Snow cover and snowmelt of an extensive High Arctic wetland: spatial and temporal seasonal patterns     

Jane Assini 《水文科学杂志》2013,58(4):738-755

Abstract

This study examined the end-of-winter snow storage, its distribution and the spatial and temporal melt patterns of a large, low gradient wetland at Polar Bear Pass, Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canada. The project utilized a combination of field observations and a physically-based snowmelt model. Topography and wind were the major controls on snow distribution in the region, and snow was routinely scoured from the hilltop regions and deposited into hillslopes and valleys. Timing and duration of snowmelt at Polar Bear Pass were similar in 2008 and 2009. The snowmelt was initiated by an increase in air temperature and net radiation receipt. Inter-annual variability in spatial snowmelt patterns was evident at Polar Bear Pass and was attributed to a non-uniform snow cover distribution and local microclimate conditions. In situ field studies and modelling remain important in High Arctic regions for assessing wetland water budgets and runoff, in addition to model parameterization and validation of satellite imagery.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz

Citation Assini, J. and Young, K.L., 2012. Snow cover and snowmelt of an extensive High Arctic wetland: spatial and temporal seasonal patterns. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (4), 738–755.  相似文献   

Spatial interpolation of snow water equivalency using surface observations and remotely sensed images of snow‐covered area     

Brian J. Harshburger  Karen S. Humes  Von P. Walden  Troy R. Blandford  Brandon C. Moore  Raymond J. Dezzani 《水文研究》2010,24(10):1285-1295

As demand for water continues to escalate in the western Unites States, so does the need for accurate monitoring of the snowpack in mountainous areas. In this study, we describe a simple methodology for generating gridded‐estimates of snow water equivalency (SWE) using both surface observations of SWE and remotely sensed estimates of snow‐covered area (SCA). Multiple regression was used to quantify the relationship between physiographic variables (elevation, slope, aspect, clear‐sky solar radiation, etc.) and SWE as measured at a number of sites in a mountainous basin in south‐central Idaho (Big Wood River Basin). The elevation of the snowline, obtained from the SCA estimates, was used to constrain the predicted SWE values. The results from the analysis are encouraging and compare well to those found in previous studies, which often utilized more sophisticated spatial interpolation techniques. Cross‐validation results indicate that the spatial interpolation method produces accurate SWE estimates [mean R² = 0·82, mean mean absolute error (MAE) = 4·34 cm, mean root mean squared error (RMSE) = 5·29 cm]. The basin examined in this study is typical of many mid‐elevation mountainous basins throughout the western United States, in terms of the distribution of topographic variables, as well as the number and characteristics of sites at which the necessary ground data are available. Thus, there is high potential for this methodology to be successfully applied to other mountainous basins. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Coupling snow accumulation and melt rate modules of monthly water balance models with the Jazim monthly water balance model     

Nadereh Tayefeh Neskili  Bahram Saghafian 《水文科学杂志》2017,62(14):2348-2368

Several models for simulation of water balance processes in semi-arid mountainous basins were developed by coupling different modules of existing water balance models (WBM). Snow accumulation and snowmelt rate relationships extracted from the McCabe-Markstrom, Guo, Rao-Al Wagdany and WASMOD-M WBMs, originally developed for basins with humid climate, were coupled with the Jazim WBM, primarily developed for arid basins. Karaj Basin, central Iran, with snowy autumn–winter and dry summer periods, was selected to assess model performance. The model parameters were optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA). All coupled models performed better than the non-modified (original) WBMs in the study basin. The coupled Jazim–McCabe-Markstrom model provided the best performance in simulating low and high monthly flows. It estimated the snowmelt runoff values more accurately than other proposed coupled models because the linear relationships used in the snow module of the McCabe-Markstrom model are more compatible with snow variations in the Karaj Basin.  相似文献   

Snow accumulation distribution inferred from time‐lapse photography and simple modelling     

Daniel Farinotti  Jan Magnusson  Matthias Huss  Andreas Bauder 《水文研究》2010,24(15):2087-2097

