Response of high mountain landscape to topographic variables: Central pyrenees

Barrio, Gabriel del; Alvera, Bernardo; Puigdefábregas, Juan; Díez, Carlos Estepa

doi:10.1007/bf02698210

Cited by 81 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The mean annual precipitation is 2000 mm, of which snow accounts for approximately 50 % (Anderton et al, 2004). The mean annual air temperature is 3 • C, and the mean daily temperature is < 0 • C for an average of 130 days each year (del Barrio et al, 1997). Snow covers a high percentage of the catchment from November to the end of May.…”

Section: Study Area and Snow And Climatic Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topographic control of snowpack distribution in a small catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees: intra- and inter-annual persistence

et al. 2014

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Abstract. In this study we analyzed the relations between terrain characteristics and snow depth distribution in a small alpine catchment located in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Twelve field campaigns were conducted during 2012 and 2013, which were years characterized by very different climatic conditions. Snow depth was measured using a long range terrestrial laser scanner and analyses were performed at a spatial resolution of 5 m. Pearson's r correlation, multiple linear regressions (MLRs) and binary regression trees (BRTs) were used to analyze the influence of topography on the snow depth distribution. The analyses were used to identify the topographic variables that best explain the snow distribution in this catchment, and to assess whether their contributions were variable over intra-and interannual timescales. The topographic position index (index that compares the relative elevation of each cell in a digital elevation model to the mean elevation of a specified neighborhood around that cell with a specific shape and searching distance), which has rarely been used in these types of studies, most accurately explained the distribution of snow. The good capability of the topographic position index (TPI) to predict snow distribution has been observed in both, MLRs and BRTs for all analyzed days. Other variables affecting the snow depth distribution included the maximum upwind slope, elevation and northing. The models developed to predict snow distribution in the basin for each of the 12 survey days were similar in terms of the explanatory variables. However, the variance explained by the overall model and by each topographic variable, especially those making a lesser contribution, differed markedly between a year in which snow was abundant (2013) and a year when snow was scarce (2012), and also differed between surveys in which snow accumulation or melting conditions dominated in the preceding days. The total variance explained by the models clearly decreased for those days on which the snowpack was thinner and more patchily. Despite the differences in climatic conditions in the 2012 and 2013 snow seasons, similarities in snow distributions patterns were observed which are directly related to terrain topographic characteristics.

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Section: Study Area and Snow And Climatic Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topographic control of snowpack distribution in a small catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees: intra- and inter-annual persistence

et al. 2014

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“…The mean annual temperature is 3°C, and there are 130 d yr -1 on which the mean temperature is < 0°C. Mean annual precipitation is around 2000 mm, of which more than half falls as snow (Del Barrio et al 1997, Anderton et al 2004). Despite having a mean winter temperature < 0°C, the area is subject to intense winter warm spells, which trigger melting events and major metamorphosis of the snowpack throughout the whole snow season.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of the snow energy balance to climatic changes: prediction of snowpack in the Pyrenees in the 21st century

Moreno

Goyette²,

Beniston³

et al. 2008

Clim. Res.

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The present paper analyses and quantifies the sensitivity of snowpack to climate change, and assesses implications for snow processes in the central Pyrenees under the climatic conditions projected by a set of 9 regional climate models (RCMs) for the end of the 21st century, under the IPCC emission scenario SRES A2. The methodology was based on comparison of the snow series obtained by simulating the energy balance of a snow surface driven by climatic conditions recorded during the period from 1996 to 2006, with snow series obtained by simulations for the same period that included various changes in magnitude for each of the climatic drivers (sensitivity analysis); and the changes projected by the RCMs to the end of the 21st century. Results showed a marked sensitivity of snowpack duration and thickness to shifts in temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. RCMs suggest that the most significant changes expected in the study area are related to temperature, which is the main parameter responsible for the predicted changes in future snow processes. A large coherence was found among the simulations made using the projections of the 9 regional climate models. Comparison with respect to current conditions indicated a decrease of 50 to 60% in maximum snow water equivalent, the occurrence at least 1 mo earlier of the maximum snow water equivalent, and a reduction in the duration of the snowpack by around 2 mo. In addition, the 3 snow parameters will be subject to a marked increase in inter-annual variability compared to the observed conditions. KEY WORDS: Snow · Snow energy balance · SEB · Climate change · Regional climate models · RCMs · Pyrenees Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherClim Res 36: 203-217, 2008 from December to April in areas >1500 m above mean sea level (a.s.l.), with a longer duration of snow cover at higher altitudes and in shaded areas (García-Ruiz et al. 1986, López-Moreno & Nogués-Bravo 2005. In this region, snow controls many ecological processes and also has important socio-economic implications, mainly due to (1) the large contribution of snow melt to the amount and seasonal distribution of runoff in Pyrenean river basins, which plays a major role in water management in the semiarid and highly populated Ebro valley (López-Moreno & García-Ruiz 2004) and (2) the significant development of winter tourism in recent decades, which represents one of the main sources of revenue for the region. Thus, this area could be particularly sensitive to the impact of expected climatic change in the 21st century (López-Moreno et al. 2008).Within this context, the aim of the present study was to assess the impact of predicted climate change on snow processes in the Pyrenees. For this purpose, the snow energy balance (SEB) in the area was simulated for climatic conditions in the recent past (1996 to 2006) and for future conditions driven by projections of 9 different regional climate models (RCMs) for the end of the 21st century. The use of a multi-mod...

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“…DEM has been used as a source of variables in numerous vegetation studies (e.g. Del Barrio et al 1997;Gottfried et al 1998;Guisan et al 1998).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of digital elevation model for mapping vegetation tiers

Volařík¹

2010

J. For. Sci.

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ABSTRACT:The aim of this paper is to explore possibilities of application of digital elevation model for mapping vegetation tiers (altitudinal vegetation zones). Linear models were used to investigate the relationship between vegetation tiers and variables derived from a digital elevation model -elevation and potential global radiation. The model was based on a sample of 138 plots located from the 2 nd to the 5 th vegetation tier. Potential global radiation was computed in r.sun module in geographic information system GRASS. The final model explained 84% of data variability and employed variables were found to be sufficient for modelling vegetation tiers in the study area. Applied methodology could be used to increase the accuracy and efficiency of mapping vegetation tiers, especially in areas where such task is considered difficult (e.g. agricultural landscape).

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Response of high mountain landscape to topographic variables: Central pyrenees

Cited by 81 publications

References 31 publications

Topographic control of snowpack distribution in a small catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees: intra- and inter-annual persistence

Topographic control of snowpack distribution in a small catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees: intra- and inter-annual persistence

Sensitivity of the snow energy balance to climatic changes: prediction of snowpack in the Pyrenees in the 21st century

Application of digital elevation model for mapping vegetation tiers

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