Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests
Boreal forests are Earth‘s second largest forest biome, covering an area of 12.0–14.7 million km2. Winters are typically long, cold and dry, creating ideal conditions for sustaining snowpacks throughout this period. The spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover in boreal forest environments pl...
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The University of Edinburgh
2023
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1842/39806 https://doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 |
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ftunivedinburgh:oai:era.ed.ac.uk:1842/39806 2023-07-30T04:02:05+02:00 Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests Milodowski, Rosa L. Essery, Richard Patenaude, Genevieve Myers-Smith, Isla Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) 2023-02-03 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1842/39806 https://doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 en eng The University of Edinburgh https://hdl.handle.net/1842/39806 http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 boreal forests snow cover linear clearings wind flow patterns FMI-ARC canopy drag snowmelt patterns Thesis or Dissertation Doctoral PhD Doctor of Philosophy 2023 ftunivedinburgh https://doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 2023-07-09T20:29:04Z Boreal forests are Earth‘s second largest forest biome, covering an area of 12.0–14.7 million km2. Winters are typically long, cold and dry, creating ideal conditions for sustaining snowpacks throughout this period. The spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover in boreal forest environments plays a crucial role in hydrological and ecological processes at local and regional scales. The dynamics of snow accumulation and melt reflect the interplay between such processes as the wind-driven redistribution of snow and the net energy balance at the snowpack surface. The presence of a forest canopy exerts a modifying effect on these processes; snow on the forest floor is typically sheltered from wind and direct solar radiation, whilst receiving enhanced longwave radiation from the surrounding canopy. However, the balance between these effects can be complex, particularly in the case of discontinuous forest canopies where clearings allow wind and light to penetrate down to the underlying snowpack. Understanding how the interplay between environmental factors drives spatially and temporally varying patterns of snow cover across forest edges is of particular importance and relevance in boreal regions where rates of climate change are high and forest fragmentation is increasing. In this thesis I explore how linear clearings, such as roads and tracks, may alter patterns of wind flow and incoming radiation, and consequently modify the dynamics of snow accumulation and melt across discontinuous forest canopies. This investigation uses field data collected during this research project and observations from long-running monitoring at the Arctic Research Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI-ARC), in northern Finland. Using a Met Office wind flow model (BLASIUS) I simulate patterns of wind flow across forest discontinuities and show that the clearing width is a key influence on these dynamics. There is less drag on the wind flow within the clearing relative to the forest canopy. Sufficient distance (approx. ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Arctic Climate change Northern Finland Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA - University of Edinburgh) Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA - University of Edinburgh) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivedinburgh |
language |
English |
topic |
boreal forests snow cover linear clearings wind flow patterns FMI-ARC canopy drag snowmelt patterns |
spellingShingle |
boreal forests snow cover linear clearings wind flow patterns FMI-ARC canopy drag snowmelt patterns Milodowski, Rosa L. Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
topic_facet |
boreal forests snow cover linear clearings wind flow patterns FMI-ARC canopy drag snowmelt patterns |
description |
Boreal forests are Earth‘s second largest forest biome, covering an area of 12.0–14.7 million km2. Winters are typically long, cold and dry, creating ideal conditions for sustaining snowpacks throughout this period. The spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover in boreal forest environments plays a crucial role in hydrological and ecological processes at local and regional scales. The dynamics of snow accumulation and melt reflect the interplay between such processes as the wind-driven redistribution of snow and the net energy balance at the snowpack surface. The presence of a forest canopy exerts a modifying effect on these processes; snow on the forest floor is typically sheltered from wind and direct solar radiation, whilst receiving enhanced longwave radiation from the surrounding canopy. However, the balance between these effects can be complex, particularly in the case of discontinuous forest canopies where clearings allow wind and light to penetrate down to the underlying snowpack. Understanding how the interplay between environmental factors drives spatially and temporally varying patterns of snow cover across forest edges is of particular importance and relevance in boreal regions where rates of climate change are high and forest fragmentation is increasing. In this thesis I explore how linear clearings, such as roads and tracks, may alter patterns of wind flow and incoming radiation, and consequently modify the dynamics of snow accumulation and melt across discontinuous forest canopies. This investigation uses field data collected during this research project and observations from long-running monitoring at the Arctic Research Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI-ARC), in northern Finland. Using a Met Office wind flow model (BLASIUS) I simulate patterns of wind flow across forest discontinuities and show that the clearing width is a key influence on these dynamics. There is less drag on the wind flow within the clearing relative to the forest canopy. Sufficient distance (approx. ... |
author2 |
Essery, Richard Patenaude, Genevieve Myers-Smith, Isla Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Milodowski, Rosa L. |
author_facet |
Milodowski, Rosa L. |
author_sort |
Milodowski, Rosa L. |
title |
Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
title_short |
Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
title_full |
Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
title_fullStr |
Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
title_full_unstemmed |
Simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
title_sort |
simulating the impact of wind and radiation on snow dynamics across linear disturbances in boreal forests |
publisher |
The University of Edinburgh |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1842/39806 https://doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Northern Finland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Northern Finland |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/1842/39806 http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7488/era/3054 |
_version_ |
1772812810811604992 |