Snow Distribution at a High Arctic Site at Svalbard

2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oddbjørn Bruland ◽  
Knut Sand ◽  
Ånund Killingtveit
Keyword(s):  
Snow Depth ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Differential Gps ◽  
Detailed Measurement ◽  
Distribution Mapping ◽  
Survey System ◽  
Snow Distribution ◽  
Strong Winds

In the Arctic regions snow cover has a major influence on the environment both in a hydrological and ecological context. Due to strong winds and open terrain the snow is heavily redistributed and the snow depth is quite variable. This has a significant influence on the duration of the melting season, on the possibilities of greenhouse gas exchange, the plant growing season and therefore the arctic terrestrial fauna. The aim of this study is to describe the snow depth variability by detailed measurement of snow distribution in a 3 km2 site near to Ny-Ålesund at 79° north of Svalbard and to link this to topography and climate at the location. The measurements were carried out in a grid of 100 m by 100 m cells using the SIR-2 Georadar from Geophysical Survey System Inc. (GSSI). Differential GPS was used to create a detailed Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and the snow depth data were correlated to topographic data. The average snowdepth in the area was about 70 cm with a standard deviation of 40 cm. Statistical distribution and spatial correlation for the snow depths were found. The method was found acceptable for snow distribution mapping. The main observation was the major accumulation in the west facing slopes due to easterly winds that are dominant in this area.

Modelling the snow distribution at two high arctic sites at Svalbard, Norway, and at an alpine site in central Norway

2004 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oddbjørn Bruland ◽  
Glen E. Liston ◽  
Jorien Vonk ◽  
Knut Sand ◽  
Ånund Killingtveit
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Frequency Distribution ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Snow Distribution

In Arctic regions snow cover has a major influence on the environment both in a hydrological and ecological context. Due to strong winds and open terrain the snow is heavily redistributed and the snow depth is quite variable. This has a significant influence on the snow cover depletion and the duration of the melting season. In many ways these are important parameters in the climate change aspect. They influence the land surface albedo, the possibilities of greenhouse gas exchange and the length of the plant-growing season, the latter also being important for the arctic terrestrial fauna. The aim of this study is to test to what degree a numerical model is able to recreate an observed snow distribution in sites located in Svalbard and Norway. Snow depth frequency distribution, a snow depth rank order test and the location of snowdrifts and erosion areas were used as criteria for the model performance. SnowTran-3D is the model used in this study. In order to allow for occasions during the winter with milder climate and temperatures above freezing, a snow strengthening calculation was included in the model. The model result was compared to extensive observation datasets for each site and the sensitivity of the main model parameters to the model result was tested. For all three sites, the modelled snow depth frequency distribution was highly correlated to the observed distribution and the snowdrifts and erosion areas were located correspondingly by the model to those observed at the sites.

scholarly journals Influence of Strong Winds on Snow Distribution and Avalanche Activity

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 195-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Meister
Keyword(s):  
Snow Depth ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Drift Flux ◽  
Zone Control ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Snow Distribution ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Local Range ◽  
Good Agreement

In a local range, crest winds were compared with winds at lower stations to make it possible to initiate a drift-transport model which would predict snow accumulation patterns on leeward slopes. Corrections to the model input were made after consideration of detailed drift-flux measurements in the lowest 2 m above snow surface. Good agreement was found between the total length of large avalanches in a path near the crest, the appropriate wind reading and the corrected snow-depth increments in the rupture zone. Control of medium-sized avalanches likely to cause injury to skiers can be improved with the proposed method.

scholarly journals Soil moisture, wind speed and depth hoar formation in the Arctic snowpack

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (248) ◽  
pp. 990-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLORENT DOMINE ◽  
MARIA BELKE-BREA ◽  
DENIS SARRAZIN ◽  
LAURENT ARNAUD ◽  
MATHIEU BARRERE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Strong Winds

