Changes in Mountain Climate and Glacio-Hydrological Responses

Barry, Roger G.

doi:10.2307/3673426

Cited by 62 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…The reduced amount of warming experienced in satellite (MSU) and some radiosonde (free-air) observations, as opposed to the surface, is in direct contrast to the findings observed here, although there are questions about data reliability (Hurrell and Trenberth, 1998;Santer et al, 1999). Our results fit alongside the global warming theory of Barry (1990), in which increases in precipitation and cloudiness, and hence cooling in high elevation regions, result from steeper lapse rates at the surface. In Barry's hypothesis, taken up by Williams et al (1996), increased atmospheric instability is thought to enhance convective processes, perhaps selectively over mountainous regions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 43%

“…There is much interest in the future influence of global warming in mountainous regions (Barry, 1990;Diaz and Bradley, 1997), but, unfortunately, modelling of surface temperature response in areas of complex relief and at high elevations is notoriously difficult (Giorgi and Mearns, 1991;Giorgi and Marinucci, 1996). Several analyses have suggested that surface climate warming shows elevational dependency (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains: free air versus surface temperature trends

Pepin

Losleben

2002

Intl Journal of Climatology

149

132

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A high elevation data set of surface temperatures from the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, USA, is analysed for evidence of long-term change . Sites range from the high plains of Colorado (1509 m) to the alpine tundra (3749 m). Systematic changes in surface-based lapse rates are uncovered, with absolute cooling at the highest elevations, but little temperature change on the high plains. There is lapse-rate steepening at the higher elevations (>3000 m). A synoptic analysis using gridded pressure data shows lapse rate changes to be largely independent of synoptic type. Radiosonde ascents from Denver (1956-98) and Grand Junction (1946-98) are used to derive air equivalent temperatures (AETs) at the same elevations as the surface records. AETs show a contrasting temporal trend, with absolute warming at all levels. Furthermore, free-air lapse rates are weakening at higher elevations, the warming becoming stronger with height. A comparison of the two data sets through derivation of free-air-surface temperature differences shows that the alpine tundra zone of the high Rockies is becoming a progressively stronger heat sink. Possible explanations include increased snow cover, enhanced air movement over the surface and decreased solar radiation input. The heat sink enhancement has led to rapid cooling in the alpine tundra that could not be predicted from the free-air record, casting doubt upon the strong dependence on free-air temperature changes in climate modelling when investigating the potential effects of global warming in mountainous regions. In addition, these local surface trends are of the opposite sign to global and other regional trends identified in many recent observational and modelling studies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 43%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains: free air versus surface temperature trends

Pepin

Losleben

2002

Intl Journal of Climatology

149

132

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“…Paleoclimatological and historical evidence indicates that glacio-hydrological and ecological conditions in mountain areas undergo major changes in response to climate change (Barry, 1990). Snow water is sensitive to mountain warming.…”

Section: Climate Change and Eco-hydrological Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological services by mountain ecosystems in Qilian Mountain of China: A review

Sun

Lyu

et al. 2016

Chin. Geogr. Sci.

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Hydrological service is a hot issue in the current researches of ecosystem service, particularly in the upper reaches of mountain rivers in dry land areas, where the Qilian Mountain is a representative one. The Qilian Mountain, where forest, shrubland and grassland consist of its main ecosystems, can provide fresh water and many other ecosystem services, through a series of eco-hydrological process such as precipitation interception, soil water storage, and fresh water provision. Thus, monitoring water regulation and assessing the hydrological service of the Qilian Mountain are meaningful and helpful for the healthy development of the lower reaches of arid and semi-arid areas. In recent 10 years, hydrological services have been widely researched in terms of scale and landscape pattern, including water conservation, hydrological responses to afforestation and their ecological effects. This study, after analyzing lots of current models and applications of geographical information system (GIS) in hydrological services, gave a scientific and reasonable evaluation of mountain ecosystem in eco-hydrological services, by employing the combination of international forefronts and contentious issues into the Qilian Mountain. Assessments of hydrological services at regional or larger scales are limited compared with studies within watershed scale in the Qilian Mountain. In our evaluation results of forest ecosystems, it is concluded that long-term observation and dynamic monitoring of different types of ecosystem are indispensable, and the hydrological services and the potential variation in water supplement on regional and large scales should be central issues in the future research.

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“…Since then, and mostly in recent decades, progress in conducting continuous observations has been made by using standardized methods, but there are still some uncertainties which are difficult to solve [1,2]. The very specific conditions of mountain environments make them excellent indicators of climate change, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Nevertheless it is commonly accepted that a better understanding of the climatic characteristics of mountain regions is limited by a lack of observations adequately distributed in time and space.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Peñalara Mountain Meteorological Network (1999–2014): Description, Preliminary Results and Lessons Learned

2017

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This work describes a mountain meteorological network that was in operation from 1999 to 2014 in a mountain range with elevations ranging from 1104 to 2428 m in Central Spain. Additionally, some technical details of the network are described, as well as variables measured and some meta information presented, which is expected to be useful for future users of the observational database. A strong emphasis is made on showing the observational methods and protocols evolution, as it will help researchers to understand the sources of errors, data gaps and the final stage of the network. This paper summarizes mostly the common sources of errors when designing and operating a small network of this kind, so it can be useful for individual researchers and small size groups that undertake a similar task on their own. Strengths and weaknesses of some of the variables measured are discussed and some basic calculations are made in order to show the potential of the database and to anticipate future deeper climatological analyses over the area. Finally, the configuration of an automatic mountain meteorology station is suggested as a result of the lessons learned and the the common state of the art automatic measuring techniques.

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Changes in Mountain Climate and Glacio-Hydrological Responses

Cited by 62 publications

References 17 publications

Climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains: free air versus surface temperature trends

Climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains: free air versus surface temperature trends

Hydrological services by mountain ecosystems in Qilian Mountain of China: A review

The Peñalara Mountain Meteorological Network (1999–2014): Description, Preliminary Results and Lessons Learned

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