Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada
The 0 ∘C temperature threshold is critical for many meteorological and hydrological processes driven by melting and freezing in the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface and by the associated precipitation varying between rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and snow. This threshold is especially important...
Published in: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
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Copernicus Publications
2020
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ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00051190 2023-05-15T16:37:56+02:00 Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada Mekis, Eva Stewart, Ronald E. Theriault, Julie M. Kochtubajda, Bohdan Bonsal, Barrie R. Liu, Zhuo 2020-04 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1741-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00051190 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00050846/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/1741/2020/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf eng eng Copernicus Publications Hydrology and Earth System Sciences -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2100610 -- http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/volumes_and_issues.html -- 1607-7938 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1741-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00051190 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00050846/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/1741/2020/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2020 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1741-2020 2022-02-08T22:36:32Z The 0 ∘C temperature threshold is critical for many meteorological and hydrological processes driven by melting and freezing in the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface and by the associated precipitation varying between rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and snow. This threshold is especially important in cold regions such as Canada, because it is linked with freeze–thaw, snowmelt, and permafrost. This study develops a Canada-wide perspective on near-0 ∘C conditions using hourly surface temperature and precipitation type observations from 92 climate stations for the period from 1981 to 2011. In addition, nine stations from various climatic regions are selected for further analysis. Near-0 ∘C conditions are defined as periods when the surface temperature is between −2 and 2 ∘C. Near-0 ∘C conditions occur often across all regions of the country, although the annual number of days and hours and the duration of these events varies dramatically. Various types of precipitation (e.g., rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and ice pellets) sometimes occur with these temperatures. Near-0 ∘C conditions and the reported precipitation type occurrences tend to be higher in Atlantic Canada, although high values also occur in other regions. Trends of most temperature-based and precipitation-based indicators show little or no change despite a systematic warming in annual surface temperatures over Canada. Over the annual cycle, near-0 ∘C temperatures and precipitation often exhibit a pattern: short durations occur around summer, driven by the diurnal cycle, and a tendency toward longer durations around winter, associated with storms. There is also a tendency for near-0 ∘C surface temperatures to occur more often than expected relative to other temperature windows at some stations due, at least in part, to diabatic cooling and heating that take place with melting and freezing, respectively, in the atmosphere and at the surface. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA Canada Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 24 4 1741 1761 |
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article Verlagsveröffentlichung Mekis, Eva Stewart, Ronald E. Theriault, Julie M. Kochtubajda, Bohdan Bonsal, Barrie R. Liu, Zhuo Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada |
topic_facet |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
The 0 ∘C temperature threshold is critical for many meteorological and hydrological processes driven by melting and freezing in the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface and by the associated precipitation varying between rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and snow. This threshold is especially important in cold regions such as Canada, because it is linked with freeze–thaw, snowmelt, and permafrost. This study develops a Canada-wide perspective on near-0 ∘C conditions using hourly surface temperature and precipitation type observations from 92 climate stations for the period from 1981 to 2011. In addition, nine stations from various climatic regions are selected for further analysis. Near-0 ∘C conditions are defined as periods when the surface temperature is between −2 and 2 ∘C. Near-0 ∘C conditions occur often across all regions of the country, although the annual number of days and hours and the duration of these events varies dramatically. Various types of precipitation (e.g., rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and ice pellets) sometimes occur with these temperatures. Near-0 ∘C conditions and the reported precipitation type occurrences tend to be higher in Atlantic Canada, although high values also occur in other regions. Trends of most temperature-based and precipitation-based indicators show little or no change despite a systematic warming in annual surface temperatures over Canada. Over the annual cycle, near-0 ∘C temperatures and precipitation often exhibit a pattern: short durations occur around summer, driven by the diurnal cycle, and a tendency toward longer durations around winter, associated with storms. There is also a tendency for near-0 ∘C surface temperatures to occur more often than expected relative to other temperature windows at some stations due, at least in part, to diabatic cooling and heating that take place with melting and freezing, respectively, in the atmosphere and at the surface. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mekis, Eva Stewart, Ronald E. Theriault, Julie M. Kochtubajda, Bohdan Bonsal, Barrie R. Liu, Zhuo |
author_facet |
Mekis, Eva Stewart, Ronald E. Theriault, Julie M. Kochtubajda, Bohdan Bonsal, Barrie R. Liu, Zhuo |
author_sort |
Mekis, Eva |
title |
Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada |
title_short |
Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada |
title_full |
Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada |
title_fullStr |
Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada |
title_sort |
near-0 °c surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across canada |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1741-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00051190 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00050846/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/1741/2020/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_relation |
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2100610 -- http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/volumes_and_issues.html -- 1607-7938 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1741-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00051190 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00050846/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/1741/2020/hess-24-1741-2020.pdf |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1741-2020 |
container_title |
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1741 |
op_container_end_page |
1761 |
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1766028231662632960 |