Snow Cover Change as a Climate Indicator in Brunswick Peninsula, Patagonia

Frontiers in Digital Humanities

Gaete, Katherine¹  Carrasco, Jorge¹  Casassa, Gino¹  Adaros, Rodrigo²  Jañ⁴  a, Ricardo⁶  Aguirre, Francisco⁶  Garí⁷  Sauter, Tobias⁷  Butorovic, Nicolas⁸  Schneider, Christoph⁹  n, Enrique⁹ 

[1] Centro de InvestigacióClimate System Research Group, Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-NüClub Andino, Chile;Geography Department, Humboldt University, Germany;Laboratorio de Climatologia, Instituto de la Patagonia, Universidad de Magallanes, Chile;Scientific Department, Chilean Antarctic Institute, Chile;n Gaia Antárnberg (FAU), Germany;rtica (CIGA), Universidad de Magallanes, Chile

关键词: Snow cover;    Climate Change;    remote sensing;    MODIS;    Patagonia;   

DOI  :  10.3389/feart.2018.00130

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Snow cover changes are assessed for the Brunswick Peninsula in southern Patagonia (52.9ºS to 53.5ºS), located on the transition between the wet Pacific Ocean area and the drier leeward side of the Andes. We use the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and a new index which we call SnowPower, combining the NDSI and the Melt Area Detection Index (MADI), to reconstruct the snow cover extent and its temporal distribution for the period 2000-2016, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Sensor (MODIS) MOD09GA products. Comparison of these satellite products with available snow duration and snow height data for 2010-2016 at the local Club Andino ski centre of Punta Arenas shows that the NDSI exhibits the best results. A reasonable and significant linear correlation is found between the MODIS NDSI snow cover extent and the mean monthly temperature at Punta Arenas Airport combined with the monthly snow accumulation at Jorge Schythe station at Punta Arenas city for the extended winter period (April to September) from 2000 to 2016. Snow cover changes within this time series are extended to 1972 and 1958 based on historical climate data of Jorge Schythe and Punta Arenas airport, repectively. The results show a significant decreasing trend of snow extent of 19% for Brunswick Peninsula for the 45-year period (1972-2016), which can be attributed to a statistically significant long-term warming of 0.71ºC at Punta Arenas during the extended winter (April to September) in the same period. Multiple correlation with different climate variables indicates that solid precipitation has a relevant role on short-term snow cover variability, but is not related to the observed long-term snow cover decrease.

【 授权许可】

CC BY