Abstract
Abstract. The spatio-temporal variability of the mountain snow cover determines the avalanche danger, snow water storage, permafrost distribution and the local distribution of fauna and flora. Using a new type of terrestrial laser scanner, which is particularly suited for measurements of snow covered surfaces, snow depth was monitored in a high alpine catchment during an ablation period. From these measurements snow water equivalents and ablation rates were calculated. This allowed us for the first time to obtain a high resolution (2.5 m cell size) picture of spatial variability of the snow cover and its temporal development. A very high variability of the snow cover with snow depths between 0–9 m at the end of the accumulation season was observed. This variability decreased during the ablation phase, while the dominant snow deposition features remained intact. The average daily ablation rate was between 15 mm/d snow water equivalent at the beginning of the ablation period and 30 mm/d at the end. The spatial variation of ablation rates increased during the ablation season and could not be explained in a simple manner by geographical or meteorological parameters, which suggests significant lateral energy fluxes contributing to observed melt. It is qualitatively shown that the effect of the lateral energy transport must increase as the fraction of snow free surfaces increases during the ablation period.
Highlights
The largest part of annual winter precipitation in the Alps above 1000 m a.s.l. falls as snow
From the digital elevation model (DEM) and a topographic map we could identify those features as ditches, which were packed with snow probably due to snow transport processes (Lehning et al, 2008)
First results from an extensive data set on the spatio-temporal variability of snow depth were presented
Summary
The largest part of annual winter precipitation in the Alps above 1000 m a.s.l. falls as snow. Most of this precipitation is stored in the snow cover until melting starts at the end of the accumulation season. The amount and timing of the melt strongly depend on the thickness and the spatial distribution of the snow cover. The spatial and temporal variability of the snow cover greatly impacts the alpine water balance and strongly affects nature and mankind (Elder et al, 1998). Winter tourism, with its high economic importance in many alpine regions, strongly depends on snow reliability and snow cover duration Winter tourism, with its high economic importance in many alpine regions, strongly depends on snow reliability and snow cover duration (e.g. Haefner et al, 1997; Beniston, 2000; Fazzini et al, 2004; Lopez-Moreno and Nogues-Bravo, 2006; Marty, 2008)
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