Articles | Volume 17, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8969-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8969-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
SnowQM 1.0: a fast R package for bias-correcting spatial fields of snow water equivalent using quantile mapping
Adrien Michel
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Zurich, Switzerland
Johannes Aschauer
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland
Tobias Jonas
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland
Stefanie Gubler
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Zurich, Switzerland
Sven Kotlarski
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Zurich, Switzerland
Christoph Marty
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland
Related authors
Christoph Marty, Adrien Michel, Tobias Jonas, Cynthia Steijn, Regula Muelchi, and Sven Kotlarski
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-413, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-413, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents the first long-term (since 1962), daily, 1 km gridded dataset of snow depth and water storage for Switzerland. Its quality was assessed by comparing yearly, monthly, and weekly values to a higher-quality model and in-situ measurements. Results show good overall performance, though some limitations exist at low elevations and short timescales. Despite this, the dataset effectively captures trends, offering valuable insights for climate monitoring and elevation-based changes.
Stephanie Mayer, Martin Hendrick, Adrien Michel, Bettina Richter, Jürg Schweizer, Heini Wernli, and Alec van Herwijnen
The Cryosphere, 18, 5495–5517, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5495-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding the impact of climate change on snow avalanche activity is crucial for safeguarding lives and infrastructure. Here, we project changes in avalanche activity in the Swiss Alps throughout the 21st century. Our findings reveal elevation-dependent patterns of change, indicating a decrease in dry-snow avalanches alongside an increase in wet-snow avalanches at elevations above the current treeline. These results underscore the necessity to revisit measures for avalanche risk mitigation.
Benjamin Bouchard, Daniel F. Nadeau, Florent Domine, Nander Wever, Adrien Michel, Michael Lehning, and Pierre-Erik Isabelle
The Cryosphere, 18, 2783–2807, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2783-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Observations over several winters at two boreal sites in eastern Canada show that rain-on-snow (ROS) events lead to the formation of melt–freeze layers and that preferential flow is an important water transport mechanism in the sub-canopy snowpack. Simulations with SNOWPACK generally show good agreement with observations, except for the reproduction of melt–freeze layers. This was improved by simulating intercepted snow microstructure evolution, which also modulates ROS-induced runoff.
Johannes Aschauer, Adrien Michel, Tobias Jonas, and Christoph Marty
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4063–4081, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4063-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4063-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow water equivalent is the mass of water stored in a snowpack. Based on exponential settling functions, the empirical snow density model SWE2HS is presented to convert time series of daily snow water equivalent into snow depth. The model has been calibrated with data from Switzerland and validated with independent data from the European Alps. A reference implementation of SWE2HS is available as a Python package.
Francesca Carletti, Adrien Michel, Francesca Casale, Alice Burri, Daniele Bocchiola, Mathias Bavay, and Michael Lehning
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3447–3475, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3447-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3447-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
High Alpine catchments are dominated by the melting of seasonal snow cover and glaciers, whose amount and seasonality are expected to be modified by climate change. This paper compares the performances of different types of models in reproducing discharge among two catchments under present conditions and climate change. Despite many advantages, the use of simpler models for climate change applications is controversial as they do not fully represent the physics of the involved processes.
Adrien Michel, Bettina Schaefli, Nander Wever, Harry Zekollari, Michael Lehning, and Hendrik Huwald
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1063–1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents an extensive study of climate change impacts on river temperature in Switzerland. Results show that, even for low-emission scenarios, water temperature increase will lead to adverse effects for both ecosystems and socio-economic sectors throughout the 21st century. For high-emission scenarios, the effect will worsen. This study also shows that water seasonal warming will be different between the Alpine regions and the lowlands. Finally, efficiency of models is assessed.
Marcel Haeberli, Daniel Baggenstos, Jochen Schmitt, Markus Grimmer, Adrien Michel, Thomas Kellerhals, and Hubertus Fischer
Clim. Past, 17, 843–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-843-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-843-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Using the temperature-dependent solubility of noble gases in ocean water, we reconstruct global mean ocean temperature (MOT) over the last 700 kyr using noble gas ratios in air enclosed in polar ice cores. Our record shows that glacial MOT was about 3 °C cooler compared to the Holocene. Interglacials before 450 kyr ago were characterized by about 1.5 °C lower MOT than the Holocene. In addition, some interglacials show transient maxima in ocean temperature related to changes in ocean circulation.