ABSTRACTBasal depth hoar that forms in Arctic snowpacks often has a low thermal conductivity, strongly contributing to the snowpack thermal insulance and impacting the permafrost thermal regime. At Ward Hunt Island (Canadian high Arctic, 83°05′N, 74°07′W) almost no depth hoar was observed in spring 2016 despite favorable thermal conditions. We hypothesize that depth hoar formation was impeded by the combination of two factors (1) strong winds in fall that formed hard dense wind slabs where water vapor transport was slow and (2) low soil moisture that led to rapid ground cooling with no zero-curtain period, which reduced soil temperature and the temperature gradient in the snowpack. Comparisons with detailed data from the subsequent winter at Ward Hunt and from Bylot Island (73°09′N, 80°00′W) and with data from Barrow and Alert indicate that both high wind speeds after snow onset and low soil moisture are necessary to prevent Arctic depth hoar formation. The role of convection to form depth hoar is discussed. A simple preliminary strategy to parameterize depth hoar thermal conductivity in snow schemes is proposed based on wind speed and soil moisture. Finally, warming-induced vegetation growth and soil moisture increase should reduce depth hoar thermal conductivity, potentially affecting permafrost temperature.

scholarly journals Influence of Strong Winds on Snow Distribution and Avalanche Activity

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 195-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Meister
Keyword(s):  
Snow Depth ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Drift Flux ◽  
Zone Control ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Snow Distribution ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Local Range ◽  
Good Agreement

In a local range, crest winds were compared with winds at lower stations to make it possible to initiate a drift-transport model which would predict snow accumulation patterns on leeward slopes. Corrections to the model input were made after consideration of detailed drift-flux measurements in the lowest 2 m above snow surface. Good agreement was found between the total length of large avalanches in a path near the crest, the appropriate wind reading and the corrected snow-depth increments in the rupture zone. Control of medium-sized avalanches likely to cause injury to skiers can be improved with the proposed method.

scholarly journals Habitat determines plant community responses to climate change in the High Arctic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin A Mörsdorf ◽  
Elisabeth J Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Ambient Medium ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Summer Warming ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

Plant climate-responses may depend on site-specific environmental context. Using fences and open top chambers (OTCs), we enhanced snow depth (creating Ambient, Medium and Deep regimes) in Svalbard for 11 years and increased temperatures for two summers. Comparison of plant growth form abundance and diversity responses in two habitats showed that response was more limited in dry Heath than mesic Meadow. Common in both habitats was a decrease of shrub abundance and vascular plant species richness in Deep snow regimes. Bryophyte abundance increased with enhanced snow regimes in both habitats, but only up to a certain extent of snow depth in Meadow. However, for many growth forms the effects of snow enhancement were habitat-specific. In mesic Meadow the abundance of forbs and bryophytes increased with snow enhancement, but stronger so if combined with summer warming. The “bryofication”, i.e. an increased abundance of bryophytes in response to snow enhancement and summer warming, also influenced overall plant diversity in mesic Meadow. Bryophytes are species rich taxa and may respond differently than vascular plants to environmental change. We show that even the inclusion of the most common bryophytes into diversity measures may therefore determine overall plant diversity responses to environmental change in the Arctic.

Summer phytoplankton of the northern Barents Sea (75–80º N)

2019 ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
Larisa A. Pautova ◽  
Vladimir A. Silkin ◽  
Marina D. Kravchishina ◽  
Valeriy G. Yakubenko ◽  
Anna L. Chultsova
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Arctic Basin ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Alexandrium Tamarense ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Absolute Maximum ◽  
Deep Trench ◽  
Maximum Biomass

The structure of the summer planktonic communities of the Northern part of the Barents sea in the first half of August 2017 were studied. In the sea-ice melting area, the average phytoplankton biomass producing upper 50-meter layer of water reached values levels of eutrophic waters (up to 2.1 g/m3). Phytoplankton was presented by diatoms of the genera Thalassiosira and Eucampia. Maximum biomass recorded at depths of 22–52 m, the absolute maximum biomass community (5,0 g/m3) marked on the horizon of 45 m (station 5558), located at the outlet of the deep trench Franz Victoria near the West coast of the archipelago Franz Josef Land. In ice-free waters, phytoplankton abundance was low, and the weighted average biomass (8.0 mg/m3 – 123.1 mg/m3) corresponded to oligotrophic waters and lower mesotrophic waters. In the upper layers of the water population abundance was dominated by small flagellates and picoplankton from, biomass – Arctic dinoflagellates (Gymnodinium spp.) and cold Atlantic complexes (Gyrodinium lachryma, Alexandrium tamarense, Dinophysis norvegica). The proportion of Atlantic species in phytoplankton reached 75%. The representatives of warm-water Atlantic complex (Emiliania huxleyi, Rhizosolenia hebetata f. semispina, Ceratium horridum) were recorded up to 80º N, as indicators of the penetration of warm Atlantic waters into the Arctic basin. The presence of oceanic Atlantic species as warm-water and cold systems in the high Arctic indicates the strengthening of processes of “atlantificacion” in the region.

