Snow cover and runoff modelling in a high mountain catchment with scarce data: effects of temperature and precipitation parameters

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Hongbo Zhang ◽  
Scott C. Hagen ◽  
Ming Ye ◽  
Dingbao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Mountain Catchment ◽  
Effects Of Temperature ◽  
Scarce Data

scholarly journals Impact of forcing on sublimation simulations for a high mountain catchment in the semiarid Andes

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Réveillet ◽  
Shelley MacDonell ◽  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Christophe Kinnard ◽  
Stef Lhermitte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Cold Bias ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Catchment ◽  
Depth Sensitivity ◽  
Sublimation Rates

Abstract. In the semiarid Andes of Chile, farmers and industry in the cordillera lowlands depend on water from snowmelt, as annual rainfall is insufficient to meet their needs. Despite the importance of snow cover for water resources in this region, understanding of snow depth distribution and snow mass balance is limited. Whilst the effect of wind on snow cover pattern distribution has been assessed, the relative importance of melt versus sublimation has only been studied at the point scale over one catchment. Analyzing relative ablation rates and evaluating uncertainties are critical for understanding snow depth sensitivity to variations in climate and simulating the evolution of the snowpack over a larger area and over time. Using a distributed snowpack model (SnowModel), this study aims to simulate melt and sublimation rates over the instrumented watershed of La Laguna (513 km2, 3150–5630 m a.s.l., 30∘ S, 70∘ W), during two hydrologically contrasting years (i.e., dry vs. wet). The model is calibrated and forced with meteorological data from nine Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) located in the watershed and atmospheric simulation outputs from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Results of simulations indicate first a large uncertainty in sublimation-to-melt ratios depending on the forcing as the WRF data have a cold bias and overestimate precipitation in this region. These input differences cause a doubling of the sublimation-to-melt ratio using WRF forcing inputs compared to AWS. Therefore, the use of WRF model output in such environments must be carefully adjusted so as to reduce errors caused by inherent bias in the model data. For both input datasets, the simulations indicate a similar sublimation fraction for both study years, but ratios of sublimation to melt vary with elevation as melt rates decrease with elevation due to decreasing temperatures. Finally results indicate that snow persistence during the spring period decreases the ratio of sublimation due to higher melt rates.

scholarly journals Change in snow depletion pattern in a river basin of Arunachal Pradesh under projected climatic scenarios

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-210
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Present Climate ◽  
Arunachal Pradesh ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Depletion Curve ◽  
Climatic Scenarios ◽  
The Impact

<p>Snow depletion curves (SDCs) are important in hydrological studies for predicting snowmelt generated runoff in high mountain catchments. The present study deals with the derivation of the average snow depletion pattern in the Mago basin of Arunachal Pradesh, which falls in the eastern Himalayan region and the generation of climate affected SDCs in future years (2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050) under different projected climatic scenarios. The MODIS daily snow cover product at 500m resolution from both the Aqua and Terra satellites was used to obtain daily snow cover maps. MOD10A1 and MYD10A1 images were compared to select cloud free or minimum cloud image to obtain the temporal distribution of snow cover area (SCA). Snow accumulation and depletion patterns were obtained by analysing SCA at different days. For most of the years, two peaks were observed in the SCA analysis. The conventional depletion curve (CDC) representing present climate was derived by determining and interpolating the SCA from cloud-free (cloud&lt;5%) images for the selected hydrological year 2007. The investigation shows that the SCA was highest in February and lowest in May. Ten years meteorological data were used to normalize the temperature and precipitation data of the selected hydrological year (2007) to eliminate the impact of their yearly fluctuations on the snow cover depletion. The temperature and precipitation changes under four different projected climatic scenarios (A1B, A2, B1, and IPCC Commitment) were analysed for future years. Changes in the cumulative snowmelt depth with respect to the present climate for different future years were studied by a degree-day approach and were found to be highest under A1B, followed by A2, B1, and IPCC Commitment scenarios. It was observed that the A1B climatic scenario affected the depletion pattern most, making the depletion of snow to start and complete faster than under different scenarios. Advancing of depletion curve for different future years was found to be highest under A1B and lowest under IPCC Commitment scenarios with A2 and B1 in-between them.</p>

scholarly journals High Mountain Asian glacier response to climate revealed by multi-temporal satellite observations since the 1960s

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atanu Bhattacharya ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Kriti Mukherjee ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Brian Menounos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Northern Tien Shan

