ENVISAT ASAR Wide Swath data from ascending and descending orbit have been normalized and combined in the eastern Alps in order to increase the covered area from 60-70% to up to 78%. Band rationing was applied for the identification of wet snow surface. Although that probability maps of thawing snow can be derived, combinations of morning and evening orbits are difficult to interpret in late sp...

Two large suspended sediment concentration (SSC) pulses were recorded in 1998 in a small snowmelt-fed stream on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High Arctic. The largest pulse occurred from 7 to 8 July, when 32% of the monitored seasonal sediment transport occurred in only four hours. SSC reached 83,760 mg L , exceeding all previously recorded values from high arctic glacially-fed and snowmelt-...

[1] Basin-average albedo estimated from remotely-sensed Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectroradiometer (AVIRIS) data specific to the catchment typically differed by 20% from albedo estimated using a common snow-agebased empirical relation. In some parts of the basin, differences were as large as 0.31. Using the AVIRIS albedo estimates in a distributed snowmelt model that explicitly include...

Methane (CH4) emissions from arctic tundra typically follow relations with soil temperature and water table depth, but these process-based descriptions can be difficult to apply to areas where no measurements exist. We formulated a description of the broader temporal flux pattern in the growing season based on two distinct CH4 source components from slow and fast-turnover carbon. We used automa...

Abstract In snow-dominated river basins, floods often occur during early summer, when snowmelt-induced runoff superimposes with rainfall-induced runoff. An earlier onset of seasonal snowmelt as a consequence warming climate is expected to shift contribution and potential flooding an date. Against this background, we assess the impact rising temperatures on snowpacks quantify changes in timing, ...

Climate change is altering the timing and magnitude of snowmelt, which may either directly or indirectly via global trade affect agriculture livelihoods dependent on snowmelt. Here, we integrate subannual irrigation snowmelt dynamics a model international to assess redistribution dependencies risks under climate change. We estimate that 16% used for agricultural products traded globally, over 7...

Seasonal snow cover is a key component of the Earth’s energy balance and a key storage mechanism for water. In many areas of the world, people rely on snowmelt runoff for their water resources. For example, melting snow contributes upwards of 70% of the total annual water supply in the western U.S., and in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal snow and ice melt from the Hindu Kush and Himalay...

Summer streamflow variations strongly affect water supply reliability and ecological functioning of western U.S. (WUS) streams. Traditional snow-based forecasts summer are becoming less accurate with warming-induced reductions in winter snow accumulation. This reflects a rising importance competing runoff-generating processes controlling variations, primarily an increasing role rainfall contras...