Increase of the energy available for snow ablation in the Pyrenees (1959–2020) and its relation to atmospheric circulation

Bonsoms, Josep; López‐Moreno, Juan I.; González, Sergi; Oliva, Marc

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106228

Cited by 13 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…The energy available for snow ablation is governed by net radiation, increasing with elevation and towards the East (Bonsoms et al, 2022).…”

Section: Geographical Area and Climate Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meteorological data was calibrated, homogenized and improved by data assimilation of in-situ meteorological observations (Vernay et al, 2021). Further technical details of the SAFRAN system can be found at Durand et al (1999;2009a;2009b Moreno et al, 2020) and snow ablation trends (Bonsoms et al, 2022), among other works.…”

Section: Atmospheric Forcing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Atlantic climate influence is reduced moving into the eastern massifs of the range; in the latter area, in-situ observations record almost half (<= 40 %) of the seasonal snow accumulation amounts than northern and western ones for the same elevation (>2000 m; Bonsoms et al, 2021a). The southern slopes of the eastern Pyrenees exhibit higher climate sensitivities since those massifs are exposed to higher turbulent and radiative heat fluxes (Bonsoms et al, 2022).…”

Section: Spatial and Elevation Factors Controlling The Snow Climate S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, snow accumulation per season in the northern slopes almost doubles the recorded in the southern slopes (Navarro-Serrano and López-Moreno, 2017), there is a high interannual variability of snow in the lower stretches of the range (Alonso-González et al, 2020a), as well as in the southern eastern sector of the Pyrenees (Salvador-Franch et al, 2014;Salvador-Franch et al, 2016;Bonsoms et al, 2021b). Since the 1980s, snow ablation has statistically significantly increased (Bonsoms et al, 2022), but during the same temporal period, winter snow days and snow accumulation non-statically significantly increased (Buisan et al, 2016; https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-851 Preprint. Discussion started: 6 September 2022 c Author(s) 2022.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…warming decreases the maximum and seasonal snow depth (HS) and Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) (Trujillo and Molotch, 2014;Alonso-González et al, 2020a;, decreases the fraction of snowfall of the total precipitation (snowfall ratio; e.g., Mote et al, 2005;Lynn et al, 2020;Jeenings and Molotoch, 2020;Marshall et al, 2019) and triggers later snow onsets dates (Beniston, 2009;Klein et al, 2016). During the snow ablation phase, warming slows the snow ablation rate per season (Pomeroy et al, 2015;Rasouli et al, 2015;Jennings and Molotch, 2020;Bonsoms et al, 2022;Sanmiguel-Vallelado et al, 2022) due to early HS and SWE peak dates (Alonso-González et al, 2022), coinciding with low solar radiation periods (e.g., Pomeroy et al, 2015;Musselman et al, 2017a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Snow sensitivity to climate change during compound cold-hot and wet-dry seasons in the Pyrenees

Bonsoms

López‐Moreno

Alonso‐González

2022

Preprint

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Abstract. The Mediterranean basin has experienced one of the highest warming rates on Earth over the last decades and climate projections anticipate water-scarcity future scenarios. Mid-latitude Mediterranean mountain areas such as the Pyrenees play a key role in the hydrological resources for intensely populated lowland areas. However, there are still large uncertainties about the impact of climate change on the snowpack in high mountain ranges of the Mediterranean region. Here, we provide a climate sensitivity analysis of the Pyrenean snowpack through five key snow climate indicators. Snow sensitivity is analyzed during compound temperature and precipitation extreme seasons, namely Cold-Dry (CD), Cold-Wet (CW), Warm-Dry (WD) and Warm-Wet (WW) seasons, for low (1500 m), mid (1800 m) and high (2400 m) elevation sectors of the Pyrenees. To this end, a physically-based energy and mass balance snow model (FSM2) is validated by ground-truth data, and subsequently applied to the entire range, forcing perturbed reanalysis climate data for the 1980–2019 baseline scenario. The results have shown that FSM2 successfully reproduces the observed snow depth (HS) values, reaching R2 > 0.8, and relative RMSE and MAE lower than 10 % of the observed HS. Overall, climate sensitivity decreases with elevation and increases towards the eastern Pyrenees. When temperature is progressively warmed at 1 ºC intervals, the largest seasonal HS decreases from baseline climate are found at +1 ºC, reaching values of -47 %, -48 % and -25 % for low, mid and high elevations, respectively. Only an upward trend of precipitation (+10 %) could counterbalance temperature increases (<= 1 ºC) at high elevations during the coldest months of the season, since temperature is far from the isothermal 0 ºC conditions. The maximum (minimum) seasonal HS and peak HS max reductions are observed on WW (CD) seasons. During the latter seasons, the seasonal HS is expected to be reduced by -37 % (- 28 %), -34 % (- 30 %), -27 % (-22 %) per ºC, at low, mid and high elevation areas, respectively. For snow ablation climate indicators, the largest decreases are observed during WD seasons, when the peak HS date is anticipated 10 days and snow duration (ablation) decreases (increases) 12 % per ºC. The results suggest similar climate sensitivities in mid-latitude mountain areas; where significant snowpack reductions are anticipated, with relevant consequences in the ecological and socioeconomic systems.

