Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events
It is well known that light-absorbing particulate matter (PM) enhances absorption of sunlight when deposited on ice and snow. Such increased absorption is due to a reduction in surface albedo, resulting in accelerated melt of frozen surfaces. In isolation, earlier melt enhances Arctic warming since...
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/68654 2023-05-15T13:11:38+02:00 Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events de Boer, Gijs Cox, Christopher J. Creamean, Jessie M. 2019-09-09 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/68654 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/68654/53441 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/68654 Copyright (c) 2019 ARCTIC ARCTIC; Vol. 72 No. 3 (2019): September: 215-335; 245-257 1923-1245 0004-0843 Deposition albedo North Slope of Alaska wind snow melt storm climate rivers dépôt albédo North Slope de l’Alaska vent neige fonte tempête climat cours d’eau info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 2019 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-07-03T17:29:58Z It is well known that light-absorbing particulate matter (PM) enhances absorption of sunlight when deposited on ice and snow. Such increased absorption is due to a reduction in surface albedo, resulting in accelerated melt of frozen surfaces. In isolation, earlier melt enhances Arctic warming since dark surfaces underlying snow and ice are exposed and absorb additional solar energy. Here, we combine various observational tools to demonstrate that aeolian deposition of PM along fluvial features on the North Slope of Alaska resulted in a notable reduction of surface albedo in the spring of 2016, from values typical for snow (~0.8) to around 0.35 on average. This reduction resulted in accelerated snow and ice melt by up to three weeks compared to unaffected areas. This phenomenon was observed to some degree in 12 other years dating back to 2003. Deposition generally was found to occur near particular sections of the rivers, with several areas affected by events in multiple years. In all years, the deposition is attributed to high wind events. The extreme case in 2016 is linked to unusually strong and extraordinarily persistent winds during April. The deposited material is thought to be the natural sediment carried by the rivers, resulting in a seasonally replenished source of PM. These findings indicate a previously unreported impact of both fluvial and atmospheric processes on the seasonal melt of northern Alaska rivers. Il s’agit d’un fait bien connu que la matière particulaire photo-absorbante rehausse l’absorption de la lumière solaire lorsqu’elle est déposée sur la glace et la neige. Cette absorption accrue est attribuable à la réduction de l’albédo de la surface, ce qui se traduit par la fonte accélérée des surfaces glacées. Individuellement, la fonte hâtive augmente le réchauffement de l’Arctique parce que les surfaces sombres se trouvant sous la neige et la glace sont exposées et absorbent l’énergie solaire supplémentaire. Ici, nous recourons à divers outils d’observation pour montrer que le dépôt éolien ... Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Arctic north slope Tundra Alaska University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic ARCTIC 72 3 245 257 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Deposition albedo North Slope of Alaska wind snow melt storm climate rivers dépôt albédo North Slope de l’Alaska vent neige fonte tempête climat cours d’eau |
spellingShingle |
Deposition albedo North Slope of Alaska wind snow melt storm climate rivers dépôt albédo North Slope de l’Alaska vent neige fonte tempête climat cours d’eau de Boer, Gijs Cox, Christopher J. Creamean, Jessie M. Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events |
topic_facet |
Deposition albedo North Slope of Alaska wind snow melt storm climate rivers dépôt albédo North Slope de l’Alaska vent neige fonte tempête climat cours d’eau |
description |
It is well known that light-absorbing particulate matter (PM) enhances absorption of sunlight when deposited on ice and snow. Such increased absorption is due to a reduction in surface albedo, resulting in accelerated melt of frozen surfaces. In isolation, earlier melt enhances Arctic warming since dark surfaces underlying snow and ice are exposed and absorb additional solar energy. Here, we combine various observational tools to demonstrate that aeolian deposition of PM along fluvial features on the North Slope of Alaska resulted in a notable reduction of surface albedo in the spring of 2016, from values typical for snow (~0.8) to around 0.35 on average. This reduction resulted in accelerated snow and ice melt by up to three weeks compared to unaffected areas. This phenomenon was observed to some degree in 12 other years dating back to 2003. Deposition generally was found to occur near particular sections of the rivers, with several areas affected by events in multiple years. In all years, the deposition is attributed to high wind events. The extreme case in 2016 is linked to unusually strong and extraordinarily persistent winds during April. The deposited material is thought to be the natural sediment carried by the rivers, resulting in a seasonally replenished source of PM. These findings indicate a previously unreported impact of both fluvial and atmospheric processes on the seasonal melt of northern Alaska rivers. Il s’agit d’un fait bien connu que la matière particulaire photo-absorbante rehausse l’absorption de la lumière solaire lorsqu’elle est déposée sur la glace et la neige. Cette absorption accrue est attribuable à la réduction de l’albédo de la surface, ce qui se traduit par la fonte accélérée des surfaces glacées. Individuellement, la fonte hâtive augmente le réchauffement de l’Arctique parce que les surfaces sombres se trouvant sous la neige et la glace sont exposées et absorbent l’énergie solaire supplémentaire. Ici, nous recourons à divers outils d’observation pour montrer que le dépôt éolien ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
de Boer, Gijs Cox, Christopher J. Creamean, Jessie M. |
author_facet |
de Boer, Gijs Cox, Christopher J. Creamean, Jessie M. |
author_sort |
de Boer, Gijs |
title |
Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events |
title_short |
Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events |
title_full |
Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events |
title_fullStr |
Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events |
title_full_unstemmed |
Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events |
title_sort |
accelerated springtime melt of snow on tundra downwind from northern alaska river systems resulting from niveo-aeolian deposition events |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/68654 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
albedo Arctic Arctic north slope Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Arctic north slope Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 72 No. 3 (2019): September: 215-335; 245-257 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/68654/53441 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/68654 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2019 ARCTIC |
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72 |
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3 |
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245 |
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257 |
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