Trends in average snow depth across the western United States
Altitude ; Climatic warming ; Mountain ; Observation network ; Ocean atmosphere interaction ; Seasonal variation ; Snow ; Temperature ; United States of America ; Western United States
A network of cooperative observation stations was used to examine trends in average snow depth across the western United States. This station network includes a greater number of low- to moderate-elevation stations, where the snow is particularly
sensitive to temperature changes, than the snow course and SNOTEL datasets used in other studies. Results indicate a widespread decrease in snow depth across the region. Elevation is a key factor in explaining the spatial pattern of snow depth trends across
the region. Pacific climate indices, including the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and North Pacific Index (NPI), are shown to have important but spatially varying influences upon average seasonal snow depths.
Balkans ; Glacier ; Lichenometry ; Little ice age ; Montenegro ; Moraine ; Nineteenth Century ; Palaeo-environment ; Palaeoclimate ; Slope exposure ; Snow ; Temperature ; Topoclimate
This paper examines evidence for glacier change over the past 150 years in the Durmitor massif in Montenegro. The AA. have 3 main aims : 1) examine evidence for recent glaciers and perennial snow patches in the high cirques of the Durmitor massif; 2
) examine the timing of moraine and pronival rampart building in these high cirques using lichenometry; 3) reconstruct the characteristics of the former glaciers and snow patches and assess the local topoclimatic controls (windblown and avalanching snow
Distribution and frequency of snow-avalanche debris transfer in the distal part of colluvial cones in Central North Iceland
Avalanche ; Dating ; Erratic boulder ; Iceland ; Lichenometry ; Slope deposit ; Snow ; Spatial distribution
This paper emphasizes the importance of studying diffuse rock debris accumulation in the far distal part of colluvial cones with the aim of defining the spatial distribution and frequency of extreme snow avalanches. The field based methods used
in this study confirm the snow avalanche origin of these deposits. A relative age of the deposits is obtained by assessing the vegetation cover of the boulder surfaces and by measuring the rock hardness using a Schmidt hammer. The AA. conclude that there were
frequent extreme snow avalanches which have occurred since the Little Ice Age, and that they have decreased in magnitude during the past decade.
The research presented assesses the spatial variability to the physical and chemical properties of snow cover near the ArcelorMittal Poland steel plant in Kraków. Analysis of snow samples collected at 40 different sampling sites. Revealed
that dissolved solids were present at six times the concentration in snow 2 km as opposed to 8 km from the steel plant (0.98 v 0.16 meq•dm-3). Reaction ranged from moderately alkaline (8.54 pH max) in snow 2 km from the plant to moderately acidic (4.87 pHmin
) at a distance of 8 km. Overall, the spatial variability to snow characteristics (e.g. Ca2+, Mg2+) exhibited a concentric pattern around the steel plant, albeit with a tendency towards elongation in an easterly direction (pH, F-). Ca2+, Mg2+, and SO42
Spatio-temporal reconstruction of snow avalanche activity using tree rings : Pierres Jean Jeanne avalanche talus, Massif de l'Oisans, France
Avalanche ; Climatic data ; Dendrogeomorphology ; Dendrology ; France ; Hautes-Alpes ; Natural hazards ; Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ; Snow ; Spatial analysis ; Temperature ; Twentieth Century
Mill.) with clear signs of snow wasting events was analyzed and growth disturbances (GD) related to avalanche activity was assessed. In total, 901 GD were identified in the tree-ring samples, indicating that 20 high-magnitude avalanches occurred between
AD 1919 and 1994. The distribution of avalanche years seems to be quite homogeneous in time with a gap between 1951 and 1959 and since 1994. Findings suggest that a strong snow metamorphism under high temperature gradients in January could explain
Climate reconstruction ; Data ; Idaho ; Interannual variability ; Meltwater ; Snow ; Snow cover ; Stream flow ; Time series ; Twentieth Century ; United States of America ; Watershed
Asian part of Russia ; Climatic anomaly ; Climatic variability ; Periglacial features ; Permafrost ; Sakha ; Snow ; Soil moisture ; Soil temperature ; The 2000's
The positive trend in soil temperature-moisture relations was observed at monitoring sites in the Yakutsk area, regardless of vegetation and soil type. The increase in soil temperature appears to have started in response to the large amounts of snow
that accumulated in the winter of 2004. The consecutive positive anomalies of snow depth and rainfall, which occurred widely in the central and southern Lena River basin during the folowing three years, increased soil moisture and appear to have altered the active
Active layer ; Alps (The) ; Infiltration ; Meltwater ; Model ; Mountain ; Periglacial features ; Permafrost ; Snow cover ; Soil temperature ; Switzerland
A coupled heat and mass transfer model simulating mass and energy balance of the soil-snow-atmosphere boundary layer was applied to simulate ground temperatures, together with water and ice content evolution, in the active layer of an alpine
process in the model. This process is constrained by initial ground temperatures, infiltrability and the availability of meltwater from the snow cover.