Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants
The detailed physical characteristics of the subarctic snowpack must be known to quantify the exchange of adsorbed pollutants between the atmosphere and the snow cover. For the first time, the combined evolutions of specific surface area (SSA), snow stratigraphy, temperature, and density were monito...
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:usarmyresearch-1059 2023-11-12T04:12:33+01:00 Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants Taillandier, A.S. Domine, F. Simpson, W.R. Sturm, M. Douglas, T.A. Severin, K 2006-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usarmyresearch/60 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usarmyresearch/article/1059/viewcontent/Sturm_EST_2006_Evolution_snow_area.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usarmyresearch/60 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usarmyresearch/article/1059/viewcontent/Sturm_EST_2006_Evolution_snow_area.pdf US Army Research Operations Research Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering text 2006 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T10:36:18Z The detailed physical characteristics of the subarctic snowpack must be known to quantify the exchange of adsorbed pollutants between the atmosphere and the snow cover. For the first time, the combined evolutions of specific surface area (SSA), snow stratigraphy, temperature, and density were monitored throughout winter in central Alaska. We define the snow area index (SAI) as the vertically integrated surface area of snow crystals, and this variable is used to quantify pollutants’ adsorption. Intense metamorphism generated by strong temperature gradients formed a thick depth hoar layer with low SSA (90 cm2 g-1) and density (200 kg m-3), resulting in a low SAI. After snowpack buildup in autumn, the winter SAI remained around 1000 m2/m2 of ground, much lower than the SAI of the Arctic snowpack, 2500 m2 m-2. With the example of PCBs 28 and 180, we calculate that the subarctic snowpack is a smaller reservoir of adsorbed pollutants than the Arctic snowpack and less efficiently transfers adsorbed pollutants from the atmosphere to ecosystems. The difference is greater for the more volatile PCB 28. With climate change, snowpack structure will be modified, and the snowpack’s ability to transfer adsorbed pollutants from the atmosphere to ecosystems may be reduced, especially for the more volatile pollutants. Text Arctic Climate change Subarctic Alaska University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL Arctic |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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ftunivnebraskali |
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Operations Research Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering |
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Operations Research Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Taillandier, A.S. Domine, F. Simpson, W.R. Sturm, M. Douglas, T.A. Severin, K Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants |
topic_facet |
Operations Research Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering |
description |
The detailed physical characteristics of the subarctic snowpack must be known to quantify the exchange of adsorbed pollutants between the atmosphere and the snow cover. For the first time, the combined evolutions of specific surface area (SSA), snow stratigraphy, temperature, and density were monitored throughout winter in central Alaska. We define the snow area index (SAI) as the vertically integrated surface area of snow crystals, and this variable is used to quantify pollutants’ adsorption. Intense metamorphism generated by strong temperature gradients formed a thick depth hoar layer with low SSA (90 cm2 g-1) and density (200 kg m-3), resulting in a low SAI. After snowpack buildup in autumn, the winter SAI remained around 1000 m2/m2 of ground, much lower than the SAI of the Arctic snowpack, 2500 m2 m-2. With the example of PCBs 28 and 180, we calculate that the subarctic snowpack is a smaller reservoir of adsorbed pollutants than the Arctic snowpack and less efficiently transfers adsorbed pollutants from the atmosphere to ecosystems. The difference is greater for the more volatile PCB 28. With climate change, snowpack structure will be modified, and the snowpack’s ability to transfer adsorbed pollutants from the atmosphere to ecosystems may be reduced, especially for the more volatile pollutants. |
format |
Text |
author |
Taillandier, A.S. Domine, F. Simpson, W.R. Sturm, M. Douglas, T.A. Severin, K |
author_facet |
Taillandier, A.S. Domine, F. Simpson, W.R. Sturm, M. Douglas, T.A. Severin, K |
author_sort |
Taillandier, A.S. |
title |
Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants |
title_short |
Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants |
title_full |
Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants |
title_fullStr |
Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evolution of the Snow Area Index of the Subarctic Snowpack in Central Alaska over a Whole Season. Consequences for the Air to Snow Transfer of Pollutants |
title_sort |
evolution of the snow area index of the subarctic snowpack in central alaska over a whole season. consequences for the air to snow transfer of pollutants |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usarmyresearch/60 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usarmyresearch/article/1059/viewcontent/Sturm_EST_2006_Evolution_snow_area.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Subarctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Subarctic Alaska |
op_source |
US Army Research |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usarmyresearch/60 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usarmyresearch/article/1059/viewcontent/Sturm_EST_2006_Evolution_snow_area.pdf |
_version_ |
1782331013643370496 |