Spatial variability and trends in observed snow depth over North America

Dyer, Jamie; Mote, Thomas L.

doi:10.1029/2006gl027258

Cited by 170 publications

(160 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Our modeled decrease in the mean annual snow depth is consistent with climate model projections across the Northern Hemisphere (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2004; Zhang et al, 2008b;Lawrence and Slater, 2010) and with observed trends from measurements conducted in the last decades (Dyer and Mote, 2006). A lengthening of the snow free period between 3.1 and 6.4 days for the last 30 years has been observed using satellite data for the period 1972-2000 in North America (Dye, 2002).…”

Section: Snowsupporting

confidence: 68%

Soil temperature response to 21st century global warming: the role of and some implications for peat carbon in thawing permafrost soils in North America

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Northern peatlands contain a large terrestrial carbon pool that plays an important role in the Earth's carbon cycle. A considerable fraction of this carbon pool is currently in permafrost and is biogeochemically relatively inert; this will change with increasing soil temperatures as a result of climate warming in the 21st century. We use a geospatially explicit representation of peat areas and peat depth from a recently-compiled database and a geothermal model to estimate northern North America soil temperature responses to predicted changes in air temperature. We find that, despite a widespread decline in the areas classified as permafrost, soil temperatures in peatlands respond more slowly to increases in air temperature owing to the insulating properties of peat. We estimate that an additional 670 km 3 of peat soils in North America, containing ∼33 Pg C, could be seasonally thawed by the end of the century, representing ∼20 % of the total peat volume in Alaska and Canada. Warming conditions result in a lengthening of the soil thaw period by ∼40 days, averaged over the model domain. These changes have potentially important implications for the carbon balance of peat soils.

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Section: Snowsupporting

confidence: 68%

Soil temperature response to 21st century global warming: the role of and some implications for peat carbon in thawing permafrost soils in North America

et al. 2011

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“…It has been documented that winter snow cover over North America is undergoing a change such that fall accumulation and spring ablation are occurring earlier Brown, 2000;Dyer and Mote, 2006). There are several possible reasons for the trend in snow cover over North America.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variations in snow depth over the same time period also exhibit decreasing trends, particularly throughout the central Canadian Prairies and Great Plains region of the United States (Dyer and Mote, 2006). Possible causes for the decrease in spring snow depth and snow extent in the latter part of the 20th Century include decreasing snowfall (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trends in snow ablation over North America

Dyer

Mote

2006

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Abstract:A substantial decrease in snow cover extent (SCE) and snow depth over North America has been observed over the 1960-2000 period. One explanation for the changes in North American snow cover is a change in the frequency and/or intensity of snow ablation. This study uses a gridded dataset of United States and Canadian surface observations from 1960 to 2000 to examine patterns of snow ablation over North America. An ablation event is defined as an interdiurnal snow depth change exceeding a critical value. Results show a significant positive trend in the frequency of ablation events during March (p < 0.05) and a significant negative trend in May (p < 0.05), indicating an earlier onset of ablation. This pattern is consistent for ablation of varying intensity. Surface energy budget components and air mass frequencies are examined in relation to the observed trends in snow ablation. Changes in March ablation frequency were shown to be dominated by increases in the sensible heat flux. A higher frequency of dry moderate instead of moist polar air masses during high ablation years may explain the increase in sensible heat flux and ablation over the study period.

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“…Grundstein et al (2002) developed a research-oriented SWE climatology for the Great Plains of the United States by combining station observations with the 1-dimensional snow pack model SNTHERM (Jordan, 1991). A research-oriented product based on spatial interpolation of in situ depth measurements over North America (Dyer and Mote, 2006) has been used for process studies (Ge and Gong, 2008). The QuickSCAT active microwave scatterometer has been used to estimate the timing of snow melt across Greenland (Nghiem et al, 2001) and across Arctic lands .…”

Section: Other Combined Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of global satellite-derived snow products

Frei

Tedesco

Lee

et al. 2012

Advances in Space Research

271

184

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Snow cover over the Northern Hemisphere plays a crucial role in the Earth's hydrology and surface energy balance, and modulates feedbacks that control variations of global climate. While many of these variations are associated with exchanges of energy and mass between the land surface and the atmosphere, other expected changes are likely to propagate downstream and affect oceanic processes in coastal zones. For example, a large component of the freshwater flux into the Arctic Ocean comes from snow melt. The timing and magnitude of this flux affects biological and thermodynamic processes in the Arctic Ocean, and potentially across the globe through their impact on North Atlantic Deep Water formation.Several recent global remotely sensed products provide information at unprecedented temporal, spatial, and spectral resolutions. In this article we review the theoretical underpinnings and characteristics of three key products. We also demonstrate the seasonal and spatial patterns of agreement and disagreement amongst them, and discuss current and future directions in their application and development. Though there is general agreement amongst these products, there can be disagreement over certain geographic regions and under conditions of ephemeral, patchy and melting snow.

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Spatial variability and trends in observed snow depth over North America

Cited by 170 publications

References 22 publications

Soil temperature response to 21st century global warming: the role of and some implications for peat carbon in thawing permafrost soils in North America

Soil temperature response to 21st century global warming: the role of and some implications for peat carbon in thawing permafrost soils in North America

Trends in snow ablation over North America

A review of global satellite-derived snow products

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