Bettina Richter and Christoph Marty
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3518, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3518, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a literature-based approach for projecting future snow depths, which was applied to four measurement stations in Switzerland under a +2 °C temperature scenario, revealing significant declines in snow depths. Validation against published data shows that the approach captures key trends in snow loss. This resource-efficient method provides a practical tool for estimating climate change related snow depth declines, which are lacking highly resolved climate projections.
Richard Essery, Giulia Mazzotti, Sarah Barr, Tobias Jonas, Tristan Quaife, and Nick Rutter
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3583–3605, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3583-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3583-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
How forests influence accumulation and melt of snow on the ground is of long-standing interest, but uncertainty remains in how best to model forest snow processes. We developed the Flexible Snow Model version 2 to quantify these uncertainties. In a first model demonstration, how unloading of intercepted snow from the forest canopy is represented is responsible for the largest uncertainty. Global mapping of forest distribution is also likely to be a large source of uncertainty in existing models.
Marit van Tiel, Matthias Huss, Massimiliano Zappa, Tobias Jonas, and Daniel Farinotti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-404, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-404, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The summer of 2022 was extremely warm and dry in Europe, severely impacting water availability. We calculated water balance anomalies for 88 glacierized catchments in Switzerland, showing that glaciers played a crucial role in alleviating the drought situation by melting at record rates, partially compensating for the lack of rain and snowmelt. By comparing 2022 with past extreme years, we show that while glacier meltwater remains essential during droughts, its contribution is declining.
Paul C. Astagneau, Raul R. Wood, Mathieu Vrac, Sven Kotlarski, Pradeebane Vaittinada Ayar, Bastien François, and Manuela I. Brunner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3966, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3966, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To study floods and droughts are likely to change in the future, we use climate projections from climate models. However, we first need to adjust the systematic biases of these projections at the catchment scale before using them in hydrological models. Our study compares statistical methods that can adjust these biases, but specifically for climate projections that enable a quantification of internal climate variability. We provide recommendations on the most appropriate methods.
Jan Magnusson, Yves Bühler, Louis Quéno, Bertrand Cluzet, Giulia Mazzotti, Clare Webster, Rebecca Mott, and Tobias Jonas
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 703–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-703-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-703-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we present a dataset for the Dischma catchment in eastern Switzerland, which represents a typical high-alpine watershed in the European Alps. Accurate monitoring and reliable forecasting of snow and water resources in such basins are crucial for a wide range of applications. Our dataset is valuable for improving physics-based snow, land surface, and hydrological models, with potential applications in similar high-alpine catchments.
Christoph Marty, Adrien Michel, Tobias Jonas, Cynthia Steijn, Regula Muelchi, and Sven Kotlarski
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-413, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-413, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents the first long-term (since 1962), daily, 1 km gridded dataset of snow depth and water storage for Switzerland. Its quality was assessed by comparing yearly, monthly, and weekly values to a higher-quality model and in-situ measurements. Results show good overall performance, though some limitations exist at low elevations and short timescales. Despite this, the dataset effectively captures trends, offering valuable insights for climate monitoring and elevation-based changes.
Matthew Switanek, Gernot Resch, Andreas Gobiet, Daniel Günther, Christoph Marty, and Wolfgang Schöner
The Cryosphere, 18, 6005–6026, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-6005-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-6005-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Snow depth plays an important role in water resources, mountain tourism, and hazard management across the European Alps. Our study uses station-based historical observations to quantify how changes in temperature and precipitation affect average seasonal snow depth. We find that the relationship between these variables has been surprisingly robust over the last 120 years. This allows us to more accurately estimate how future climate will affect seasonal snow depth in different elevation zones.
Stephanie Mayer, Martin Hendrick, Adrien Michel, Bettina Richter, Jürg Schweizer, Heini Wernli, and Alec van Herwijnen
The Cryosphere, 18, 5495–5517, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5495-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding the impact of climate change on snow avalanche activity is crucial for safeguarding lives and infrastructure. Here, we project changes in avalanche activity in the Swiss Alps throughout the 21st century. Our findings reveal elevation-dependent patterns of change, indicating a decrease in dry-snow avalanches alongside an increase in wet-snow avalanches at elevations above the current treeline. These results underscore the necessity to revisit measures for avalanche risk mitigation.
Giulia Mazzotti, Jari-Pekka Nousu, Vincent Vionnet, Tobias Jonas, Rafife Nheili, and Matthieu Lafaysse
The Cryosphere, 18, 4607–4632, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4607-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4607-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
As many boreal and alpine forests have seasonal snow, models are needed to predict forest snow under future environmental conditions. We have created a new forest snow model by combining existing, very detailed model components for the canopy and the snowpack. We applied it to forests in Switzerland and Finland and showed how complex forest cover leads to a snowpack layering that is very variable in space and time because different processes prevail at different locations in the forest.
