Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.

Snow accumulation patterns can be highly variable depending on terrain and wind. Knowledge of spatial variability of snow accumulation is of high relevance for mass balance modelling. By not incorporating the variability in snow cover, the estimation in mass fluxes and the surface melt are incorrect...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Heerema, Catharina
Format: Bachelor Thesis
Language:English
Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper 2016
Subjects:
GPR
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-303875
id ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-303875
record_format openpolar
spelling ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-303875 2023-05-15T16:22:12+02:00 Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard. Den vinddrivna snöackumuleringens variabilitet och terräng : Fastställande av sambandet med hjälp av markpenetrerande radar på Svalbard Heerema, Catharina 2016 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-303875 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 376 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-303875 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess snow accumulation variability GPR terrain wind snöackumulation variationer terräng vind radar Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2016 ftuppsalauniv 2023-02-23T21:36:32Z Snow accumulation patterns can be highly variable depending on terrain and wind. Knowledge of spatial variability of snow accumulation is of high relevance for mass balance modelling. By not incorporating the variability in snow cover, the estimation in mass fluxes and the surface melt are incorrectly presented, affecting the eventual estimation of for instance contribution to sea level rise. Additionally, knowledge of snow accumulation variability is essential for assessing the reliability of point-wise mass balance measurements. Using ground penetrating radar (GPR), the spatial variability of snow can be mapped with both a great spatial and temporal resolution. GPR enables tracing of summer surface melt layers, resulting in a 2D reconstruction of past snow accumulation and associated variability. GPR measurements have been done on Svalbard, during 2012, 2013 and 2014. Based on the selected 2009 summer surface in the GPR measurements, accumulation rates were estimated between 2009-2012; 2009-2013 and 2009-2014. In addition, several terrain parameters are computed by combining DEM calculations with wind direction, resulting in a sheltering index, slope and curvature. We explore relationships between the found accumulation pattern and the terrain parameters with varying wind directions. Correlations between terrain and accumulation depend on the selected wind angle, which appears to change with elevation. The results suggest that localized wind patterns prevail on the glacier and shape the snow cover. Katabatic winds form at low elevations on the glacier and are oriented in the glacier direction of approximately 20 degrees. At intermediate elevation, winds from the east-southeast regulate the accumulation pattern. On the upper parts of the glacier, the terrain is more exposed and winds from large-scale atmospheric circulation, at 240 degrees, become more important in formation of the snow accumulation pattern. Correlations are overall high, indicating a strong influence of terrain features on the accumulation ... Bachelor Thesis glacier Svalbard Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Svalbard
institution Open Polar
collection Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA)
op_collection_id ftuppsalauniv
language English
topic snow accumulation
variability
GPR
terrain
wind
snöackumulation
variationer
terräng
vind
radar
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap
spellingShingle snow accumulation
variability
GPR
terrain
wind
snöackumulation
variationer
terräng
vind
radar
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap
Heerema, Catharina
Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.
topic_facet snow accumulation
variability
GPR
terrain
wind
snöackumulation
variationer
terräng
vind
radar
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap
description Snow accumulation patterns can be highly variable depending on terrain and wind. Knowledge of spatial variability of snow accumulation is of high relevance for mass balance modelling. By not incorporating the variability in snow cover, the estimation in mass fluxes and the surface melt are incorrectly presented, affecting the eventual estimation of for instance contribution to sea level rise. Additionally, knowledge of snow accumulation variability is essential for assessing the reliability of point-wise mass balance measurements. Using ground penetrating radar (GPR), the spatial variability of snow can be mapped with both a great spatial and temporal resolution. GPR enables tracing of summer surface melt layers, resulting in a 2D reconstruction of past snow accumulation and associated variability. GPR measurements have been done on Svalbard, during 2012, 2013 and 2014. Based on the selected 2009 summer surface in the GPR measurements, accumulation rates were estimated between 2009-2012; 2009-2013 and 2009-2014. In addition, several terrain parameters are computed by combining DEM calculations with wind direction, resulting in a sheltering index, slope and curvature. We explore relationships between the found accumulation pattern and the terrain parameters with varying wind directions. Correlations between terrain and accumulation depend on the selected wind angle, which appears to change with elevation. The results suggest that localized wind patterns prevail on the glacier and shape the snow cover. Katabatic winds form at low elevations on the glacier and are oriented in the glacier direction of approximately 20 degrees. At intermediate elevation, winds from the east-southeast regulate the accumulation pattern. On the upper parts of the glacier, the terrain is more exposed and winds from large-scale atmospheric circulation, at 240 degrees, become more important in formation of the snow accumulation pattern. Correlations are overall high, indicating a strong influence of terrain features on the accumulation ...
format Bachelor Thesis
author Heerema, Catharina
author_facet Heerema, Catharina
author_sort Heerema, Catharina
title Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.
title_short Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.
title_full Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.
title_fullStr Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.
title_full_unstemmed Wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : Establishing a relationship by using GPR on Svalbard.
title_sort wind driven snow accumulation variability and terrain : establishing a relationship by using gpr on svalbard.
publisher Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper
publishDate 2016
url http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-303875
geographic Svalbard
geographic_facet Svalbard
genre glacier
Svalbard
genre_facet glacier
Svalbard
op_relation Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553
376
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-303875
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
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