Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada
Variations in land surface albedo and snow-cover strongly impact the global biosphere, particularly through the snow-albedo feedback on climate. The seasonal freeze-thaw (FT) transition is coupled with snowpack melt dynamics and strongly impacts surface water mobility and the energy budget in the no...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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2018
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://doaj.org/article/29b22401b5cd4b0385bfbc2d771ebc9e |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:29b22401b5cd4b0385bfbc2d771ebc9e 2023-09-05T13:11:23+02:00 Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada Youngwook Kim John S Kimball Jinyang Du Crystal L B Schaaf Peter B Kirchner 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://doaj.org/article/29b22401b5cd4b0385bfbc2d771ebc9e EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/29b22401b5cd4b0385bfbc2d771ebc9e Environmental Research Letters, Vol 13, Iss 7, p 075009 (2018) freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 2023-08-13T00:37:34Z Variations in land surface albedo and snow-cover strongly impact the global biosphere, particularly through the snow-albedo feedback on climate. The seasonal freeze-thaw (FT) transition is coupled with snowpack melt dynamics and strongly impacts surface water mobility and the energy budget in the northern (≥45°N) arctic and boreal region (ABR). However, understanding of the regional variation in snowmelt and its effect on the surface energy budget are limited due to sparse in situ measurements of these processes and environmental constraints on effective monitoring within the ABR. In this study, we combined synergistic observations from overlapping satellite optical-infrared and microwave sensor records to quantify the regional patterns and seasonal progression in wet snow conditions during the spring snowmelt and autumn snow accumulation periods across Alaska and western Canada. The integrated satellite record included daily landscape FT status from AMSR microwave brightness temperature retrievals; and snow-cover extent, black sky albedo and net shortwave solar radiation ( R _snet ) derived from MODIS and AVHRR observations. The integrated satellite records were analyzed with in situ surface air temperature and humidity observations from regional weather stations over a two-year study period (2015–2016) overlapping with the NASA ABoVE (Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment). Our results show a large (79%) mean decline in land surface albedo between dry snow and snow-free conditions during the spring (March–June) and autumn (August–November) transition periods. Onset of diurnal thawing and refreezing of the surface snow layer and associated wet snow conditions in spring contributed to an approximate 25% decrease in snow cover albedo that extended over a seven to 21 week snowpack depletion period. The lower wet snow albedo enhances R _snet by approximately 74% (9–10 MJ m ^−2 d ^−1 ) relative to dry snow conditions, reinforcing snowmelt and surface warming, and contributing to growing season onset and activation ... Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada Environmental Research Letters 13 7 075009 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Youngwook Kim John S Kimball Jinyang Du Crystal L B Schaaf Peter B Kirchner Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada |
topic_facet |
freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Variations in land surface albedo and snow-cover strongly impact the global biosphere, particularly through the snow-albedo feedback on climate. The seasonal freeze-thaw (FT) transition is coupled with snowpack melt dynamics and strongly impacts surface water mobility and the energy budget in the northern (≥45°N) arctic and boreal region (ABR). However, understanding of the regional variation in snowmelt and its effect on the surface energy budget are limited due to sparse in situ measurements of these processes and environmental constraints on effective monitoring within the ABR. In this study, we combined synergistic observations from overlapping satellite optical-infrared and microwave sensor records to quantify the regional patterns and seasonal progression in wet snow conditions during the spring snowmelt and autumn snow accumulation periods across Alaska and western Canada. The integrated satellite record included daily landscape FT status from AMSR microwave brightness temperature retrievals; and snow-cover extent, black sky albedo and net shortwave solar radiation ( R _snet ) derived from MODIS and AVHRR observations. The integrated satellite records were analyzed with in situ surface air temperature and humidity observations from regional weather stations over a two-year study period (2015–2016) overlapping with the NASA ABoVE (Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment). Our results show a large (79%) mean decline in land surface albedo between dry snow and snow-free conditions during the spring (March–June) and autumn (August–November) transition periods. Onset of diurnal thawing and refreezing of the surface snow layer and associated wet snow conditions in spring contributed to an approximate 25% decrease in snow cover albedo that extended over a seven to 21 week snowpack depletion period. The lower wet snow albedo enhances R _snet by approximately 74% (9–10 MJ m ^−2 d ^−1 ) relative to dry snow conditions, reinforcing snowmelt and surface warming, and contributing to growing season onset and activation ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Youngwook Kim John S Kimball Jinyang Du Crystal L B Schaaf Peter B Kirchner |
author_facet |
Youngwook Kim John S Kimball Jinyang Du Crystal L B Schaaf Peter B Kirchner |
author_sort |
Youngwook Kim |
title |
Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada |
title_short |
Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada |
title_full |
Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada |
title_sort |
quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over alaska and western canada |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://doaj.org/article/29b22401b5cd4b0385bfbc2d771ebc9e |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
albedo Arctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 13, Iss 7, p 075009 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/29b22401b5cd4b0385bfbc2d771ebc9e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
075009 |
_version_ |
1776204754212356096 |