Amazonian Biomass Burning Enhances Tropical Andean Glaciers Melting

Neto, Newton de Magalhães; Evangelista, Heitor; Condom, Thomas; Rabatel, Antoine; Ginot, Patrick

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53284-1

Cited by 53 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Garreaud and others (2017) indicated a significant impact of the current drought on fire activity which could be a factor relating to the negative trend of ice albedo for all sub-zones (e.g. de Magalhães Neto and others, 2019). Although some severe fire years are evident (2016–2017), no notable trends in fire activity were reported for the region of study (McWethy and others, 2018; Urrutia-Jalabert and others, 2018) and it is unclear if such events would produce large differences in albedo reductions for neighbouring glaciers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…S1). However, dedicated studies focusing on sub-seasonal albedo changes and the role of particulate matter (de Magalhães Neto and others, 2019; Yue and others, 2020) could benefit from further testing of this approach in the Andes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subsequent exposure of a darkened surface incites further absorption of shortwave radiation and enhances the melting of the glacier ice surface (Oerlemans and others, 2009). Further still, deposition of black carbon and mineral dust has been documented on the surface of the mountain snowpack, valley glaciers and ice sheets due to increasing aerosol emissions (Ming and others, 2012; Rowe and others, 2019), dust storms (Gabbi and others, 2015), locally-sourced mineral dust from bare ground (Yue and others, 2020) and occurrence of forest fires (Klok and others, 2005; de Magalhães Neto and others, 2019). Tracing the origins of these melt-enhancing particulates is not simple (Gabbi and others, 2015), and thus understanding their influence on past and present glacier changes still remains unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tracing the origins of these melt-enhancing particulates is not simple (Gabbi and others, 2015), and thus understanding their influence on past and present glacier changes still remains unclear. Nevertheless, the importance of such events is becoming increasingly apparent (Goelles and others, 2015; Goelles and Bøggild, 2017; de Magalhães Neto and others, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glacier albedo reduction and drought effects in the extratropical Andes, 1986–2020

et al. 2020

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Surface albedo typically dominates the mass balance of mountain glaciers, though long-term trends and patterns of glacier albedo are seldom explored. We calculated broadband shortwave albedo for glaciers in the central Chilean Andes (33–34°S) using end-of-summer Landsat scenes between 1986 and 2020. We found a high inter-annual variability of glacier-wide albedo that is largely a function of the glacier fractional snow-covered area and the total precipitation of the preceding hydrological year (up to 69% of the inter-annual variance explained). Under the 2010–2020 ‘Mega Drought’ period, the mean albedo, regionally averaged ranging from ~0.25–0.5, decreased by −0.05 on average relative to 1986–2009, with the greatest reduction occurring 3500–5000 m a.s.l. In 2020, differences relative to 1986–2009 were −0.14 on average as a result of near-complete absence of late summer snow cover and the driest hydrological year since the Landsat observation period began (~90% reduction of annual precipitation relative to the 1986–2009 period). We found statistically significant, negative trends in glacier ice albedo of up to −0.03 per decade, a trend that would have serious implications for the future water security of the region, because glacier ice melt acts to buffer streamflow shortages under severe drought conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glacier albedo reduction and drought effects in the extratropical Andes, 1986–2020

et al. 2020

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“…2.2.2), a key driver of this variable. Several studies suggest that LAP fluxes vary with elevation and other topographic parameters (de Magalhães et al, 2019;Sabatier et al, 2020), but to date no reliable model for that exists in complex terrain. In such a context, assuming uniform LAP forcing seems a reasonable compromise.…”

Section: Towards the Assimilation Of Real Observations Of Reflectancementioning

confidence: 99%

CrocO_v1.0 : a Particle Filter to assimilate snowpack observations in a spatialised framework