The spatial and temporal distribution of snow accumulation is complex and significantly influences the hydrological characteristics of mountain catchments. Many snow redistribution processes, such as avalanching, slushflow or wind drift, are controlled by topography, but their modelling remains challenging. In situ measurements of snow accumulation are laborious and generally have a coarse spatial or temporal resolution. In this respect, time‐lapse photography shows itself as a powerful tool for collecting information at relatively low cost and without the need for direct field access. In this paper, the snow accumulation distribution of an Alpine catchment is inferred by adjusting a simple snow accumulation model combined with a temperature index melt model to match the modelled melt‐out pattern evolution to the pattern monitored during an ablation season through terrestrial oblique photography. The comparison of the resulting end‐of‐winter snow water equivalent distribution with direct measurements shows that the achieved accuracy is comparable with that obtained with an inverse distance interpolation of the point measurements. On average over the ablation season, the observed melt‐out pattern can be reproduced correctly in 93% of the area visible from the fixed camera. The relations between inferred snow accumulation distribution and topographic variables indicate large scatter. However, a significant correlation with local slope is found and terrain curvature is detected as a factor limiting the maximal snow accumulation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Improvement of distributed snowmelt energy balance modeling with MODIS‐based NDSI‐derived fractional snow‐covered area data     

Joel W. Homan  Charles H. Luce  James P. McNamara  Nancy F. Glenn 《水文研究》2011,25(4):650-660

Describing the spatial variability of heterogeneous snowpacks at a watershed or mountain‐front scale is important for improvements in large‐scale snowmelt modelling. Snowmelt depletion curves, which relate fractional decreases in snow‐covered area (SCA) against normalized decreases in snow water equivalent (SWE), are a common approach to scale‐up snowmelt models. Unfortunately, the kinds of ground‐based observations that are used to develop depletion curves are expensive to gather and impractical for large areas. We describe an approach incorporating remotely sensed fractional SCA (FSCA) data with coinciding daily snowmelt SWE outputs during ablation to quantify the shape of a depletion curve. We joined melt estimates from the Utah Energy Balance Snow Accumulation and Melt Model (UEB) with FSCA data calculated from a normalized difference snow index snow algorithm using NASA's moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) visible (0·545–0·565 µm) and shortwave infrared (1·628–1·652 µm) reflectance data. We tested the approach at three 500 m² study sites, one in central Idaho and the other two on the North Slope in the Alaskan arctic. The UEB‐MODIS‐derived depletion curves were evaluated against depletion curves derived from ground‐based snow surveys. Comparisons showed strong agreement between the independent estimates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Low‐cost monitoring of snow height and thermal properties with inexpensive temperature sensors     

Dominik E. Reusser  Erwin Zehe 《水文研究》2011,25(12):1841-1852

Small, self‐recording temperature sensors were installed at several heights along a metal rod at five locations in a case study catchment. For each sensor, the presence or absence of snow cover was determined on the basis of its insulating effect and the resulting reduction of the diurnal temperature oscillations. Sensor coverage was then converted into a time series of snow height for each location. Additionally, cold content was calculated. Snow height and cold content provide valuable information for spring flood prediction. Good agreement of estimated snow heights with reference measurements was achieved and increased discharge in the study catchment coincided with low cold content of the snow cover. The results of the proposed distributed assessment of snow cover and snow state show great potential for (i) flood warning, (ii) assimilation of snow state data and (iii) modelling snowmelt process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The Impact of Tibetan Plateau Snow Cover on the Summer Temperature in Central Asia     

