Summer Radiation Balance for Alpine Tundra on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth-Renee Babrauckas ◽  
Thomas W. Schmidlin
Keyword(s):  
New Hampshire ◽  
Alpine Tundra ◽  
Radiation Balance ◽  
Mount Washington

scholarly journals An Historical Survey of the Late-Season Snow-Bed in Tuckerman, Ravine, Mount Washington, U.S.A.

1960 ◽  
Vol 3 (28) ◽  
pp. 715-723
Author(s):  
James M. Havens
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Late Season ◽  
Historical Sketch ◽  
Mount Washington

AbstractAs a result of an historical sketch of scientific activity on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, it is shown that the late-season snow-bed that annually forms in Tuckerman Ravine disappeared, on the average, during the first week in August for the period 1922–58 as compared with an average date of 11 August for the period 1878–1906. This appears to correspond to a rise in spring (April to May) and summer (June to September) mean temperatures of 0.9° F. (0.5° C.) for each season from 1872–87 to 1933–58. The snow-bed probably has persisted through only one ablation season during recent years, that of 1926, although some evidence exists that it may have lasted through an occasional summer during the early and middle nineteenth century.

scholarly journals Late-Quaternary history of the alpine flora of the New Hampshire White Mountains

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norton G. Miller ◽  
Ray W. Spear
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Plant Macrofossils ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Alpine Tundra ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Alpine Zone

Abstract A distinctive flora of 73 species of vascular plants and numerous bryophytes occurs in the ca. 20 km 2 of alpine tundra in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. The late- Quaternary distribution of these plants, many of which are disjuncts, was investigated by studies of pollen and plant macrofossils from lower Lakes of the Clouds (1 542 m) in the alpine zone of Mount Washington. Results were compared with pollen and macrofossils from lowland late-glacial deposits in western New England. Lowland paleofloras contained fossils of 43 species of vascular plants, 13 of which occur in the contemporary alpine flora of the White Mountains. A majority of species in the paleoflora has geographic affinities to Labrador, northern Québec, and Greenland, a pattern also apparent for mosses in the lowland deposits. The first macrofossils in lower Lakes of the Clouds were arctic-alpine mosses of acid soils. Although open-ground mosses and vascular plants continued to occur throughout the Holocene, indicating that alpine tundra persisted, fossils of a low-elevation moss Hylocomiastrum umbratum are evidence that forest (perhaps as krummholz) covered a greater area near the basin from 7 500 to 3 500 yBP. No calcicolous plants were recovered from sediments at lower Lakes of the Clouds. Climatic constraints on the alpine flora during the Younger Dryas oscillation and perhaps during other cold-climate events and intervening periods of higher temperature may have led to the loss of plant species in the White Mountain alpine zone. Late-glacial floras of lowland western New England were much richer than floras of areas above treeline during late-glacial time and at the present.

The Radiation Balance of Alpine Tundra, Plateau Mountain, Alberta, Canada

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. G. Bailey ◽  
E. J. Weick ◽  
J. D. Bowers
Keyword(s):  
Alpine Tundra ◽  
Radiation Balance

The Climatological Rise in Winter Temperature- and Dewpoint-Based Thaw Events and Their Impact on Snow Depth on Mount Washington, New Hampshire

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric P. Kelsey ◽  
Eve Cinquino
Keyword(s):  
New Hampshire ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Latent Energy ◽  
Winter Recreation ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Winter Flooding ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mount Washington

AbstractWe analyze how winter thaw events (TE; T>0°C) are changing on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire using three metrics: the number of TE, number of thaw hours, and number of thaw degree-hours for temperature and dewpoint for winters from 1935-36 to 2019-20. The impact of temperature-only-TE and dewpoint-TE on snow depth are compared to quantify the different impacts of sensible-only and sensible-and-latent heating, respectively. Results reveal that temperature- and dewpoint-TE for all metrics increased at a statistically significant rate (p<0.05) over the full time periods studied for temperature (1935-1936 to 2019-2020) and dewpoint (1939-1940 to 2019-2020). Notably around 2000-2001, the positive trends increased for most variables, including dewpoint thaw degree-hours that increased by 82.11 degree-hours decade-1 during 2000-2020 – about five times faster than the 1939-2020 rate of 17.70 degree-hours decade-1. Furthermore, a clear upward shift occurred around 1990 in the lowest winter values of thaw hours and thaw degree-hours – winters now have a higher baseline amount of thaw than before 1990. Snow depth loss during dewpoint-TE (0.36 cm hr-1) occurred more than twice as fast as temperature-only-TE (0.14 cm hr-1). With winters projected to warm throughout the 21st century in the Northeastern US, it is expected that the trends in winter thaw events, and the sensible and latent energy they bring, will continue to rise and lead to more frequent winter flooding, fewer days of good quality snow for winter recreation, and changes in ecosystem function.

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