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A long-term Arctic snow depth record from Abisko, northern Sweden, 1913-2004

Kohler, Jack ; Brandt, Ola ; Johansson, Margareta LU and Callaghan, Terry LU (2006) In Polar Research 25(2). p.91-113
Abstract
A newly digitized record of snow depth from the Abisko Scientific Research Station in northern Sweden covers the period 1913-present. Mean snow depths were taken from paper records of measurements made on a profile comprising 10 permanent stakes. This long-term record yields snow depths consistent with two other shorter term Abisko records: measurements made at another 10-stake profile (1974-present) and at a single stake (1956-present). The measurement interval is variable, ranging from daily to monthly, and there are no data for about half Of the winter months in the period 1930-1956. To fill the gaps, we use a simple snowpack model driven by concurrent temperature and precipitation measurements at Abisko. Model snow depths are similar... (More)
A newly digitized record of snow depth from the Abisko Scientific Research Station in northern Sweden covers the period 1913-present. Mean snow depths were taken from paper records of measurements made on a profile comprising 10 permanent stakes. This long-term record yields snow depths consistent with two other shorter term Abisko records: measurements made at another 10-stake profile (1974-present) and at a single stake (1956-present). The measurement interval is variable, ranging from daily to monthly, and there are no data for about half Of the winter months in the period 1930-1956. To fill the gaps, we use a simple snowpack model driven by concurrent temperature and precipitation measurements at Abisko. Model snow depths are similar to observed; differences between the two records are comparable to those between profile and single stake measurements. For both model and observed snow depth records, the most statistically significant trend is in winter mean snow depths, amounting to an increase of about 2 cm or 5% of the mean per decade over the whole measurement period, and 10% per decade since the 1930-40s, but all seasonal means of snow depth show positive trends on the longest timescales. However, the start, end, and length of the snow season do not show any statistically significant long-term trends. Finally, the relation between the Arctic Oscillation index and Abisko temperature, precipitation and snow depth is positive and highly significant, with the best correlations for winter. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Polar Research
volume
25
issue
2
pages
91 - 113
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000238877400001
  • scopus:33745973938
ISSN
0800-0395
DOI
10.1111/j.1751-8369.2006.tb00026.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3d595b1d-9d31-486e-a5a5-fb09bf72c5e5 (old id 402504)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:18:52
date last changed
2022-03-05 21:54:54
@article{3d595b1d-9d31-486e-a5a5-fb09bf72c5e5,
  abstract     = {{A newly digitized record of snow depth from the Abisko Scientific Research Station in northern Sweden covers the period 1913-present. Mean snow depths were taken from paper records of measurements made on a profile comprising 10 permanent stakes. This long-term record yields snow depths consistent with two other shorter term Abisko records: measurements made at another 10-stake profile (1974-present) and at a single stake (1956-present). The measurement interval is variable, ranging from daily to monthly, and there are no data for about half Of the winter months in the period 1930-1956. To fill the gaps, we use a simple snowpack model driven by concurrent temperature and precipitation measurements at Abisko. Model snow depths are similar to observed; differences between the two records are comparable to those between profile and single stake measurements. For both model and observed snow depth records, the most statistically significant trend is in winter mean snow depths, amounting to an increase of about 2 cm or 5% of the mean per decade over the whole measurement period, and 10% per decade since the 1930-40s, but all seasonal means of snow depth show positive trends on the longest timescales. However, the start, end, and length of the snow season do not show any statistically significant long-term trends. Finally, the relation between the Arctic Oscillation index and Abisko temperature, precipitation and snow depth is positive and highly significant, with the best correlations for winter.}},
  author       = {{Kohler, Jack and Brandt, Ola and Johansson, Margareta and Callaghan, Terry}},
  issn         = {{0800-0395}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{91--113}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Polar Research}},
  title        = {{A long-term Arctic snow depth record from Abisko, northern Sweden, 1913-2004}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2006.tb00026.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1751-8369.2006.tb00026.x}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}