Xuke LIU  Xiaojing JIA  Min WANG  Qifeng QIAN 《大气科学进展》2022,39(7):1103-1114

The current work examines the impact of the snow cover extent (SCE) of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) on the interannual variation in the summer (June?July?August) surface air temperature (SAT) over Central Asia (CA) (SAT_CA) during the 1979?2019 period. The leading mode of the summer SAT_CA features a same-sign temperature anomalies in CA and explains 62% of the total variance in SAT_CA. The atmospheric circulation associated with a warming SAT_CA is characterized by a pronounced high-pressure system dominating CA. The high-pressure system is accompanied by warm advection as well as descending motion over CA, favoring the warming of the SAT_CA. Analysis shows that the interannual variation in the summer SAT_CA is significantly positively correlated with the April SCE over the central-eastern TP. In April, higher than normal SCE over the central-eastern TP has a pronounced cooling effect on the column of the atmosphere above the TP and can persist until the following early summer. Negative and positive height anomalies appear above and to the west of the TP. In the following months, the perturbation forcing generated by the TP SCE anomalies lies near the western center of the Asian subtropical westerly jet (SWJ), which promotes atmospheric waves in the zonal direction guided by the Asian SWJ. Associated with this atmospheric wave, in the following summer, a significant high-pressure system dominates CA, which is a favorable condition for a warm summer SAT_CA.  相似文献   

Impact of physical parameterizations on simulation of the Caspian Sea lake-effect snow     

《Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans》2021

The southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea often experiences heavy snowfall during winter season due to the lake effect. The accurate estimation of snowfall in this region is still a challenge for weather forecasters. This study attempts to investigate the simulation of lake-effect snow (LES) event occurring along the southwest coastline of the Caspian Sea from 31 January to 4 February 2014 using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The study evaluates the sensitivity of four microphysics (WSM6, Goddard, Morrison, and Thompson) schemes and two planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes (the Yonsei University (YSU) and the Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ)), yielding eight distinct combinations. The results indicated that all the simulations overestimated the precipitation. However, the best configurations for estimation of precipitation and snow in terms of their spatiotemporal variation were the Morrison-MYJ and the Goddard-MYJ, respectively. Analyses of the vertical profiles of hydrometeor species showed that the combination of Goddard and MYJ schemes created more snow and graupel than the other configurations. Although the combination of WSM-MYJ schemes revealed the least bias, it was not appropriate for the prediction of snow. A comparison of the two boundary layer schemes showed that the MYJ scheme simulated better intensity and distribution of precipitation than the YSU scheme compared to observations. Also, the maximum radar reflectivity of the model output was useful for identifying the location of maximum precipitation.  相似文献   

The feasibility of escape mechanisms in conical snow crab traps     

Winger  Paul D.; Walsh  Philip J. 《ICES Journal of Marine Science》2007,64(8):1587-1591

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Estimation of Sea Ice Thickness from SARAL/AltiKa in Drifting Orbit Phase     

Purvee Joshi  Sandip R. Oza  Ujjwal K. Gupta  Shailendra Saini  D. Ram Rajak  I. M. Bahuguna 《Marine Geodesy》2020,43(3):302-323

Abstract

Intra and inter-annual variations in the sea ice thickness are highly sensitive indicators of climatic variations undergoing in the earth’s atmosphere and oceans. This paper describes the method of estimating sea ice thickness using radar waveforms data acquired by SARAL/Altika mission during its drifting orbit phase from July 2016 onwards yielding spatially dense data coverage. Based on statistical analysis of return echoes, classification of the surface has been carried out in three different types, viz. floe, lead and mixed. Time delay correction methods were suitably selected and implemented to make corrections in altimetric range measurements and thereby freeboard. By assuming hydrostatic equilibrium, freeboard data were converted into sea ice thickness. Results show that sea ice thickness varies from 4 to 5?m near ice shelves and 1 to 2.5?m in the marginal sea ice regions. Freeboard and sea ice thickness estimates were also validated using NASA’s Operation Ice Bridge (OIB) datasets. Freeboard measurements show very high correlation (0.97) having RMSE of 0.13. Overestimation of approximately 1–2?m observed in the sea ice thickness, which could be attributed to distance between AltiKa footprint and OIB locations. Moreover, sensitivity analysis shows that snow depth and snow density over sea ice play crucial role in the estimation of sea ice thickness.  相似文献