Abstract
Snow hydrology is a mature research subject that has long been studied in all world cold regions. Snow is a common feature in temperate and circumpolar latitudes, as well as on high mountains of the tropics (Fig. 4.1). Owing to their high latitude positions, areas of continuous permafrost have at least 250 days of snow cover while discontinuous permafrost zones have over 200 days with snow. Alpine permafrost areas in Tibetan Plateau and in North America have similarly long snow duration. In this chapter, only a synopsis of snow-related processes is presented, with attention focused on the extreme frigid zones.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Boike J, Hinzman LD, Oveduin PP, Romanovsky V, Ippisch O, Roth K (2003a) A comparison of snow melt at three circumpolar sites: Spitsbergen, Siberia, Alaska. In: Proceedings of the 8th international conference on permafrost, vol 1, Zurich, pp 79–84
Boike J, Roth K, Ippisch O (2003b) Seasonal snow cover on frozen ground: energy balance calculations of a permafrost site near Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen. J Geophys Res 108(D2):8163. doi:doi:10.1029/2001JD000939
Carey SK, Woo MK (1998) Snowmelt hydrology of two subarctic slopes, Southern Yukon, Canada. Nordic Hydrol 29:245–266
Colbeck SC (1971) One dimensional water flow through snow. US Army CRREL Research Report 296
Colbeck SC (1972) A theory of water percolation in snow. J Glaciol 11:369–385
Colbeck SC (1976) An analysis of water flow in dry snow. Water Resour Res 12:523–527
Colbeck SC (1978) The physical aspects of water flow through snow. Adv Hydrosci 11:165–206
Colbeck SC (1979) Water flow through heterogeneous snow. Cold Reg Sci Technol 1:37–45
Colbeck SC, Davidson G (1972) Water percolation through homogeneous snow. In: The role of snow and ice in hydrology. IAHS Publ 107:242–247
Davis RE, Hardy JP, Ni W, Woodcock C, McKenzie JC, Jordan R, Li X (1997) Variation of snow cover ablation in the boreal forest: a sensitivity study on the effects of conifer canopy. J Geophys Res 102(D24):29389–29395
Faria DA, Pomeroy JW, Essery RLH (2000) Effect of covariance between ablation and snow water equivalent on depletion of snow-covered area in a forest. Hydrol Process 14:2683–2695
Fassnacht SR, Velasco MT, Meiman PJ, Whitt ZC (2010) The effect of aeolian deposition on the surface roughness of melting snow, Byers Peninsula, Antarctica. Hydrol Process 24:2007–2013
FitzGibbon JE, Dunne T (1979) Characteristics of subarctic snowcover. Hydrol Sci Bull 24:465–476
Giddings JC, LaChapelle E (1962) The formation rate of depth hoar. J Geophys Res 67:2377–2383
Hedstrom NR, Pomeroy JW (1998) Measurements and modeling of snow interception in the boreal forest. Hydrol Process 12:1611–1625
Heron R, Woo MK (1978) Snowmelt computation for a High Arctic site. In: Proceedings of 35th Eastern snow conference, Hanover, New Hampshire, pp 162–172
Idso SB, Jackson RD (1969) Thermal radiation from the atmosphere. J Geophys Res 74(24):5397–5403
Kane DL, Gieck RE, Hinzman LD (1997) Snowmelt modeling at small Alaskan Arctic watershed. J Hydrol Eng 2:204–210
Kane DL, Hinzman LD, Benson CS, Liston GE (1991) Snow hydrology of a headwater Arctic basin. 1. Physical measurements and process studies. Water Resour Res 27:1099–1109
Kane DL, Luthin JN, Taylor GS (1975) Heat and mass transfer in cold region soils. University of Alaska, Institute of Water Resources Research Report IWR-65
Koerner R, Russell RD (1979) δ18O variations in snow on the Devon Island ice cap, Northwest Territories, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 16:1419–1427
Kuroiwa D (1968) Liquid permeability of snow. IAHS Publ 79:380–391
Liston GE (1995) Local advection of momentum, heat, and moisture during the melt of patchy snow covers. J Appl Meteorol 34:1705–1715
Liston GE, Sturm M (2004) The role of winter sublimation in the Arctic moisture budget. Nord Hydrol 35:325–334
Marsh P, Bartlett P, MacKay M, Pohl S, Lantz T (2010) Snowmelt energetics at a shrub tundra site in the western Canadian Arctic. Hydrol Process 24:3603–3620
Marsh P, Pomeroy JW (1996) Meltwater fluxes at an Arctic forest-tundra site. Hydrol Process 10:1383–1400
Marsh P, Woo MK (1984a) Wetting front advance and freezing of meltwater within a snow cover. Observations in the Canadian Arctic. Water Resour Res 16:1853–1864
Marsh P, Woo MK (1984b) Wetting front advance and freezing of meltwater within a snow cover. 2. A simulation model. Water Resour Res 16:1865–1874
Marsh P, Woo MK (1985) Meltwater movement in natural heterogeneous snow covers. Water Resour Res 21:1710–1716
McGurk BJ, Marsh P (1995) Flow-finger continuity in serial thick-sections in a melting Sierran snowpack. IAHS Publ 228:81–88
Metcalfe JR, Ishida S, Goodison BE (1994) A corrected precipitation archive for the Northwest Territories. In: Cohen SJ (ed) Proceedings of the 6th biannual AES/DIAND meeting on Northern climate, Mackenzie Basin Impact Study Interim Report No 2, pp 110–117
