Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019
Snow reliability is a key climatic impact driver for the ski tourism industry, although there are only a few studies addressing past changes in snow reliability in ski resorts accounting for snow management practices (grooming and snowmaking, in particular). This study provides an assessment of past...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:cebf2e9d471b44bb8dc1850735820fab 2023-05-15T18:32:28+02:00 Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 L. Berard-Chenu H. François E. George S. Morin 2022-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-863-2022 https://doaj.org/article/cebf2e9d471b44bb8dc1850735820fab EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/863/2022/tc-16-863-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-863-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/cebf2e9d471b44bb8dc1850735820fab The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 863-881 (2022) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-863-2022 2022-12-31T11:38:25Z Snow reliability is a key climatic impact driver for the ski tourism industry, although there are only a few studies addressing past changes in snow reliability in ski resorts accounting for snow management practices (grooming and snowmaking, in particular). This study provides an assessment of past changes in natural and managed snow cover reliability from 1961 to 2019 in the French Alps. In particular, we used snowmaking investment figures to infer the evolution of snowmaking coverage at the ski resort scale for 16 ski resorts in the French Alps, which we used together with a detailed snow cover modelling system driven by a local atmospheric reanalysis. We find different benefits of snow management to reduce the variability and long-term decrease in snow cover reliability because of the heterogeneity of the snowmaking deployment trajectories across ski resorts. The frequency of challenging conditions for ski resort operation over the 1991–2019 period increased in November and February to April compared to the 30-year reference period 1961–1990. In general, snowmaking had a positive impact on snow reliability, especially in December to January. While for the highest-elevation ski resorts, snowmaking improved snow reliability for the core of the winter season, it did not counterbalance the decreasing trend in snow cover reliability for lower-elevation ski resorts and in the spring. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 16 3 863 881 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 L. Berard-Chenu H. François E. George S. Morin Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Snow reliability is a key climatic impact driver for the ski tourism industry, although there are only a few studies addressing past changes in snow reliability in ski resorts accounting for snow management practices (grooming and snowmaking, in particular). This study provides an assessment of past changes in natural and managed snow cover reliability from 1961 to 2019 in the French Alps. In particular, we used snowmaking investment figures to infer the evolution of snowmaking coverage at the ski resort scale for 16 ski resorts in the French Alps, which we used together with a detailed snow cover modelling system driven by a local atmospheric reanalysis. We find different benefits of snow management to reduce the variability and long-term decrease in snow cover reliability because of the heterogeneity of the snowmaking deployment trajectories across ski resorts. The frequency of challenging conditions for ski resort operation over the 1991–2019 period increased in November and February to April compared to the 30-year reference period 1961–1990. In general, snowmaking had a positive impact on snow reliability, especially in December to January. While for the highest-elevation ski resorts, snowmaking improved snow reliability for the core of the winter season, it did not counterbalance the decreasing trend in snow cover reliability for lower-elevation ski resorts and in the spring. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. Berard-Chenu H. François E. George S. Morin |
author_facet |
L. Berard-Chenu H. François E. George S. Morin |
author_sort |
L. Berard-Chenu |
title |
Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
title_short |
Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
title_full |
Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
title_fullStr |
Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
title_sort |
past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of french alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-863-2022 https://doaj.org/article/cebf2e9d471b44bb8dc1850735820fab |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 863-881 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/863/2022/tc-16-863-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-863-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/cebf2e9d471b44bb8dc1850735820fab |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-863-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
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16 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
863 |
op_container_end_page |
881 |
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1766216585500950528 |