Dylan Reynolds, Louis Quéno, Michael Lehning, Mahdi Jafari, Justine Berg, Tobias Jonas, Michael Haugeneder, and Rebecca Mott
The Cryosphere, 18, 4315–4333, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4315-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4315-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Information about atmospheric variables is needed to produce simulations of mountain snowpacks. We present a model that can represent processes that shape mountain snowpack, focusing on the accumulation of snow. Simulations show that this model can simulate the complex path that a snowflake takes towards the ground and that this leads to differences in the distribution of snow by the end of winter. Overall, this model shows promise with regard to improving forecasts of snow in mountains.
Johanna Teresa Malle, Giulia Mazzotti, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, and Tobias Jonas
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 1073–1115, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1073-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1073-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Land surface processes are crucial for the exchange of carbon, nitrogen, and energy in the Earth system. Using meteorological and land use data, we found that higher resolution improved not only the model representation of snow cover but also plant productivity and that water returned to the atmosphere. Only by combining high-resolution models with high-quality input data can we accurately represent complex spatially heterogeneous processes and improve our understanding of the Earth system.
Louis Quéno, Rebecca Mott, Paul Morin, Bertrand Cluzet, Giulia Mazzotti, and Tobias Jonas
The Cryosphere, 18, 3533–3557, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Snow redistribution by wind and avalanches strongly influences snow hydrology in mountains. This study presents a novel modelling approach to best represent these processes in an operational context. The evaluation of the simulations against airborne snow depth measurements showed remarkable improvement in the snow distribution in mountains of the eastern Swiss Alps, with a representation of snow accumulation and erosion areas, suggesting promising benefits for operational snow melt forecasts.
Benjamin Bouchard, Daniel F. Nadeau, Florent Domine, François Anctil, Tobias Jonas, and Étienne Tremblay
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2745–2765, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2745-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2745-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Observations and simulations from an exceptionally low-snow and warm winter, which may become the new norm in the boreal forest of eastern Canada, show an earlier and slower snowmelt, reduced soil temperature, stronger vertical temperature gradients in the snowpack, and a significantly lower spring streamflow. The magnitude of these effects is either amplified or reduced with regard to the complex structure of the canopy.
Benjamin Bouchard, Daniel F. Nadeau, Florent Domine, Nander Wever, Adrien Michel, Michael Lehning, and Pierre-Erik Isabelle
The Cryosphere, 18, 2783–2807, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2783-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Observations over several winters at two boreal sites in eastern Canada show that rain-on-snow (ROS) events lead to the formation of melt–freeze layers and that preferential flow is an important water transport mechanism in the sub-canopy snowpack. Simulations with SNOWPACK generally show good agreement with observations, except for the reproduction of melt–freeze layers. This was improved by simulating intercepted snow microstructure evolution, which also modulates ROS-induced runoff.
Florian Zellweger, Eric Sulmoni, Johanna T. Malle, Andri Baltensweiler, Tobias Jonas, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Christian Ginzler, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, Pieter De Frenne, David Frey, and Clare Webster
Biogeosciences, 21, 605–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-605-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-605-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The microclimatic conditions experienced by organisms living close to the ground are not well represented in currently used climate datasets derived from weather stations. Therefore, we measured and mapped ground microclimate temperatures at 10 m spatial resolution across Switzerland using a novel radiation model. Our results reveal a high variability in microclimates across different habitats and will help to better understand climate and land use impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Dylan Reynolds, Ethan Gutmann, Bert Kruyt, Michael Haugeneder, Tobias Jonas, Franziska Gerber, Michael Lehning, and Rebecca Mott
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 5049–5068, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5049-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5049-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The challenge of running geophysical models is often compounded by the question of where to obtain appropriate data to give as input to a model. Here we present the HICAR model, a simplified atmospheric model capable of running at spatial resolutions of hectometers for long time series or over large domains. This makes physically consistent atmospheric data available at the spatial and temporal scales needed for some terrestrial modeling applications, for example seasonal snow forecasting.
Johannes Aschauer, Adrien Michel, Tobias Jonas, and Christoph Marty
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4063–4081, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4063-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4063-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow water equivalent is the mass of water stored in a snowpack. Based on exponential settling functions, the empirical snow density model SWE2HS is presented to convert time series of daily snow water equivalent into snow depth. The model has been calibrated with data from Switzerland and validated with independent data from the European Alps. A reference implementation of SWE2HS is available as a Python package.
