Prediction of seasonal snow accumulation in cold climate forests

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 3543-3558 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Pomeroy ◽  
D. M. Gray ◽  
N. R. Hedstrom ◽  
J. R. Janowicz
Keyword(s):  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Seasonal Snow

scholarly journals Field Study of Mass Balance, and Hydrology of the West Khangri Nup Glacier (Khumbu, Everest)

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 433
Author(s):  
Daniele Bocchiola ◽  
Giovanni Martino Bombelli ◽  
Federica Camin ◽  
Paolo Maria Ossi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
High Altitudes ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Hydrological Fluxes ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Ice Water

The depiction of glaciers’ dynamics in the high altitudes of Himalaya and the hydrological fluxes therein is often limited. Although sparse seasonal (snow/ice) melt data may be available, dense precipitation networks are not available everywhere, and especially in the highest area, and the assessment of accumulation processes and mass balance may be difficult. Hydrological fluxes are little measured in the high altitudes, and few studies are available covering flow modeling and flow partitioning. Here, we investigate the snow accumulation, ice melt, and mass balance of West Khangri Nup (WKN) glacier (0.23 km2, mean altitude 5494 m asl), which is a part of the Khumbu glacier in the Everest region, where information of precipitation and hydro-glaciological dynamics in the highest altitudes was made available recently in fulfillment of several research projects. Weather, glaciological, snow pits, hydrologic, and isotopic data gathered during field campaigns (2010–2014) on the glacier and at the EVK2CNR Pyramid site were used to (i) set up the Poli-Hydro glacio-hydrological model to describe ice and snow melt and hydrological flows from the glacier, and (ii) investigate seasonal snow dynamics on this high region of the glacier. Coupling ice ablation data and Poli-Hydro simulation for ca. 5 years (January 2010–June 2014), we estimate that the WKN depleted ca. −10.46 m of ice water equivalent per year m IWE year−1 (i.e., annually ca. −2.32 meter of water equivalent per year m WE year−1). Then, using snowpack density and isotopic (δ18O) profiles on the WKN, we demonstrate that the local snowpack is recent (Fall–Winter 2013–2014) and that significant snow accumulation did not occur recently, so this area has not been a significant one of accumulation recently. Analysis of recent snow cover from LANDSAT images also confirms snow dynamics as depicted. Our study presents original data and results, and it complements present studies covering glaciers’ mass balance as well as an investigation of accumulation zones in the Everest region and the Himalayas, which is also potentially helpful in the assessment of future dynamics under ongoing climate change.

scholarly journals Isotopic Composition of Glacier Ice and Meltwater in the Arid Parts of the Altai Mountains (Central Asia)

Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 252
Author(s):  
Dmitriy Bantcev ◽  
Dmitriy Ganyushkin ◽  
Anton Terekhov ◽  
Alexey Ekaykin ◽  
Igor Tokarev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Isotopic Separation

The objective of this study is to reveal the isotopic composition of ice and meltwater in glaciated regions of South-Eastern Altai. The paper depicts differences between the isotopic composition of glacier ice from several types of glaciers and from various locations. Detected differences between the isotopic composition of glacier ice in diversified parts of the study region are related to local climate patterns. Isotopic composition of meltwater and isotopic separation for glacier rivers runoff showed that in the Tavan-Bogd massif, seasonal snow participates more in the formation of glacier runoff due to better conditions for snow accumulation on the surface of glaciers. In other research areas pure glacier meltwater prevails in runoff.

scholarly journals From Extremely Water-Repellent Coatings to Passive Icing Protection—Principles, Limitations and Innovative Application Aspects

Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karekin D. Esmeryan
Keyword(s):  
Primary Objective ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Solid Surfaces ◽  
Water Repellent ◽  
Ice Accretion ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Engineering Sciences ◽  
High Voltage Power Lines