Cluzet¹,

Lafaysse²,

Albergel³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Monitoring the evolution of the snowpack properties in mountainous areas is crucial for avalanche hazard forecasting and water resources management. In-situ and remotely sensed observations provide precious information on the snowpack but usually offer a limited spatio-temporal coverage of bulk or surface variables only. In particular, visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) reflectance observations can inform on the snowpack surface properties but are limited by terrain shading and clouds. Snowpack modelling enables to estimate any physical variable, virtually anywhere, but is affected by large errors and uncertainties. Data assimilation offers a way to combine both sources of information, and to propagate information from observed areas to non observed areas. Here, we present CrocO, (Crocus-Observations) an ensemble data assimilation system able to ingest any snowpack observation (applied as a first step to the height of snow (HS) and VIS-NIR reflectances) in a spatialised geometry. CrocO uses an ensemble of snowpack simulations to represent modelling uncertainties, and a Particle Filter (PF) to reduce them. The PF is known to collapse when assimilating a too large number of observations. Two variants of the PF were specifically implemented to ensure that observations information is propagated in space while tackling this issue. The global algorithm ingests all available observations with an iterative inflation of observation errors, while the klocal algorithm is a localised approach performing a selection of the observations to assimilate based on background correlation patterns. Experiments are carried out in a twin experiment setup, with synthetic observations of HS and VIS-NIR reflectances available in only a 1/6th of the simulation domain. Results show that compared against runs without assimilation, analyses exhibit an average improvement of snow water equivalent Continuous Rank Probability Score (CRPS) of 60 % when assimilating HS with a 40-member ensemble, and an average 20 % CRPS improvement when assimilating reflectance with a 160-member ensemble. Significant improvements are also obtained outside the observation domain. These promising results open a way for the assimilation of real observations of reflectance, or of any snowpack observations in a spatialised context.

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Climatology of heatwaves in South America identified through ERA5 reanalysis data

Araújo

Frassoni

Sapucci

et al. 2022

Intl Journal of Climatology

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The rise in the Earth's global average surface temperature and the increase of extreme weather events have been the focus of scientific discussion in the last decades. Extreme heat combined with other environmental extremes, like high concentrations of air pollution, may induce health problems-especially in socioeconomically vulnerable populations. Spring in South America requires particular attention due to its association with hot, dry weather and air pollution in most parts of the continent. This paper intends to better comprehend the behaviour of heatwaves during the austral winter-spring transition. We propose identifying the spatial coverage, frequency and intensity of heatwaves in homogeneous areas of maximum air temperature near the surface (T max ). We employed cluster analyses during the period between July and October for 41 years through the ERA5 reanalysis. Homogeneous T max areas in South America were defined by cluster analyses that indicated three homogeneous T max regions, as follows: a larger area of the continent including the tropical region (Area 1), eastern and southeastern South America (Area 2) and southernmost and steep areas in the Andes (Area 3). The heatwave events identified via ERA5 reanalysis were classified according to their intensity (intense, moderate and weak events). Spatial frequency and trend analyses were also performed regarding the intensity and persistence of heatwave episodes. These methods allowed the identification of the behavioural aspect of heatwaves spanning the last four decades. The Mann-Kendall statistical test (MK) was applied in order to analyse the heatwave trend with a statistical significance level of 5%. A total of 191 heatwave episodes were identified. Of this total, 47.12, 35.60 and 17.28% of episodes occurred in Areas 2, 3 and 1, respectively. The hotter area extending from northeast to southwest in central South America stood out by its largest frequencies of intense heatwave episodes. Across the continent there was a significant increase in the intensity and persistence of heatwaves over the period of 1979 through to 2019. K E Y W O R D S2-m temperature, climate change, extreme weather events, heatwaves, hot weather, South America, temperature extremes

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Amazonian Biomass Burning Enhances Tropical Andean Glaciers Melting

Cited by 53 publications

References 60 publications

Glacier albedo reduction and drought effects in the extratropical Andes, 1986–2020

Glacier albedo reduction and drought effects in the extratropical Andes, 1986–2020

CrocO_v1.0 : a Particle Filter to assimilate snowpack observations in a spatialised framework

Climatology of heatwaves in South America identified through ERA5 reanalysis data

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