Long-term climate patterns in Alaskan surface temperature and precipitation and their biological consequences

Simpson, Joseph; Hufford, Gary L.; Fleming, Michael D.; Berg, Jared S.; Ashton, John

doi:10.1109/tgrs.2002.1010902

Cited by 30 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…higher precipitation in Barter than Komakuk, or, in other words, an inverted gradient across the borderline. Over the central region, the measured mean annual precipitation is slightly higher in Yukon than Alaska, which is also consistent with Simpson et al (2002Simpson et al ( , 2005. Our results suggest that the gradient between the central pair of stations becomes smaller after the bias correction.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

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Inconsistency in precipitation measurements across the Alaska–Yukon border

Scaff

Yang

et al. 2015

The Cryosphere

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Abstract. This study quantifies the inconsistency in gauge precipitation observations across the border of Alaska and Yukon. It analyses the precipitation measurements by the national standard gauges (National Weather Service (NWS) 8 in. gauge and Nipher gauge) and the bias-corrected data to account for wind effect on the gauge catch, wetting loss and trace events. The bias corrections show a significant amount of errors in the gauge records due to the windy and cold environment in the northern areas of Alaska and Yukon. Monthly corrections increase solid precipitation by 136 % in January and 20 % for July at the Barter Island in Alaska, and about 31 % for January and 4 % for July at the Yukon stations. Regression analyses of the monthly precipitation data show a stronger correlation for the warm months (mainly rainfall) than for cold month (mainly snowfall) between the station pairs, and small changes in the precipitation relationship due to the bias corrections. Double mass curves also indicate changes in the cumulative precipitation over the study periods. This change leads to a smaller and inverted precipitation gradient across the border, representing a significant modification in the precipitation pattern over the northern region. Overall, this study discovers significant inconsistency in the precipitation measurements across the USA-Canada border. This discontinuity is greater for snowfall than for rainfall, as gauge snowfall observations have large errors in windy and cold conditions. This result will certainly impact regional, particularly cross-border, climate and hydrology investigations.

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Section: Summary and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…slightly higher P in Yukon relative to Alaska. This result is consistent with other studies (Simpson et al, 2002(Simpson et al, , 2005. The corrected data, on the other hand, suggest a smaller gradient (1 mm) across the border (Fig.…”

Section: Yearly Data and Correctionssupporting

confidence: 93%

Inconsistency in precipitation measurements across the Alaska–Yukon border

Scaff

Yang

et al. 2015

The Cryosphere

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“…ENSO-related changes in the mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere at mos phere (e.g., Wallace and Gutzler, 1981), for example, produce a ridge of high pressure (the North American High) that extends along the entire west coast of North America and a simultaneous expansion and intensification of the Aleutian Low. These changes are associated with anomalous winter weather conditions, slightly warmer and much wetter along the Gulf of Alaska and slightly warmer and much drier in the Alaskan interior (Hess et al, 2001;Simpson et al, 2002). These interior conditions result in a shorter vegetation green-up in early spring followed by an extended vegetation dry-out in summer.…”

Section: Fires Secondary Succession and Model Biome Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…See METHODS for further interpretation. Such regions serve as CTZs between climatic regions, each region characterized by a more consistent pattern of climatic variability (see Simpson et al, 2002). Most of the CTZs separate the climatic region of coastal Alaska (relatively warm temperatures and high precipitation) from that of interior Alaska (relatively cold temperatures and gener al ly much less precipitation).…”

Section: Mad-defined Climatic Transition Zones (Ctzs) and Alaskan Biomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Bering Sea coastal shrub tundra and the interior boreal forest, unlike most other Alaskan biomes, have no distinct mountain barrier between them. Simpson et al (2002) hypothesized that the western coastal marine boundary layer (enhanced cloud cover, reduced in so la tion, cooler soil and surface temperatures) effectively acts like an orographic boundary, limiting the westward ex pan sion of the boreal forest toward the Bering Sea coast. The location of the north-south-oriented MAD-defined CTZ in western Alaska (Fig.…”

Section: Mad-defined Climatic Transition Zones (Ctzs) and Alaskan Biomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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