect of mining and smelting activities in the area, whereas Nevados de Chillán levels roughly correspond to urban background areas. Enhanced concentrations in surface snow respect to deeper samples are discussed. Significant differences found between the 2003, 2008 and 2009 anthropogenic source markers profiles at Cerro Colorado sampling points were correlated with changes in emission sources at the city. The preliminary results obtained in this study, the first of this kind in the southern hemisphere, show promising use of snow precipitation in the Central Andes as a suitable matrix for receptor model studies aimed at identifying and quantifying pollution sources in Santiago de Chile.

  14. Snow cover monitoring model and change over both time and space in pastoral area of northern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Yan; Li, Suju; Wang, Ping; Zhang, Wei; Nie, Juan; Wen, Qi

    2014-11-01

    Snow disaster is a natural phenomenon owning to widespread snowfall for a long time and usually affect people's life, property and economic. During the whole disaster management circle, snow disaster in pastoral area of northern china which including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Tibet has been paid more attention. Thus do a good job in snow cover monitoring then found snow disaster in time can help the people in disaster area to take effective rescue measures, which always been the central and local government great important work. Remote sensing has been used widely in snow cover monitoring for its wide range, high efficiency, less conditions, more methods and large information. NOAA/AVHRR data has been used for wide range, plenty bands information and timely acquired and act as an import data of Snow Cover Monitoring Model (SCMM). SCMM including functions list below: First after NOAA/AVHRR data has been acquired, geometric calibration, radiometric calibration and other pre-processing work has been operated. Second after band operation, four threshold conditions are used to extract snow spectrum information among water, cloud and other features in NOAA/AVHRR image. Third snow cover information has been analyzed one by one and the maximum snow cover from about twenty images in a week has been selected. Then selected image has been mosaic which covered the pastoral area of China. At last both time and space analysis has been carried out through this operational model ,such as analysis on the difference between this week and the same period of last year , this week and last week in three level regional. SCMM have been run successfully for three years, and the results have been take into account as one of the three factors which led to risk warning of snow disaster and analysis results from it always play an important role in disaster reduction and relief.

  15. Snow Cover Mapping at the Continental to Global Scale Using Combined Visible and Passive Microwave Satellite Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, R. L.; Brodzik, M.; Savoie, M. H.

    2007-12-01

    Over the past several decades both visible and passive microwave satellite data have been utilized for snow mapping at the continental to global scale. Snow mapping using visible data has been based primarily on the magnitude of the surface reflectance, and in more recent cases on specific spectral signatures, while microwave data can be used to identify snow cover because the microwave energy emitted by the underlying soil is scattered by the snow grains resulting in a sharp decrease in brightness temperature and a characteristic negative spectral gradient. Both passive microwave and visible data sets indicate a similar pattern of inter-annual variability, although the maximum snow extents derived from the microwave data are consistently less than those provided by the visible satellite data and the visible data typically show higher monthly variability. We describe the respective problems as well as the advantages and disadvantages of these two types of satellite data for snow cover mapping and demonstrate how a multi-sensor approach is optimal. For the period 1978 to present we combine data from the NOAA weekly snow charts with snow cover derived from the SMMR and SSM/I brightness temperature data. For the period since 2002 we blend NASA EOS MODIS and AMSR-E data sets. Our current product incorporates MODIS data from the Climate Modelers Grid (CMG) at approximately 5 km (0.05 deg.) with microwave-derived snow water equivalent (SWE) at 25 km, resulting in a blended product that includes percent snow cover in the larger grid cell whenever the microwave SWE signal is absent. Validation of AMSR-E at the brightness temperature level is provided through the comparison with data from the well-calibrated heritage SSM/I sensor over large homogeneous snow-covered surfaces (e.g. Dome C region, Antarctica). We also describe how the application of the higher frequency microwave channels (85 and 89 GHz)enhances accurate mapping of shallow and intermittent snow cover.

  16. Large projected increases in rain-on-snow flood potential over western North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musselman, K. N.; Ikeda, K.; Barlage, M. J.; Lehner, F.; Liu, C.; Newman, A. J.; Prein, A. F.; Mizukami, N.; Gutmann, E. D.; Clark, M. P.; Rasmussen, R.

    2017-12-01

    In the western US and Canada, some of the largest annual flood events occur when warm storm systems drop substantial rainfall on extensive snow-cover. For example, last winter's Oroville dam crisis in California was exacerbated by rapid snowmelt during a rain-on-snow (ROS) event. We present an analysis of ROS events with flood-generating potential over western North America simulated at high-resolution by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model run for both a 13-year control time period and re-run with a `business-as-usual' future (2071-2100) climate scenario. Daily ROS with flood-generating potential is defined as rainfall of at least 10 mm per day falling on snowpack of at least 10 mm water equivalent, where the sum of rainfall and snowmelt contains at least 20% snowmelt. In a warmer climate, ROS is less frequent in regions where it is historically common, and more frequent elsewhere. This is evidenced by large simulated reductions in snow-cover and ROS frequency at lower elevations, particularly in warmer, coastal regions, and greater ROS frequency at middle elevations and in inland regions. The same trend is reflected in the annual-average ROS runoff volume (rainfall + snowmelt) aggregated to major watersheds; large reductions of 25-75% are projected for much of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, while large increases are simulated for the Colorado River basin, western Canada, and the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. In the warmer climate, snowmelt contributes substantially less to ROS runoff per unit rainfall, particularly in inland regions. The reduction in snowmelt contribution is due to a shift in ROS timing from warm spring events to cooler winter conditions and/or from warm, lower elevations to cool, higher elevations. However, the slower snowmelt is offset by an increase in rainfall intensity, maintaining the flood potential of ROS at or above historical levels. In fact, we report large projected increases in the intensity of extreme ROS events

