Role of atmospheric circulation with respect to the interannual variability in the date of snow cover disappearance over northern latitudes between 1988 and 2003

Abstract

This paper analyzes the main spatial patterns in the dates of snow cover disappearance variability over northern latitudes between 1988 and 2003. The dates of snow cover disappearance were calculated using satellite passive microwave data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager. Spatial and temporal patterns were obtained using principal components analysis in the S mode. We identified eight components, each representing a large region characterized by homogeneous interannual variability in the dates of snow cover disappearance. We found that atmospheric circulation, summarized by means of teleconnection indices, had an important impact on the date of snow cover disappearance for most of these regions. A role is played by the Arctic Oscillation in western Siberia, the spring east Atlantic/west Russian pattern in central Siberia, and the Pacific North American pattern in southern Canada, while the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon and the west Pacific pattern are significantly related to variability in the date of snow cover disappearance in the northernmost areas of America. For the regions where we found no relationship between the interannual variability in the date of snow cover disappearance and the teleconnection indices, a direct relationship with some spatial patterns of sea level pressures, which are not well summarized by the teleconnection indices, was found.