Metcalfe RA, Buttle JM (1998) A statistical model of spatially distributed snowmelt rates in a boreal forest basin. Hydrol Process 12:1701–1722
Moore RD (1983) On the use of bulk aerodynamic formulae over melting snow. Nord Hydrol 14:193–206
Neumann N, Marsh P (1998) Local advection of sensible heat in the snowmelt landscape of Arctic tundra. Hydrol Process 12:1547–1560
Oke TR (1987) Boundary layer climates, 2nd edn. Routledge, London
O’Neill ADJ, Gray DM (1972) Spatial and temporal variations of the albedo of prairie snowpack. IAHS Publ 95:176–186
Pomeroy JW, Bewley DS, Essery RLH, Hedstrom NR, Link T, Granger RJ, Sicart JE, Ellis CR, Janowicz JR (2006) Shrub tundra snowmelt. Hydrol Process 20:923–941
Pomeroy JW, Gray DM (1995) Snowcover accumulation, relocation and management. National Hydrology Research Institute Report No. 7, Minister of supply and services, Canada
Pomeroy JW, Parvianinen J, Hedstrom N, Gray DM (1998) Coupled modeling of forest snow interception and sublimation. Hydrol Process 12:2317–2337
Pomeroy JW, Toth B, Granger RJ, Hedstrom NR, Essery RLH (2003) Variations in surface energetic during snowmelt in a subalpine mountain catchment. J Hydrometeor 4:702–719
Price AJ, Dunne T (1976) Energy balance computations on snowmelt in a subarctic area. Water Resour Res 12:686–694
Pruitt WO Jr (1970) Some ecological aspects of snow. In: Proceedings of Helsinki symposium on ecology of the subarctic regions, UNESCO series in ecology and conservation No 1, Paris, pp 83–99
Roth K, Boike J (2001) Quantifying the thermal dynamics of a permafrost site near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Water Resour Res 37:2901–2914
Roulet NT, Woo MK (1986) Hydrology of a wetland in the continuous permafrost region. J Hydrol 89:73–91
Scott PA, Hansell RIC, Erickson WR (1993) Influences of wind and snow on northern tree-line environments at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Arctic 46:316–323
Sicart JE, Pomeroy JW, Essery RLH, Hard JE, Link T, Marks D (2004) A sensitivity study of daytime net radiation during snowmelt to forest canopy and atmospheric conditions. J Hydrometeor 5:774–784
Slaughter CW, Benson CS (1986) Seasonal snow and aufeis in Alaska’s tundra. In: Kane DL (ed) Proceedings of the Cold Regions hydrology symposium, American Water Resources Association Technical Publication TPS-86-1, Bethesda, pp 101–109
Stull RB (1988) An introduction to boundary layer meteorology. Springer, Heidelberg
Sturm M (1992) Snow distribution and heat flow in the taiga. Arctic Alpine Res 24:145–152
Sturm M, Benson CS (1997) Vapor transport, grain growth and depth-hoar development in the subarctic snow. J Glaciol 43:42–59
Swift LW (1976) Algorithm for solar radiation on mountain slopes. Water Resour Res 12:108–112
Wankiewicz AC (1978) A review of water movement in snow. In: Colbeck SC, Ray M (eds) Proceedings of modeling of snow cover runoff. US Army CRREL, Hanover, pp 336–350
Williams GP (1957) An analysis of snow cover characteristics at Aklavik and Resolute, Northwest Territories. Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Research Paper 40
Wiscombe WJ, Warren SG (1980) A model for the spectral albedo of snow. I: Pure snow. J Atmos Sci 37:2712–2733
Woo MK (1998) Arctic snow cover information for hydrological investigations at various scales. Nord Hydrol 29:331–346
Woo MK (2000) McMaster river and Arctic hydrology. Phys Geogr 21:466–484
Woo MK, Dubreuil M-A (1985) Empirical relationship between dust content and Arctic snow albedo. Cold Reg Sci Technol 10:125–132
Woo MK, Giesbrecht M (2000a) Simulation of snowmelt in a subarctic spruce woodland: 1. Tree model. Water Resour Res 36:2275–2285
Woo MK, Giesbrecht MA (2000b) Simulation of snowmelt in a subarctic spruce woodland: scale considerations. Nord Hydrol 31:301–316
Woo MK, Heron R (1987) Effects of forests on wetland runoff during spring. IAHS Publ 167:291–307
Woo MK, Heron R, Marsh P, Steer P (1983) Comparison of weather station snowfall with winter snow accumulation in High Arctic basins. Atmos Ocean 21:312–325
Woo MK, Steer P (1986) Monte Carlo simulation of snow depth in a forest. Water Resour Res 22:864–868
Yang DQ, Goodison BE, Metcalfe JR, Louie P, Leavesley G, Emerson D, Hanon CL, Golubev VS, Elomaa E, Gunther T, Pangburn T, Kang E, Milkovic J (1999) Quantification of precipitation measurement discontinuity induced by wind shields on national gauges. Water Resour Res 35:491–508
Young KL, Woo MK, Edlund SA (1997) Influence of local topography, soils, and vegetation on microclimate and hydrology at a High Arctic site, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Arctic Alpine Res 29:270–284
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woo, Mk. (2012). Snow Cover. In: Permafrost Hydrology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23462-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23462-0_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23461-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23462-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)