POLAR LOW DETECTION USING SOLAB SIOWS ARCTIC PORTAL

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Mashtaler ◽  
Olga Mashtaler ◽  
Alexander Myasoedov ◽  
Alexander Myasoedov ◽  
Elizaveta Zabolotskikh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Model Development ◽  
Sharp Decrease ◽  
Open Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Polar Lows ◽  
Statistical Regularities ◽  
Meteorological Observations ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Synthetic Aperture Radars

The relevance of the polar lows (PLs) research is justified by their great destructive power and creation of threat to the safety of navigation in the high latitudes and along the Northern Sea Route. The most dangerous effects on maritime activities are strong winds, waves and icing. In addition, the study of the PLs acquires relevance due to the sharp decrease of the sea ice area in the Arctic in recent years and the emergence of areas of open water, suitable for the appearance and development of PLs. However, despite the importance of PLs, they are apparently not sufficiently studied. As there are no meteorological observations in the areas of their appearance, the main source of information about them are satellite observations. By using images on the SOLab SIOWS Arctic Portal from multiple satellites operating in the IR and visible ranges (e.g., MODIS and AVHRR), and using near-water wind fields from high resolution synthetic aperture radars (Sentine-1, ASAR) and low resolution scatterometers (ASCAT), we identify polar lows in various parts of the Arctic, revealing statistical regularities in the appearance of PLs, their distribution and intensity. Collected database of Pls and their characteristics will be used for further PLs forecasting model development.

scholarly journals Retrieval of Snow Depth over Arctic Sea Ice Using a Deep Neural Network

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 2864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiping Liu ◽  
Yuanyuan Zhang ◽  
Xiao Cheng ◽  
Yongyun Hu
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Deep Neural Network ◽  
Arctic Basin ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Thickness ◽  
Arctic Sea

The accurate knowledge of spatial and temporal variations of snow depth over sea ice in the Arctic basin is important for understanding the Arctic energy budget and retrieving sea ice thickness from satellite altimetry. In this study, we develop and validate a new method for retrieving snow depth over Arctic sea ice from brightness temperatures at different frequencies measured by passive microwave radiometers. We construct an ensemble-based deep neural network and use snow depth measured by sea ice mass balance buoys to train the network. First, the accuracy of the retrieved snow depth is validated with observations. The results show the derived snow depth is in good agreement with the observations, in terms of correlation, bias, root mean square error, and probability distribution. Our ensemble-based deep neural network can be used to extend the snow depth retrieval from first-year sea ice (FYI) to multi-year sea ice (MYI), as well as during the melting period. Second, the consistency and discrepancy of snow depth in the Arctic basin between our retrieval using the ensemble-based deep neural network and two other available retrievals using the empirical regression are examined. The results suggest that our snow depth retrieval outperforms these data sets.

scholarly journals Saharan dust and giant quartz particle transport towards Iceland

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
György Varga ◽  
Pavla Dagsson-Walhauserová ◽  
Fruzsina Gresina ◽  
Agusta Helgadottir
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Atmospheric Flow ◽  
Dust Transport ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Dust Events ◽  
Local Dust

AbstractMineral dust emissions from Saharan sources have an impact on the atmospheric environment and sedimentary units in distant regions. Here, we present the first systematic observations of long-range Saharan dust transport towards Iceland. Fifteen Saharan dust episodes were identified to have occurred between 2008 and 2020 based on aerosol optical depth data, backward trajectories and numerical models. Icelandic samples from the local dust sources were compared with deposited dust from two severe Saharan dust events in terms of their granulometric and mineralogical characteristics. The episodes were associated with enhanced meridional atmospheric flow patterns driven by unusual meandering jets. Strong winds were able to carry large Saharan quartz particles (> 100 µm) towards Iceland. Our results confirm the atmospheric pathways of Saharan dust towards the Arctic, and identify new northward meridional long-ranged transport of giant dust particles from the Sahara, including the first evidence of their deposition in Iceland as previously predicted by models.

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