The severe environmental conditions in winter seasons and/or cold climate regions cause many inconveniences in our routine daily-life, related to blocked road infrastructure, interrupted overhead telecommunication, internet and high-voltage power lines or cancelled flights due to excessive ice and snow accumulation. With the tremendous and nature-inspired development of physical, chemical and engineering sciences in the last few decades, novel strategies for passively combating the atmospheric and condensation icing have been put forward. The primary objective of this review is to reveal comprehensively the major physical mechanisms regulating the ice accretion on solid surfaces and summarize the most important scientific breakthroughs in the field of functional icephobic coatings. Following this framework, the present article introduces the most relevant concepts used to understand the incipiency of ice nuclei at solid surfaces and the pathways of water freezing, considers the criteria that a given material has to meet in order to be labelled as icephobic and clarifies the modus operandi of superhydrophobic (extremely water-repellent) coatings for passive icing protection. Finally, the limitations of existing superhydrophobic/icephobic materials, various possibilities for their unconventional practical applicability in cryobiology and some novel hybrid anti-icing systems are discussed in detail.

scholarly journals Distribution of seasonal snow cover in central and western Himalaya

2010 ◽  
Vol 51 (54) ◽  
pp. 123-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil V. Kulkarni ◽  
B.P. Rathore ◽  
S.K. Singh ◽  
Ajai
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Western Himalaya ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Snow Line ◽  
Field Sensor ◽  
Normalized Difference Snow Index ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Seasonal Snow Cover

AbstractIndian rivers originating in the Himalaya depend on seasonal snow-cover melt during crucial summer months. The seasonal snow cover was monitored using Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) data of the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) and using the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) algorithm. The investigation was carried out for a period of 3 years (2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07) between October and June. A total of 28 sub-basins of the Ganga and Indus river basins were monitored at intervals of 5 or 10 days. Approximately 1500 AWiFS scenes were analyzed. A combination of area–altitude distribution and snow map was used to estimate the distribution of snow cover in altitude zones for the individual basins and for the western and central Himalaya. Hypsographic curve and snow-free area was used to estimate monthly snow-line elevation. The lowest snow-line altitude in the winters of 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07 was observed at 2480 ma.s.l. on 25 February 2005. In Ravi basin for the year 2004/05, snow accumulation and ablation were continuous processes throughout the winter. Even in the middle of winter, the snow area was reduced from 90% to 55%. Similar trends were observed for 2005/06 and 2007/08. In Bhaga basin, snowmelt was observed in the early part of the winter, i.e. in December, and no significant melting was observed between January and April.

Trends in snowmelt rates over Europe inferred from historical snow depth observations converted to SWE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrià Fontrodona-Bach ◽  
Josh Larsen ◽  
Ross Woods ◽  
Bettina Schaefli ◽  
Ryan Teuling
Keyword(s):  
Snow Depth ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Climate Trends ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Spatially Inhomogeneous

<p>There is strong evidence that rising temperatures mostly lead to less snow accumulation and to an earlier melt onset. However, changes in the frequency and intensity of snowmelt events remain unclear. While higher temperatures should intuitively lead to faster snowmelt, some studies find that melt rates are slower because the melt onset occurs earlier in the year when less energy is available for melt. Modelling of these snow dynamics is challenged by a lack of continuous observations on water content of the snowpack, the highly sought after SWE. However, high quality observations of snow depth can be more available in both space and time, even at higher altitudes. Therefore, an increasing number of models try to estimate SWE from snow depth and other variables. Here we first investigate if these models accurately reproduce the snow accumulation and melt dynamics, and to what extent they can be used for hydrological studies. We then convert a long-term pan-European snow depth dataset to SWE by making use of these models and we assess model performance. Historical trends of snowmelt rates, melt onset, and frequency and intensity of melt events are shown for several seasonal snow locations across Europe. Trends across a variety of timescales are generally weak and spatially inhomogeneous, suggesting local conditions dominate over regional climate trends. However, it seems that under the current climate change conditions, the decrease of snowpack depth over most of Europe causes snowpacks to melt faster (i.e. in less days) than before. </p>