Giulia Mazzotti, Clare Webster, Louis Quéno, Bertrand Cluzet, and Tobias Jonas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 2099–2121, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2099-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2099-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study analyses snow cover evolution in mountainous forested terrain based on 2 m resolution simulations from a process-based model. We show that snow accumulation patterns are controlled by canopy structure, but topographic shading modulates the timing of melt onset, and variability in weather can cause snow accumulation and melt patterns to vary between years. These findings advance our ability to predict how snow regimes will react to rising temperatures and forest disturbances.
Moritz Buchmann, Gernot Resch, Michael Begert, Stefan Brönnimann, Barbara Chimani, Wolfgang Schöner, and Christoph Marty
The Cryosphere, 17, 653–671, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-653-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-653-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Our current knowledge of spatial and temporal snow depth trends is based almost exclusively on time series of non-homogenised observational data. However, like other long-term series from observations, they are susceptible to inhomogeneities that can affect the trends and even change the sign. To assess the relevance of homogenisation for daily snow depths, we investigated its impact on trends and changes in extreme values of snow indices between 1961 and 2021 in the Swiss observation network.
Michael Schirmer, Adam Winstral, Tobias Jonas, Paolo Burlando, and Nadav Peleg
The Cryosphere, 16, 3469–3488, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3469-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Rain is highly variable in time at a given location so that there can be both wet and dry climate periods. In this study, we quantify the effects of this natural climate variability and other sources of uncertainty on changes in flooding events due to rain on snow (ROS) caused by climate change. For ROS events with a significant contribution of snowmelt to runoff, the change due to climate was too small to draw firm conclusions about whether there are more ROS events of this important type.
Francesca Carletti, Adrien Michel, Francesca Casale, Alice Burri, Daniele Bocchiola, Mathias Bavay, and Michael Lehning
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3447–3475, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3447-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3447-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
High Alpine catchments are dominated by the melting of seasonal snow cover and glaciers, whose amount and seasonality are expected to be modified by climate change. This paper compares the performances of different types of models in reproducing discharge among two catchments under present conditions and climate change. Despite many advantages, the use of simpler models for climate change applications is controversial as they do not fully represent the physics of the involved processes.
Moritz Buchmann, John Coll, Johannes Aschauer, Michael Begert, Stefan Brönnimann, Barbara Chimani, Gernot Resch, Wolfgang Schöner, and Christoph Marty
The Cryosphere, 16, 2147–2161, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2147-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2147-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge about inhomogeneities in a data set is important for any subsequent climatological analysis. We ran three well-established homogenization methods and compared the identified break points. By only treating breaks as valid when detected by at least two out of three methods, we enhanced the robustness of our results. We found 45 breaks within 42 of 184 investigated series; of these 70 % could be explained by events recorded in the station history.
Yves Bühler, Peter Bebi, Marc Christen, Stefan Margreth, Lukas Stoffel, Andreas Stoffel, Christoph Marty, Gregor Schmucki, Andrin Caviezel, Roderick Kühne, Stephan Wohlwend, and Perry Bartelt
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1825–1843, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1825-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1825-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To calculate and visualize the potential avalanche hazard, we develop a method that automatically and efficiently pinpoints avalanche starting zones and simulate their runout for the entire canton of Grisons. The maps produced in this way highlight areas that could be endangered by avalanches and are extremely useful in multiple applications for the cantonal authorities, including the planning of new infrastructure, making alpine regions more safe.
Adrien Michel, Bettina Schaefli, Nander Wever, Harry Zekollari, Michael Lehning, and Hendrik Huwald
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1063–1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents an extensive study of climate change impacts on river temperature in Switzerland. Results show that, even for low-emission scenarios, water temperature increase will lead to adverse effects for both ecosystems and socio-economic sectors throughout the 21st century. For high-emission scenarios, the effect will worsen. This study also shows that water seasonal warming will be different between the Alpine regions and the lowlands. Finally, efficiency of models is assessed.
Achille Capelli, Franziska Koch, Patrick Henkel, Markus Lamm, Florian Appel, Christoph Marty, and Jürg Schweizer
The Cryosphere, 16, 505–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-505-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-505-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Snow occurrence, snow amount, snow density and liquid water content (LWC) can vary considerably with climatic conditions and elevation. We show that low-cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors as GPS can be used for reliably measuring the amount of water stored in the snowpack or snow water equivalent (SWE), snow depth and the LWC under a broad range of climatic conditions met at different elevations in the Swiss Alps.
