Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets
ABSTRACT In much of the boreal forests, snow covers the ground for half of the year. Since these boreal forests comprise approximately 15% of the land normally covered by snow during the winter and upwards of 40% of the land surface normally snow-covered during the spring and autumn, reliable measur...
Published in: | Polar Record |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1996
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400025092 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400025092 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247400025092 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247400025092 2024-03-03T08:48:13+00:00 Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets Foster, James Koster, Randy Behr, Helga Dümenil, Lydia Cohen, Judah Essery, Richard Liston, Glen Thompson, Starley Pollard, David Verseghy, Diana 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400025092 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400025092 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 32, issue 182, page 199-208 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 1996 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400025092 2024-02-08T08:29:47Z ABSTRACT In much of the boreal forests, snow covers the ground for half of the year. Since these boreal forests comprise approximately 15% of the land normally covered by snow during the winter and upwards of 40% of the land surface normally snow-covered during the spring and autumn, reliable measures of snow cover and snow mass are required for improved energy-balance and water-balance estimates. In this study, results from snow-depth climatological data (SDC), passive microwave satellite data, and output from general circulation models (GCMs) have been intercompared for the boreal forests of both North America and Eurasia. In Eurasia, during the winter months, snowmass estimates from these data sets correspond rather well; however, in North America, the passive microwave estimates are smaller than the estimates from the climatological data and the modeled data. The underestimation results primarily from the effects of vegetation on the microwave signal. The reason why the underestimation is a bigger problem in North America than in Eurasia is likely due to the use of global microwave algorithms that have not accounted for regional differences in the size of snow grains. The GCMs generally produce too much snow in the spring season. This is a result of the models having moisture amounts that are greater and temperatures that are slightly lower than observed, in the late winter and early spring periods. The models compare more favorably with the SDC in the Eurasian boreal forest than in the forests of North America during the winter season. However, in the spring, the model results for the North America boreal forest are in better agreement with the SDC than are the forests of Eurasia. Article in Journal/Newspaper Polar Record Cambridge University Press Polar Record 32 182 199 208 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Foster, James Koster, Randy Behr, Helga Dümenil, Lydia Cohen, Judah Essery, Richard Liston, Glen Thompson, Starley Pollard, David Verseghy, Diana Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
ABSTRACT In much of the boreal forests, snow covers the ground for half of the year. Since these boreal forests comprise approximately 15% of the land normally covered by snow during the winter and upwards of 40% of the land surface normally snow-covered during the spring and autumn, reliable measures of snow cover and snow mass are required for improved energy-balance and water-balance estimates. In this study, results from snow-depth climatological data (SDC), passive microwave satellite data, and output from general circulation models (GCMs) have been intercompared for the boreal forests of both North America and Eurasia. In Eurasia, during the winter months, snowmass estimates from these data sets correspond rather well; however, in North America, the passive microwave estimates are smaller than the estimates from the climatological data and the modeled data. The underestimation results primarily from the effects of vegetation on the microwave signal. The reason why the underestimation is a bigger problem in North America than in Eurasia is likely due to the use of global microwave algorithms that have not accounted for regional differences in the size of snow grains. The GCMs generally produce too much snow in the spring season. This is a result of the models having moisture amounts that are greater and temperatures that are slightly lower than observed, in the late winter and early spring periods. The models compare more favorably with the SDC in the Eurasian boreal forest than in the forests of North America during the winter season. However, in the spring, the model results for the North America boreal forest are in better agreement with the SDC than are the forests of Eurasia. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Foster, James Koster, Randy Behr, Helga Dümenil, Lydia Cohen, Judah Essery, Richard Liston, Glen Thompson, Starley Pollard, David Verseghy, Diana |
author_facet |
Foster, James Koster, Randy Behr, Helga Dümenil, Lydia Cohen, Judah Essery, Richard Liston, Glen Thompson, Starley Pollard, David Verseghy, Diana |
author_sort |
Foster, James |
title |
Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
title_short |
Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
title_full |
Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
title_fullStr |
Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
title_full_unstemmed |
Snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
title_sort |
snow-mass intercomparisons in the boreal forests from general circulation models and remotely sensed data sets |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400025092 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400025092 |
genre |
Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 32, issue 182, page 199-208 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400025092 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
182 |
container_start_page |
199 |
op_container_end_page |
208 |
_version_ |
1792504845807124480 |