AbstractKnowledge about the long-term response of High Mountain Asian glaciers to climatic variations is paramount because of their important role in sustaining Asian river flow. Here, a satellite-based time series of glacier mass balance for seven climatically different regions across High Mountain Asia since the 1960s shows that glacier mass loss rates have persistently increased at most sites. Regional glacier mass budgets ranged from −0.40 ± 0.07 m w.e.a−1 in Central and Northern Tien Shan to −0.06 ± 0.07 m w.e.a−1 in Eastern Pamir, with considerable temporal and spatial variability. Highest rates of mass loss occurred in Central Himalaya and Northern Tien Shan after 2015 and even in regions where glaciers were previously in balance with climate, such as Eastern Pamir, mass losses prevailed in recent years. An increase in summer temperature explains the long-term trend in mass loss and now appears to drive mass loss even in regions formerly sensitive to both temperature and precipitation.

scholarly journals Seasonal and Ephemeral Snowpacks of the Conterminous United States

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Hatchett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
At Risk ◽  
New England ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Precipitation Estimates

Snowpack seasonality in the conterminous United States (U.S.) is examined using a recently-released daily, 4 km spatial resolution gridded snow water equivalent and snow depth product developed by assimilating station-based observations and gridded temperature and precipitation estimates from PRISM. Seasonal snowpacks for the period spanning water years 1982–2017 were calculated using two established methods: (1) the classic Sturm approach that requires 60 days of snow cover with a peak depth >50 cm and (2) the snow seasonality metric (SSM) that only requires 60 days of continuous snow cover to define seasonal snow. The latter approach yields continuous values from −1 to +1, where −1 (+1) indicates an ephemeral (seasonal) snowpack. The SSM approach is novel in its ability to identify both seasonal and ephemeral snowpacks. Both approaches identify seasonal snowpacks in western U.S. mountains and the northern central and eastern U.S. The SSM approach identifies greater areas of seasonal snowpacks compared to the Sturm method, particularly in the Upper Midwest, New England, and the Intermountain West. This is a result of the relaxed depth constraint compared to the Sturm approach. Ephemeral snowpacks exist throughout lower elevation regions of the western U.S. and across a broad longitudinal swath centered near 35° N spanning the lee of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast. Because it lacks a depth constraint, the SSM approach may inform the location of shallow but long-duration snowpacks at risk of transitioning to ephemeral snowpacks with climatic change. A case study in Oregon during an extreme snow drought year (2014/2015) highlights seasonal to ephemeral snowpack transitions. Aggregating seasonal and ephemeral snowpacks to the HUC-8 watershed level in the western U.S. demonstrates the majority of watersheds are at risk of losing seasonal snow.

Climate change in the High Mountain Asia simulated with CMIP6 models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickaël Lalande ◽  
Martin Ménégoz ◽  
Gerhard Krinner
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Cold Bias ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Model Biases ◽  
Snow Cover Extent

&lt;p&gt;The High Mountains of Asia (HMA) region and the Tibetan Plateau (TP), with an average altitude of 4000 m, are hosting the third largest reservoir of glaciers and snow after the two polar ice caps, and are at the origin of strong orographic precipitation. Climate studies over HMA are related to serious challenges concerning the exposure of human infrastructures to natural hazards and the water resources for agriculture, drinking water, and hydroelectricity to whom several hundred million inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent are depending. However, climate variables such as temperature, precipitation, and snow cover are poorly described by global climate models because their coarse resolution is not adapted to the rugged topography of this region. Since the first CMIP exercises, a cold model bias has been identified in this region, however, its attribution is not obvious and may be different from one model to another. Our study focuses on a multi-model comparison of the CMIP6 simulations used to investigate the climate variability in this area to answer the next questions: (1) are the biases in HMA reduced in the new generation of climate models? (2) Do the model biases impact the simulated climate trends? (3) What are the links between the model biases in temperature, precipitation, and snow cover extent? (4) Which climate trajectories can be projected in this area until 2100? An analysis of 27 models over 1979-2014 still show a cold bias in near-surface air temperature over the HMA and TP reaching an annual value of -2.0 &amp;#176;C (&amp;#177; 3.2 &amp;#176;C), associated with an over-extended relative snow cover extent of 53 % (&amp;#177; 62 %), and a relative excess of precipitation of 139 % (&amp;#177; 38 %), knowing that the precipitation biases are uncertain because of the undercatch of solid precipitation in observations. Model biases and trends do not show any clear links, suggesting that biased models should not be excluded in trend and projections analysis, although non-linear effects related to lagged snow cover feedbacks could be expected. On average over 2081-2100 with respect to 1995-2014, for the scenarios SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585, the 9 available models shows respectively an increase in annual temperature of 1.9 &amp;#176;C (&amp;#177; 0.5 &amp;#176;C), 3.4 &amp;#176;C (&amp;#177; 0.7 &amp;#176;C), 5.2 &amp;#176;C (&amp;#177; 1.2 &amp;#176;C), and 6.6 &amp;#176;C (&amp;#177; 1.5 &amp;#176;C); a relative decrease in the snow cover extent of 10 % (&amp;#177; 4.1 %), 19 % (&amp;#177; 5 %), 29 % (&amp;#177; 8 %), and 35 % (&amp;#177; 9 %); and an increase in total precipitation of 9 % (&amp;#177; 5 %), 13 % (&amp;#177; 7 %), 19 % (&amp;#177; 11 %), and 27 % (&amp;#177; 13 %). Further analyses will be considered to investigate potential links between the biases at the surface and those at higher tropospheric levels as well as with the topography. The models based on high resolution do not perform better than the coarse-gridded ones, suggesting that the race to high resolution should be considered as a second priority after the developments of more realistic physical parameterizations.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Specimen-based analysis of morphology and the environment in ecologically dominant grasses: the power of the herbarium