Hans Lievens, Isis Brangers, Hans-Peter Marshall, Tobias Jonas, Marc Olefs, and Gabriëlle De Lannoy
The Cryosphere, 16, 159–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-159-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-159-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Snow depth observations at high spatial resolution from the Sentinel-1 satellite mission are presented over the European Alps. The novel observations can improve our knowledge of seasonal snow mass in areas with complex topography, where satellite-based estimates are currently lacking, and benefit a number of applications including water resource management, flood forecasting, and numerical weather prediction.
Johannes Aschauer and Christoph Marty
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 10, 297–312, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-10-297-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-10-297-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Methods for reconstruction of winter long data gaps in snow depth time series are compared. The methods use snow depth data from neighboring stations or calculate snow depth from temperature and precipitation data. All methods except one are able to reproduce the average snow depth and maximum snow depth in a winter reasonably well. For reconstructing the number of snow days with snow depth ≥ 1 cm, results suggest using a snow model instead of relying on data from neighboring stations.
Moritz Buchmann, Michael Begert, Stefan Brönnimann, and Christoph Marty
The Cryosphere, 15, 4625–4636, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4625-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4625-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the impacts of local-scale variations by analysing snow climate indicators derived from parallel snow measurements. We found the largest relative inter-pair differences for all indicators in spring and the smallest in winter. The findings serve as an important basis for our understanding of uncertainties of commonly used snow indicators and provide, in combination with break-detection methods, the groundwork in view of any homogenization efforts regarding snow time series.
Marcel Haeberli, Daniel Baggenstos, Jochen Schmitt, Markus Grimmer, Adrien Michel, Thomas Kellerhals, and Hubertus Fischer
Clim. Past, 17, 843–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-843-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-843-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Using the temperature-dependent solubility of noble gases in ocean water, we reconstruct global mean ocean temperature (MOT) over the last 700 kyr using noble gas ratios in air enclosed in polar ice cores. Our record shows that glacial MOT was about 3 °C cooler compared to the Holocene. Interglacials before 450 kyr ago were characterized by about 1.5 °C lower MOT than the Holocene. In addition, some interglacials show transient maxima in ocean temperature related to changes in ocean circulation.
Michael Matiu, Alice Crespi, Giacomo Bertoldi, Carlo Maria Carmagnola, Christoph Marty, Samuel Morin, Wolfgang Schöner, Daniele Cat Berro, Gabriele Chiogna, Ludovica De Gregorio, Sven Kotlarski, Bruno Majone, Gernot Resch, Silvia Terzago, Mauro Valt, Walter Beozzo, Paola Cianfarra, Isabelle Gouttevin, Giorgia Marcolini, Claudia Notarnicola, Marcello Petitta, Simon C. Scherrer, Ulrich Strasser, Michael Winkler, Marc Zebisch, Andrea Cicogna, Roberto Cremonini, Andrea Debernardi, Mattia Faletto, Mauro Gaddo, Lorenzo Giovannini, Luca Mercalli, Jean-Michel Soubeyroux, Andrea Sušnik, Alberto Trenti, Stefano Urbani, and Viktor Weilguni
The Cryosphere, 15, 1343–1382, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1343-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1343-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The first Alpine-wide assessment of station snow depth has been enabled by a collaborative effort of the research community which involves more than 30 partners, 6 countries, and more than 2000 stations. It shows how snow in the European Alps matches the climatic zones and gives a robust estimate of observed changes: stronger decreases in the snow season at low elevations and in spring at all elevations, however, with considerable regional differences.
Nora Helbig, Yves Bühler, Lucie Eberhard, César Deschamps-Berger, Simon Gascoin, Marie Dumont, Jesus Revuelto, Jeff S. Deems, and Tobias Jonas
The Cryosphere, 15, 615–632, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The spatial variability in snow depth in mountains is driven by interactions between topography, wind, precipitation and radiation. In applications such as weather, climate and hydrological predictions, this is accounted for by the fractional snow-covered area describing the fraction of the ground surface covered by snow. We developed a new description for model grid cell sizes larger than 200 m. An evaluation suggests that the description performs similarly well in most geographical regions.
