Interannual persistence of the seasonal snow cover in a glacierized catchment

Schöber, Johannes; Schneider, Kirsten; Sailer, Rudolf; Kühn, Michael

doi:10.3189/2014jog13j197

Cited by 39 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…They suggest that "a reduction in precipitation from upslope lifting, and/or the exhaustion of precipitable water from ascending air masses" (Kirchner et al, 2014) might be the reason for the shape of the snow depthelevation relationship. Based on multi temporal point measurements, similar shapes had already been identified by Turcan (1975) and Holko (2000) for a 35 km 2 basin in the Low Tatra mountains (Slovakia). Both studies report on positive elevation gradients of snow below the tree line and a distinct decrease of snow storage in the summit region.…”

Section: T Grünewald Et Al: Elevation Dependency Of Snowsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…It is also important to note that this study is restricted to a handful of selected study sites and single dates in one single year. The transferability of the results to other years remains limited, even though several studies have identified a high temporal consistency of snow depth between different seasons (Deems et al, 2008;Schirmer et al, 2011;Helfricht et al, 2014). However, it may not be assumed that such a consistency is valid for all mountain sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

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Elevation dependency of mountain snow depth

Bühler²,

2014

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Abstract. Elevation strongly affects quantity and distribution patterns of precipitation and snow. Positive elevation gradients were identified by many studies, usually based on data from sparse precipitation stations or snow depth measurements. We present a systematic evaluation of the elevationsnow depth relationship. We analyse areal snow depth data obtained by remote sensing for seven mountain sites near to the time of the maximum seasonal snow accumulation. Snow depths were averaged to 100 m elevation bands and then related to their respective elevation level. The assessment was performed at three scales: (i) the complete data sets (10 km scale), (ii) sub-catchments (km scale) and (iii) slope transects (100 m scale). We show that most elevation-snow depth curves at all scales are characterised through a single shape. Mean snow depths increase with elevation up to a certain level where they have a distinct peak followed by a decrease at the highest elevations. We explain this typical shape with a generally positive elevation gradient of snow fall that is modified by the interaction of snow cover and topography. These processes are preferential deposition of precipitation and redistribution of snow by wind, sloughing and avalanching. Furthermore, we show that the elevation level of the peak of mean snow depth correlates with the dominant elevation level of rocks (if present).

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Section: T Grünewald Et Al: Elevation Dependency Of Snowsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Elevation dependency of mountain snow depth

Bühler²,

2014

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“…Along the profiles, however, the spatial resolution was higher and an interpolation scheme should be able to utilize this information to fill the gaps between profiles. Because snow accumulation reveals trends in the mean accumulation, e.g., with elevation, and differences in the variability, such as through higher wind speeds at higher elevations (Helfricht et al, 2014), it must be considered a non-stationary process. To take this into account we applied geographically weighted regression (GWR) that allowed for spatial variations in the influence of the explaining variables (Brunsdon et al, 1996;Fotheringham et al, 1998).…”

Section: Generalizing Snow Accumulation Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Balance Re-analysis of Findelengletscher, Switzerland; Benefits of Extensive Snow Accumulation Measurements

et al. 2016

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A re-analysis is presented here of a 10 year mass balance series at Findelengletscher, a temperate mountain glacier in Switzerland. Calculating glacier-wide mass balance from the set of glaciological point balance observations using conventional approaches, such as the profile or contour method, resulted in significant deviations from the reference value given by the geodetic mass change over a 5 year period. This is attributed to the sparsity of observations at high elevations and to the inability of the evaluation schemes to adequately estimate accumulation in unmeasured areas. However, measurements of winter mass balance were available for large parts of the study period from snow probings and density pits. Complementary surveys by helicopter-borne ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were conducted in three consecutive years. The complete set of seasonal observations was assimilated using a distributed mass balance model. This model-based extrapolation revealed a substantial mass loss at Findelengletscher of −0.43 m w.e. a −1 between 2004 and 2014, while the loss was less pronounced for its former tributary, Adlergletscher (−0.30 m w.e. a −1 ). For both glaciers, the resulting time series were within the uncertainty bounds of the geodetic mass change. We show that the model benefited strongly from the ability to integrate seasonal observations. If no winter mass balance measurements were available and snow cover was represented by a linear precipitation gradient, the geodetic mass balance was not matched. If winter balance measurements by snow probings and snow density pits were taken into account, the model performance was substantially improved but still showed a significant bias relative to the geodetic mass change. Thus, the excellent agreement of the model-based extrapolation with the geodetic mass change was owed to an adequate representation of winter accumulation distribution by means of extensive GPR measurements.

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“…; Helfricht et al . ). However, lateral redistribution of snow from mountain slopes and wind transport of snow to glacier surfaces increases snow cover variability on glaciers (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Helfricht et al . ). If lidar data are used, a considerable underestimate of actual snow depths in the accumulation area and an overestimate of actual snow depths in the ablation area by using lidar data can be expected at large alpine glaciers with a high mass turnover.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Local extremes in the lidar‐derived snow cover of alpine glaciers

Lehning

Sailer

Kühn

2015

Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography

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Snow deposition and redistribution are major drivers of snow cover dynamics in mountainous terrain and contribute to the mass balance of alpine glaciers. The quantitative understanding of inhomogeneous snow distribution in mountains has recently benefited from advances in measuring technologies, such as airborne laser scanning (ALS). This contribution further advances the quantitative understanding of snow distribution by analysing the areas of maximum surface elevation changes in a mountain catchment with large and small glaciers. Using multi-annual ALS observations, we found extreme surface elevation changes on rather thin borders along the glacier margins. While snow depth distribution patterns in less extreme terrain have presented high inter-annual persistence, there is little persistence of those extreme glacier accumulations between winters. We therefore interpret the lack of persistence as the result of a predominance of gravity-driven redistribution, which has an inherently higher random component because it does not occur with all conditions in all winters. In highly crevassed zones, the lidar-derived surface elevation changes are caused by a complex interaction of ice flux divergence, the propagation of crevasses and snow accumulation. In general, the relative contribution of gravitational mass transport to glacier snow cover volume was found to decrease for glaciers larger than 5 km 2 in the investigated region. We therefore suggest that extreme accumulations caused by gravitational snow transport play a significant role in the glacier mass balance of small to medium-size glaciers and that they may be successfully parameterized by simple mass redistribution algorithms, which have been presented in the literature.

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Interannual persistence of the seasonal snow cover in a glacierized catchment

Cited by 39 publications

References 65 publications

Elevation dependency of mountain snow depth

Elevation dependency of mountain snow depth

Mass Balance Re-analysis of Findelengletscher, Switzerland; Benefits of Extensive Snow Accumulation Measurements

Local extremes in the lidar‐derived snow cover of alpine glaciers

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