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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ScholarWorks at University of Montana
2018
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Online Access: | https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ntsg_pubs/397 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/viewcontent/Kim_2018_Environ._Res._Lett._13_075009.pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Kim_ERL_13_075009_SD.pdf |
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ftunivmontana:oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:ntsg_pubs-1398 2024-09-09T18:56:07+00:00 Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada Kim, Youngwook Kimball, John S Du, Jinyang Schaaf, Crystal L.B. Kirchner, Peter B. 2018-07-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ntsg_pubs/397 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/viewcontent/Kim_2018_Environ._Res._Lett._13_075009.pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Kim_ERL_13_075009_SD.pdf unknown ScholarWorks at University of Montana https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ntsg_pubs/397 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/viewcontent/Kim_2018_Environ._Res._Lett._13_075009.pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Kim_ERL_13_075009_SD.pdf © 2018 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group Publications freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR MODIS text 2018 ftunivmontana https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 2024-06-20T05:32:53Z 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 ... Text albedo Arctic Alaska University of Montana: ScholarWorks Arctic Canada Environmental Research Letters 13 7 075009 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Montana: ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunivmontana |
language |
unknown |
topic |
freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR MODIS |
spellingShingle |
freeze-thaw albedo snow NASA MEaSUREs ABoVE AMSR MODIS Kim, Youngwook Kimball, John S Du, Jinyang Schaaf, Crystal L.B. Kirchner, Peter B. 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 MODIS |
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 ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Kim, Youngwook Kimball, John S Du, Jinyang Schaaf, Crystal L.B. Kirchner, Peter B. |
author_facet |
Kim, Youngwook Kimball, John S Du, Jinyang Schaaf, Crystal L.B. Kirchner, Peter B. |
author_sort |
Kim, Youngwook |
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 |
ScholarWorks at University of Montana |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ntsg_pubs/397 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/viewcontent/Kim_2018_Environ._Res._Lett._13_075009.pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Kim_ERL_13_075009_SD.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
albedo Arctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Alaska |
op_source |
Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group Publications |
op_relation |
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ntsg_pubs/397 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/viewcontent/Kim_2018_Environ._Res._Lett._13_075009.pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/ntsg_pubs/article/1398/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Kim_ERL_13_075009_SD.pdf |
op_rights |
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd |
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_ |
1809940441572835328 |