Richard Essery, Hyungjun Kim, Libo Wang, Paul Bartlett, Aaron Boone, Claire Brutel-Vuilmet, Eleanor Burke, Matthias Cuntz, Bertrand Decharme, Emanuel Dutra, Xing Fang, Yeugeniy Gusev, Stefan Hagemann, Vanessa Haverd, Anna Kontu, Gerhard Krinner, Matthieu Lafaysse, Yves Lejeune, Thomas Marke, Danny Marks, Christoph Marty, Cecile B. Menard, Olga Nasonova, Tomoko Nitta, John Pomeroy, Gerd Schädler, Vladimir Semenov, Tatiana Smirnova, Sean Swenson, Dmitry Turkov, Nander Wever, and Hua Yuan
The Cryosphere, 14, 4687–4698, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4687-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4687-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Climate models are uncertain in predicting how warming changes snow cover. This paper compares 22 snow models with the same meteorological inputs. Predicted trends agree with observations at four snow research sites: winter snow cover does not start later, but snow now melts earlier in spring than in the 1980s at two of the sites. Cold regions where snow can last until late summer are predicted to be particularly sensitive to warming because the snow then melts faster at warmer times of year.
Marius G. Floriancic, Wouter R. Berghuijs, Tobias Jonas, James W. Kirchner, and Peter Molnar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5423–5438, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5423-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5423-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Low river flows affect societies and ecosystems. Here we study how precipitation and potential evapotranspiration shape low flows across a network of 380 Swiss catchments. Low flows in these rivers typically result from below-average precipitation and above-average potential evapotranspiration. Extreme low flows result from long periods of the combined effects of both drivers.
Fabian Willibald, Sven Kotlarski, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, and Ralf Ludwig
The Cryosphere, 14, 2909–2924, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2909-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2909-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change will significantly reduce snow cover, but the extent remains disputed. We use regional climate model data as a driver for a snow model to investigate the impacts of climate change and climate variability on snow. We show that natural climate variability is a dominant source of uncertainty in future snow trends. We show that anthropogenic climate change will change the interannual variability of snow. Those factors will increase the vulnerabilities of snow-dependent economies.
Cited articles
Aschauer, J., Michel, A., Jonas, T., and Marty, C.: An empirical model to calculate snow depth from daily snow water equivalent: SWE2HS 1.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4063–4081, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4063-2023, 2023. a
Barry, R. G.: The parameterization of surface albedo for sea ice and its snow cover, Prog. Phys. Geogr., 20, 63–79, 1996. a
Bavay, M. and Egger, T.: MeteoIO 2.4.2: a preprocessing library for meteorological data, Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 3135–3151, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-3135-2014, 2014. a
Beniston, M.: Is snow in the Alps receding or disappearing?, Wires Clim. Change, 3, 349–358, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.179, 2012. a
Bronaugh, D.: ncdf4.helpers: Helper Functions for Use with the “ncdf4” Package, r package version 0.3-6, CRAN [code], https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ncdf4.helpers (last access: 8 May 2024), 2021. a
Cannon, A. J.: Multivariate quantile mapping bias correction: an N-dimensional probability density function transform for climate model simulations of multiple variables, Clim. Dynam., 50, 31–49, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3580-6, 2018. a, b, c
Cannon, A. J., Sobie, S. R., and Murdock, T. Q.: Bias Correction of GCM Precipitation by Quantile Mapping: How Well Do Methods Preserve Changes in Quantiles and Extremes?, J. Climate, 28, 6938–6959, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00754.1, 2015. a
CH2018: CH2018 – Climate Scenarios for Switzerland, Tech. rep., MeteoSwiss, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH), University of Bern (Unibe), National Centre for Climate Services (NSSC), and Swiss Academy of Science (scnat), ISBN 978-3-9525031-4-0, 2018. a
Clark, M., Gangopadhyay, S., Hay, L., Rajagopalan, B., and Wilby, R.: The Schaake Shuffle: A Method for Reconstructing Space–Time Variability in Forecasted Precipitation and Temperature Fields, J. Hydrometeorol., 5, 243–262, https://doi.org/10.1175/1525-7541(2004)005<0243:TSSAMF>2.0.CO;2, 2004. a
Eddelbuettel, D. and Balamuta, J. J.: Extending R with C++: A Brief Introduction to Rcpp, Am. Stat., 72, 28–36, https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2017.1375990, 2018. a
gperftools: gperftools, GitHub [code], https://github.com/gperftools/gperftools (last access: 8 May 2024), 2022. a
