Recent decreases in snow water storage in western North America.

Autor: Hale KE; Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA.; Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA.; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT USA., Jennings KS; Lynker, Boulder, CO USA., Musselman KN; Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA.; Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA., Livneh B; Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA.; Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA., Molotch NP; Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA.; Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA.; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Communications earth & environment [Commun Earth Environ] 2023; Vol. 4 (1), pp. 170. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 22.
DOI: 10.1038/s43247-023-00751-3
Abstrakt: Mountain snowpacks act as natural water towers, storing winter precipitation until summer months when downstream water demand is greatest. We introduce a Snow Storage Index (SSI), representing the temporal phase difference between daily precipitation and surface water inputs-sum of rainfall and snowmelt into terrestrial systems-weighted by relative magnitudes. Different from snow water equivalent or snow fraction, the SSI represents the degree to which the snowpack delays the timing and magnitude of surface water inputs relative to precipitation, a fundamental component of how snow water storage influences the hydrologic cycle. In western North America, annual SSI has decreased ( p  < 0.05) from 1950-2013 in over 25% of mountainous areas, as a result of substantially earlier snowmelt and rainfall in spring months, with additional declines in winter precipitation. The SSI and associated trends offer a new perspective on hydrologic sensitivity to climate change which have broad implications for water resources and ecosystems.
Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.
(© The Author(s) 2023.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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