  17. Early results from NASA's SnowEx campaign

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Edward; Gatebe, Charles; Hall, Dorothy; Misakonis, Amy; Elder, Kelly; Marshall, Hans Peter; Hiemstra, Chris; Brucker, Ludovic; Crawford, Chris; Kang, Do Hyuk; De Marco, Eugenia; Beckley, Matt; Entin, Jared

    2017-04-01

    SnowEx is a multi-year airborne snow campaign with the primary goal of addressing the question: How much water is stored in Earth's terrestrial snow-covered regions? Year 1 (2016-17) focuses on the distribution of snow-water equivalent (SWE) and the snow energy balance in a forested environment. The year 1 primary site is Grand Mesa and the secondary site is the Senator Beck Basin, both in western, Colorado, USA. Ten core sensors on four core aircraft will make observations using a broad suite of airborne sensors including active and passive microwave, and active and passive optical/infrared sensing techniques to determine the sensitivity and accuracy of these potential satellite remote sensing techniques, along with models, to measure snow under a range of forest conditions. SnowEx also includes an extensive range of ground truth measurements—in-situ samples, snow pits, ground based remote sensing measurements, and sophisticated new techniques. A detailed description of the data collected will be given and some early results will be presented. Seasonal snow cover is the largest single component of the cryosphere in areal extent (covering an average of 46M km2 of Earth's surface (31 % of land areas) each year). This seasonal snow has major societal impacts in the areas of water resources, natural hazards (floods and droughts), water security, and weather and climate. The only practical way to estimate the quantity of snow on a consistent global basis is through satellites. Yet, current space-based techniques underestimate storage of snow water equivalent (SWE) by as much as 50%, and model-based estimates can differ greatly vs. estimates based on remotely-sensed observations. At peak coverage, as much as half of snow-covered terrestrial areas involve forested areas, so quantifying the challenge represented by forests is important to plan any future snow mission. Single-sensor approaches may work for certain snow types and certain conditions, but not for others

  18. Ultraviolet radiation and the snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis (Bauer) Wille.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorton, Holly L; Vogelmann, Thomas C

    2003-06-01

    Aplanospores of Chlamydomonas nivalis are frequently found in high-altitude, persistent snowfields where they are photosynthetically active despite cold temperatures and high levels of visible and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The goals of this work were to characterize the UV environment of the cells in the snow and to investigate the existence and localization of screening compounds that might prevent UV damage. UV irradiance decreased precipitously in snow, with UV radiation of wavelengths 280-315 nm and UV radiation of wavelengths 315-400 nm dropping to 50% of incident levels in the top 1 and 2 cm, respectively. Isolated cell walls exhibited UV absorbance, possibly by sporopollenin, but this absorbance was weak in images of broken or plasmolyzed cells observed through a UV microscope. The cells also contained UV-absorbing cytoplasmic compounds, with the extrachloroplastic carotenoid astaxanthin providing most of the screening. Additional screening compound(s) soluble in aqueous methanol with an absorption maximum at 335 nm played a minor role. Thus, cells are protected against potentially high levels of UV radiation by the snow itself when they live several centimeters beneath the surface, and they rely on cellular screening compounds, chiefly astaxanthin, when located near the surface where UV fluxes are high.

  19. Snow cover as a source of technogenic pollution of surface water during the snow melting period

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Labuzova Olga

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The study of pollutants in melt water of snow cover and snow disposal sites in the city of Barnaul showed that during the snow melting period the surface water is not subjected to significant technogenic impact according to a number of studied indices. The oils content is an exception: it can exceed MAC more than 20 times in river- water due to the melting of city disposal sites. Environmental damage due to an oils input into water resources during the snow melting period can be more than 300000 thousand rubles.

  20. Improved simulation of Antarctic sea ice due to the radiative effects of falling snow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, J.-L. F.; Richardson, Mark; Hong, Yulan; Lee, Wei-Liang; Wang, Yi-Hui; Yu, Jia-Yuh; Fetzer, Eric; Stephens, Graeme; Liu, Yinghui

    2017-08-01

    Southern Ocean sea-ice cover exerts critical control on local albedo and Antarctic precipitation, but simulated Antarctic sea-ice concentration commonly disagrees with observations. Here we show that the radiative effects of precipitating ice (falling snow) contribute substantially to this discrepancy. Many models exclude these radiative effects, so they underestimate both shortwave albedo and downward longwave radiation. Using two simulations with the climate model CESM1, we show that including falling-snow radiative effects improves the simulations relative to cloud properties from CloudSat-CALIPSO, radiation from CERES-EBAF and sea-ice concentration from passive microwave sensors. From 50-70°S, the simulated sea-ice-area bias is reduced by 2.12 × 106 km2 (55%) in winter and by 1.17 × 106 km2 (39%) in summer, mainly because increased wintertime longwave heating restricts sea-ice growth and so reduces summer albedo. Improved Antarctic sea-ice simulations will increase confidence in projected Antarctic sea level contributions and changes in global warming driven by long-term changes in Southern Ocean feedbacks.