Grillakis, M. G., Koutroulis, A. G., Daliakopoulos, I. N., and Tsanis, I. K.: A method to preserve trends in quantile mapping bias correction of climate modeled temperature, Earth Syst. Dynam., 8, 889–900, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-889-2017, 2017. a
Grolemund, G. and Wickham, H.: Dates and Times Made Easy with lubridate, J. Stat. Softw., 40, 1–25, https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v040.i03, 2011. a
Gudmundsson, L., Bremnes, J. B., Haugen, J. E., and Engen-Skaugen, T.: Technical Note: Downscaling RCM precipitation to the station scale using statistical transformations – a comparison of methods, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3383–3390, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3383-2012, 2012. a
Gumbel, E.: La Probabilité des Hypothèses, CR Acad. Sci., 209, 645–647, 1930. a
Gutiérrez, J. M., Cofiño, A. S., Cano, R., and Rodríguez, M. A.: Clustering Methods for Statistical Downscaling in Short-Range Weather Forecasts, Mon. Weather Rev., 132, 2169–2183, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2004)132<2169:CMFSDI>2.0.CO;2, 2004. a
Hijmans, R. J.: raster: Geographic Data Analysis and Modeling, r package version 3.6-26, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=raster (last access: 8 May 2024), 2023. a
Holthuijzen, M., Beckage, B., Clemins, P. J., Higdon, D., and Winter, J. M.: Robust bias-correction of precipitation extremes using a novel hybrid empirical quantile-mapping method, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 149, 863–882, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04035-2, 2022. a
Ivanov, M. A. and Kotlarski, S.: Assessing distribution-based climate model bias correction methods over an alpine domain: added value and limitations, Int. J. Climatol., 37, 2633–2653, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4870, 2017. a
Jeon, S., Paciorek, C. J., and Wehner, M. F.: Quantile-based bias correction and uncertainty quantification of extreme event attribution statements, Weather Climate Extremes, 12, 24–32, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2016.02.001, 2016. a
Jörg-Hess, S., Fundel, F., Jonas, T., and Zappa, M.: Homogenisation of a gridded snow water equivalent climatology for Alpine terrain: methodology and applications, The Cryosphere, 8, 471–485, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-471-2014, 2014. a, b, c, d
King, F., Erler, A. R., Frey, S. K., and Fletcher, C. G.: Application of machine learning techniques for regional bias correction of snow water equivalent estimates in Ontario, Canada, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4887–4902, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4887-2020, 2020. a
Kotlarski, S.: Sven Kotlarski/qmCH2018:qmCH2018 v1.0.1, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3275571, 2019. a, b, c
Luojus, K., Pulliainen, J., Takala, M., Lemmetyinen, J., Mortimer, C., Derksen, C., Mudryk, L., Moisander, M., Hiltunen, M., Smolander, T., Ikonen, J., Cohen, J., Salminen, M., Norberg, J., Veijola, K., and Venäläinen, P.: GlobSnow v3.0 Northern Hemisphere snow water equivalent dataset, Sci. Data, 8, 163, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00939-2, 2021. a, b
Magnusson, J., Gustafsson, D., Hüsler, F., and Jonas, T.: Assimilation of point SWE data into a distributed snow cover model comparing two contrasting methods, Water Resour. Res., 50, 7816–7835, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015302, 2014. a, b
Maraun, D.: Bias Correction, Quantile Mapping, and Downscaling: Revisiting the Inflation Issue, J. Climate, 26, 2137–2143, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00821.1, 2013. a
Maraun, D.: Bias Correcting Climate Change Simulations – a Critical Review, Curr. Clim. Change Rep., 2, 211–220, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-016-0050-x, 2016. a
Marty, C.: Regime shift of snow days in Switzerland, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L12501, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033998, 2008. a
Matiu, M. and Hanzer, F.: Bias adjustment and downscaling of snow cover fraction projections from regional climate models using remote sensing for the European Alps, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3037–3054, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3037-2022, 2022. a, b
Maurer, E. P. and Pierce, D. W.: Bias correction can modify climate model simulated precipitation changes without adverse effect on the ensemble mean, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 915–925, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-915-2014, 2014. a
Michel, A.: SnowQM1.0 Source code, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10257951, 2023. a
Michel, A., Sharma, V., Lehning, M., and Huwald, H.: Climate change scenarios at hourly time-step over Switzerland from an enhanced temporal downscaling approach, Int. J. Climatol., 41, 3503–3522, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7032, 2021. a
Michel, A., Schaefli, B., Wever, N., Zekollari, H., Lehning, M., and Huwald, H.: Future water temperature of rivers in Switzerland under climate change investigated with physics-based models, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1063–1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, 2022. a