scholarly journals Determination of snowmaking efficiency on a ski slope from observations and modelling of snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 891-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Spandre ◽  
Hugues François ◽  
Emmanuel Thibert ◽  
Samuel Morin ◽  
Emmanuelle George-Marcelpoil
Keyword(s):  
Water Mass ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Differential Gps ◽  
Current Case ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Ski Resorts ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Snow Conditions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The production of Machine Made (MM) snow is now generalized in ski resorts and represents the most common method of adaptation for mitigating the impact of a lack of snow on skiing. Most investigations of correlations between snow conditions and the ski industry's economy focus on the production of MM snow though not one of these has taken into account the efficiency of the snowmaking process. The present study consists of observations of snow conditions (depth and mass) using a Differential GPS method and snow density coring, following snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation in Les Deux Alpes ski resort (French Alps). A detailed physically based snowpack model accounting for grooming and snowmaking was used to compute the seasonal evolution of the snowpack and compared to the observations. Our results show that approximately 30 % of the water mass can be recovered as MM snow within 10 m from the center of a MM snow pile after production and 50 % within 20 m. Observations and simulations on the ski slope were relatively consistent with 60 % (±10 %) of the water mass used for snowmaking within the limits of the ski slope. Losses due to thermodynamic effects were estimated in the current case example to be less than 10 % of the total water mass. These results suggest that even in ideal conditions for production a significant fraction of the water used for snowmaking can not be found as MM snow within the limits of the ski slope with most of the missing fraction of water. This is due to site dependent characteristics (e.g. meteorological conditions, topography).

scholarly journals Nested Threshold Autoregressive (NeTAR) Models for Studying Sources of Nonlinearity in Streamflows

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 323-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Astatkie ◽  
W.E. Watt ◽  
D.G. Watts
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Threshold Autoregressive ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Oldman River ◽  
Daily Flows

Historical development of nonlinear stochastic modeling of streamflows is discussed. Physical considerations and graphical investigations of daily streamflows revealed that air temperature and state of basin storage are the most important sources of nonlinearity in catchments with seasonal snow accumulation. The average temperature for the preceding three days, and the flow one or two days earlier were adequate proxies for the temperature and storage conditions of a catchment. The Nested Threshold Autoregressive (NeTAR) model, which considers these sources of nonlinearity simultaneously, was applied to two years of daily flows of the Oldman River near Brocket in Alberta, Canada. A third year of daily data was used for validating the model. The final NeTAR model provided useful insights into the dynamics of this streamflow system.

scholarly journals Development of the Surface Urban Energy and Water balance Scheme (SUEWS) for cold climate cities

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1063-1114 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Järvi ◽  
C. S. B. Grimmond ◽  
M. Taka ◽  
A. Nordbo ◽  
H. Setälä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Snow Melting ◽  
Urban Energy

Abstract. The Surface Urban Energy and Water balance Scheme (SUEWS) is developed to include snow. The processes addressed include accumulation of snow on the different urban surface types; snow albedo and density aging; snow melting and re-freezing of melt water. Individual model parameters are assessed and independently evaluated using long-term observations in two cold climate cities, Helsinki and Montreal. Eddy covariance sensible and latent heat fluxes and snow depth observations are available for two sites in Montreal and one in Helsinki. Surface runoff from two catchments (24 and 45 ha) in Helsinki and snow properties (albedo and density) from two sites in Montreal are also analysed. As multiple observation sites with different land-cover characteristics are available in both cities, model development is conducted independently of evaluation. The developed model simulates snowmelt related runoff well (within 10% and 6% for the two catchments in Helsinki when there is snow on the ground), with the springtime peak estimated correctly. However, the observed runoff peaks tend to be smoother than the simulated ones, likely due to the water holding capacity of the catchments and the missing time lag between the catchment and the observation point in the model. At all three sites the model simulates snow accumulation and melt events well, but underestimates snow depth by 18–20% in Helsinki and 29–33% in Montreal. The model is able to reproduce the diurnal pattern of net radiation and turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat during cold snow, melting snow and snow free periods. Largest model uncertainties are related to the melting period. The results show that the enhanced model can correctly simulate the exchange of energy and water in cold climate cities, and is appropriate to be nested in a larger scale atmospheric model or used independently for urban planning.

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