Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Seasonal Snow Cover in Northeast Greenland from in Situ Observations

• DOI: 10.1657/aaar0016-028
• Publication Date: 2016-11-29T07:26:43Z
• Authors: Stine Højlund Ped...; Mikkel P. Tamstorf; Jakob Abermann; Andreas Westergaa...; Magnus Lund; Kirstine Skov; Charlotte Sigsgaard; Maria Rask Mylius; Birger Ulf Hansen; Glen E. Liston; Niels Martin Schmidt
• Keywords: snowmelt; interannual variability; snow-water equivalent; Greenland; Observation; snow density; 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences; 13. Climate action; Snow Cover; snow depth; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

ABSTRACT In this study, we quantified the spatiotemporal variability and trends in observations of multiple snow characteristics in High Arctic Zackenberg in Northeast Greenland through 18 years. Annual premelt snow-depth observations collected in 2005–2014 along an elevation gradient showed significant differences in snow depth between vegetation types. The seasonal snow cover was characterized by strong interannual variability in the Zackenberg region. Particularly the timing of snow-cover onset and melt, and the annual maximum accumulation, varied up to an order of magnitude between years. Hence, apart from the snow-cover fraction registered annually on 10 June, which exhibits a significant trend of -2.3% per year over the 18-year period, we found little evidence of significant trends in the observed snow-cover characteristics. Moreover, SnowModel results for the Zackenberg region confirmed that the pronounced interannual variability in snow precipitations has persisted in this High Arctic setting sinc...