Michel, A., Aschauer, J., Jonas, T., Gubler, S., Kotlarski, S., and Marty, C.: Review data for: SnowQM 1.0: A fast R Package for bias-correcting spatial fields of snow water equivalent using quantile mapping, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7886773, 2023. a
Microsoft and Weston, S.: foreach: Provides Foreach Looping Construct, r package version 1.5.2, CRAN [code], https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=foreach (last access: 8 May 2024), 2022. a
Mott, R., Winstral, A., Cluzet, B., Helbig, N., Magnusson, J., Mazzotti, G., Quéno, L., Schirmer, M., Webster, C., and Jonas, T.: Operational snow-hydrological modeling for Switzerland, Front. Earth Sci., 11, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1228158, 2023. a
Nychka, D., Furrer, R., Paige, J., and Sain, S.: fields: Tools for spatial data, r package version 13.3, GitHub [code], https://github.com/dnychka/fieldsRPackage (last access: 8 May 2024), 2021. a
OpenMP Architecture Review Board: OpenMP Application Program Interface Version 3.0, https://www.openmp.org/wp-content/uploads/OpenMP-API-Specification-5-2.pdf (last access: 8 May 2024), 2021. a
Pierce, D.: ncdf4: Interface to Unidata netCDF (Version 4 or Earlier) Format Data Files, r package version 1.19, CRAN [code], https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ncdf4 (last access: 8 May 2024), 2021. a
Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D. C., Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Tignor, M., Poloczanska, E., and Weyer, N.: The ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate, IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, p. 755, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157964, 2019. a
R Core Team: R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, https://www.R-project.org/ (last access: 8 May 2024), 2021. a
Rabiei, E. and Haberlandt, U.: Applying bias correction for merging rain gauge and radar data, J. Hydrol., 522, 544–557, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.01.020, 2015. a
Rumpf, S. B., Gravey, M., Brönnimann, O., Luoto, M., Cianfrani, C., Mariethoz, G., and Guisan, A.: From white to green: Snow cover loss and increased vegetation productivity in the European Alps, Science, 376, 1119–1122, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn6697, 2022. a
Schaefli, B., Hingray, B., and Musy, A.: Climate change and hydropower production in the Swiss Alps: quantification of potential impacts and related modelling uncertainties, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1191–1205, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-11-1191-2007, 2007. a
Serreze, M. C., Kahl, J. D., and Schnell, R. C.: Low-level temperature inversions of the Eurasian Arctic and comparisons with Soviet drifting station data, J. Climate, 5, 615–629, 1992. a
Smith, S. L., O'Neill, H. B., Isaksen, K., Noetzli, J., and Romanovsky, V. E.: The changing thermal state of permafrost, Nat. Rev. Earth Environ., 3, 10–23, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00240-1, 2022. a
Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss: Daily Mean, Minimum and Maximum Temperature: TabsD, TminD, TmaxD, https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/dam/jcr:818a4d17-cb0c-4e8b-92c6-1a1bdf5348b7/ProdDoc_TabsD.pdf (last access: 11 January 2021), 2021a. a
Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss: Daily Precipitation (final analysis): RhiresD, https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/dam/jcr:4f51f0f1-0fe3-48b5-9de0-15666327e63c/ProdDoc_RhiresD.pdf (last access: 11 January 2021), 2021b. a
Terzago, S., von Hardenberg, J., Palazzi, E., and Provenzale, A.: Snow water equivalent in the Alps as seen by gridded data sets, CMIP5 and CORDEX climate models, The Cryosphere, 11, 1625–1645, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1625-2017, 2017. a
Themeßl, M. J., Gobiet, A., and Heinrich, G.: Empirical-statistical downscaling and error correction of regional climate models and its impact on the climate change signal, Climatic Change, 112, 449–468, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0224-4, 2012. a, b
Thrasher, B., Maurer, E. P., McKellar, C., and Duffy, P. B.: Technical Note: Bias correcting climate model simulated daily temperature extremes with quantile mapping, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3309–3314, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3309-2012, 2012. a
Wilcke, R. A. I., Mendlik, T., and Gobiet, A.: Multi-variable error correction of regional climate models, Climatic Change, 120, 871–887, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0845-x, 2013. a
Short summary
We present a method to correct snow cover maps (represented in terms of snow water equivalent) to match better-quality maps. The correction can then be extended backwards and forwards in time for periods when better-quality maps are not available. The method is fast and gives good results. It is then applied to obtain a climatology of the snow cover in Switzerland over the past 60 years at a resolution of 1 d and 1 km. This is the first time that such a dataset has been produced.
We present a method to correct snow cover maps (represented in terms of snow water equivalent)...