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“…The energy available for snow ablation is governed by net radiation, increasing with elevation and towards the East (Bonsoms et al, 2022).…”

Section: Geographical Area and Climate Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Atmospheric Forcing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spatial and Elevation Factors Controlling The Snow Climate S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Snow sensitivity to climate change during compound cold-hot and wet-dry seasons in the Pyrenees

Bonsoms

López‐Moreno

Alonso‐González

2022

Preprint

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Daily concentration of snowfalls in the mountains of the Iberian Peninsula

Lemus‐Canovas,

Alonso‐González,

Bonsoms

et al. 2023

Intl Journal of Climatology

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The temporal concentration of snowfalls has direct implications on the management of water resources as well as on the economic activity of mountain areas, conditioning, for example, the seasonal performance of ski resorts. This work uses the daily concentration index (CI) for analysing the frequency concentration of snowfalls in the Iberian Peninsula Mountain ranges. First, we provide a spatiotemporal analysis of the CI patterns and trends for the 1980–2014 period. Subsequently, we determine the atmospheric circulation patterns that control the CI variability. In addition, we determine the geographical and low‐frequency climate modes that control the CI for this mid‐latitude area. In addition, we have estimated the partial dependence relationship between the CI and several geographical factors by fitting a multiple linear regression. The results from these analyses show that elevation as well as the distance from the Atlantic are the main geographical pattern that controls the CI in the Iberian Peninsula Mountain ranges. These geographical factors also reflect the role of the main atmospheric circulation patterns in the Iberian Peninsula in controlling the spatial dynamics of the CI. The Cantabrian, Iberian, and northern slopes of the Pyrenees show the lowest CI due to their exposition to northern and Atlantic circulation weather types. On the contrary, the highest CI values are found in the southern and eastern slopes of the Pyrenees, eastern slopes of Sierra Nevada, and southern slopes of the Central system. Trend analysis shows a slight increase of CI in the Central system and in the western Sierra Nevada. However, eastern Sierra Nevada, Cantabrian, Central, and Iberian show a downward CI trend. CI is principally driven by the East‐Atlantic/Western Russia pattern and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the Cantabrian, Iberian, and northern slopes of the Central range. The CI values in the Pyrenees show a different relationship with the Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO) depending on whether it is the southern or the northern slope. In addition, the positive phase of the NAO oscillation controls the higher values of CI for the whole Pyrenees, especially in the mid‐south part. Finally, in Sierra Nevada the CI dynamics are controlled mostly by the WeMO.

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The final countdown? Monitoring the rapid shrinkage of the Maladeta glacier (2010–2020), Southern Pyrenees

Martínez‐Fernández,

Serrano,

de Sanjosé

et al. 2023

Land Degrad Dev

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Small glaciers are one of the best indicators of climatic variations and their short‐term effects. Located in the Spanish Pyrenees, the Maladeta is one of these glaciers. Its systematic observation began in the 1980s, being one of the few Pyrenean glaciers with a tongue‐shaped front. This study presents the evolution of the Maladeta glacial tongue over a decade (2010–2020) through multiple geomatic techniques. Surveys have ranged from Total Stations and Global Navigation Satellite System devices to massive data capture techniques such as Terrestrial Laser Scanners or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles photogrammetry. The aim is to analyze in detail the loss of surface area and thickness of the glacier and its transition from being a glacier with a tongue partially determined by climate to a topoclimatically determined cirque glacier. The results reveal a tongue retreat of over 5 m/yr and area losses of over 0.2 ha/yr, along with ice thickness and volume losses of −1.7 m/yr and over −21 × 103 m3/yr, respectively. If this trend continues, the tongue, and possibly the Maladeta glacier, could disappear by the end of the 2030s.

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Increase of the energy available for snow ablation in the Pyrenees (1959–2020) and its relation to atmospheric circulation

Cited by 13 publications

References 75 publications

Snow sensitivity to climate change during compound cold-hot and wet-dry seasons in the Pyrenees

Snow sensitivity to climate change during compound cold-hot and wet-dry seasons in the Pyrenees

Daily concentration of snowfalls in the mountains of the Iberian Peninsula

The final countdown? Monitoring the rapid shrinkage of the Maladeta glacier (2010–2020), Southern Pyrenees

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