2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (1763) ◽  
pp. 20170403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. McAllister ◽  
Michael R. McKain ◽  
Mao Li ◽  
Bess Bookout ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kellogg
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Automated Image Analysis ◽  
Climate Variables ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Sessile Spikelet ◽  
Effects Of Temperature ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Image Analysis Techniques

Herbaria contain a cumulative sample of the world's flora, assembled by thousands of people over centuries. To capitalize on this resource, we conducted a specimen-based analysis of a major clade in the grass tribe Andropogoneae, including the dominant species of the world's grasslands in the genera Andropogon , Schizachyrium , Hyparrhenia and several others. We imaged 186 of the 250 named species of the clade, georeferenced the specimens and extracted climatic variables for each. Using semi- and fully automated image analysis techniques, we extracted spikelet morphological characters and correlated these with environmental variables. We generated chloroplast genome sequences to correct for phylogenetic covariance and here present a new phylogeny for 81 of the species. We confirm and extend earlier studies to show that Andropogon and Schizachyrium are not monophyletic. In addition, we find all morphological and ecological characters are homoplasious but variable among clades. For example, sessile spikelet length is positively correlated with awn length when all accessions are considered, but when separated by clade, the relationship is positive for three sub-clades and negative for three others. Climate variables showed no correlation with morphological variation in the spikelet pair; only very weak effects of temperature and precipitation were detected on macrohair density. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene'.

scholarly journals Ice content and interannual water storage changes of an active rock glacier in the dry Andes of Argentina

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Halla ◽  
Jan Henrik Blöthe ◽  
Carla Tapia Baldis ◽  
Dario Trombotto ◽  
Christin Hilbich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Rock Glacier ◽  
Mountain Catchment ◽  
Rock Glaciers ◽  
Ice Content ◽  
Surface Ice ◽  
Water Contents

Abstract. The quantification of volumetric ice and water contents in active rock glaciers is necessary to estimate their role as water stores and contributors to runoff in dry mountain catchments. In the semi-arid to arid Andes of Argentina, active rock glaciers potentially constitute important water reservoirs due to their widespread distribution. Here however, water storage capacities and their interannual changes have so far escaped quantification in detailed field studies. Volumetric ice and water contents were quantified using a petrophysical four-phase model (4PM) based on complementary electrical resistivities (ERT) and seismic refraction tomographies (SRT) in different positions of Dos Lenguas rock glacier in the Upper Agua Negra basin, Argentina. We derived vertical and horizontal surface changes of the Dos Lenguas rock glacier, for the periods 2016–17 and 2017–18 using drone-derived digital elevation models (DEM). Interannual water storage changes of −36 mm yr−1 and +27 mm yr−1 derived from DEMs of Difference (DoD) for the periods 2016–17 and 2017–18, respectively, indicate that significant amounts of annual precipitation rates can be stored in and released from the active rock glacier. Heterogeneous ice and water contents show ice-rich permafrost and supra-, intra- and sub-permafrost aquifers in the subsurface. Active layer and ice-rich permafrost control traps and pathways of shallow ground water, and thus regulate interannual storage changes and water releases from the active rock glacier in the dry mountain catchment. The ice content of 1.7–2.0 × 109 kg in the active Dos Lenguas rock glacier represents an important long-term ice reservoir, just like other ground ice deposits in the vicinity, if compared to surface ice that covers less than 3 % of the high mountain catchment.

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