Abstract
Abstract. Changes in snow albedo (SA) on several basins of the central Andes of Argentina are associated with the possible deposition of light-absorbing particles (LAP) in the austral spring. To demonstrate this possibility, we correlate SA with daily data of snow cover (SC), aerosol optical depth (AOD) and land surface temperature (LST) available from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA Terra satellite during 2000–2016, and other derived parameters such as days after albedo (DAS) and snow precipitation (SP) from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). We used satellite pixels with 100% snow cover to obtain monthly average value of SA, LST, AOD, DAS and SP performing multiple regression analysis. Further, we analysed biomass burning emissions in northern Argentina using MODIS products MCD64 collection C6 as possible source for snow pollution. Aerosol deposition and trajectories were analysed using WRF-Chem atmospheric numerical prediction model, with inventories of regional anthropogenic emissions of own elaboration (lat. 0.025° × long. 0.025°) and the estimation of open burning emissions from the FINN global inventory (Fire INventory from NCAR).
Highlights
Snow albedo is a parameter of great importance to determine the amount of solar radiation adsorbed in the cryosphere and is defined as a relationship between incoming and reflected solar radiation by a surface
The role that aerosols play in the negative trend of snow albedo (Malmros JK. et al 2018), and their relationship with the distribution and local deposition of aerosols in snow has been identified in previous studies for this region (Cereceda-Balic et al 2012; Bolaño-Ortiz et al 2017; Cereceda-Balic et al 2018; BolañoOrtiz et al 2018)
To estimate the regional source of black carbon (BC), we studied the winds that drag air masses toward the high areas of the basin studied using WRF-Chem and backward trajectories using NOAA HYSPLIT (Stein AF et al 2015; Rolph G et al 2017)
Summary
Snow albedo is a parameter of great importance to determine the amount of solar radiation adsorbed in the cryosphere and is defined as a relationship between incoming and reflected solar radiation by a surface. Estimating the snow darkening effect (SDE) through the presence of snow impurities requires a great effort of in situ measurements covering large snowy areas in many cases hardly accessible. A case study in the area of the sky complex in Portillo (32.83°S, 70.13°W) showed a negative relationship between local vehicle emissions and the snow albedo measured in situ. It could not quantify the SDE from vehicular emissions (Cereceda-Balic F. et al 2018). The main objective of this study was to investigate the aerosols effect on the snow albedo reduction in Central Andes of Argentina (CAA) during the spring season, based on satellite remote sensing data for the years 2000–2016. The role that aerosols play in the negative trend of snow albedo (Malmros JK. et al 2018), and their relationship with the distribution and local deposition of aerosols in snow has been identified in previous studies for this region (Cereceda-Balic et al 2012; Bolaño-Ortiz et al 2017; Cereceda-Balic et al 2018; BolañoOrtiz et al 2018)
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