Snow covers up to 50% of land during the boreal winter. The snowpack is an interface that modulates energy and mass exchange between land, the atmosphere, and other parts of the cryosphere (glaciers, sea ice). Understanding snowpack properties is important because it largely controls the inter-annual variability of high-latitude planetary albedo and climate [Lemke, 2007]. So far, the role of the snowpack in linking biogeochemical cycles to climate has been largely neglected although it may have considerable significance. In particular, physical, chemical, and biological processes involving carbon in snow have major impacts on most atmospheric and biogeochemical cycles [McNeil et al., 2012]. The view on snow seems to have recently changed from that of a passive medium to that of a highly dynamic multiphase reactor in which a variety of physical, chemical and biological processes occur [e.g. Grannas et al., 2007, Amoroso et al., 2010]. This change of perspective is reflected by trends in snow-related research in Svalbard, which reveal a growing emphasis on the radiative properties of snow, snow-soil-atmosphere interactions, and the microbiology of snow and ice covered environments. However, linking the findings from the many field studies conducted over the years remains a major challenge, due to the lack of synchronized observations and standardized sampling and analytical protocols between different studies at different sites. To address the issues mentioned above, and based on discussions that arose in the recent Svalbard Strategic Grant funded workshop "Taking the next step in Svalbard snow research" (Poland, Sept. 2015), we propose a pilot field study that will promote interdisciplinary snow research in Svalbard and provide new insights into snow-atmosphere-biosphere and climate interactions. The proposed project is a community effort built on on-going projects by well-established groups, with the aim of optimizing the use of existing field research infrastructure to achieve a broader, integrative view on the role of snow in biogeochemical cycles and climate.
Community Coordinated Snow Study in Svalbard (C2S3)
2016
Abstract
Snow covers up to 50% of land during the boreal winter. The snowpack is an interface that modulates energy and mass exchange between land, the atmosphere, and other parts of the cryosphere (glaciers, sea ice). Understanding snowpack properties is important because it largely controls the inter-annual variability of high-latitude planetary albedo and climate [Lemke, 2007]. So far, the role of the snowpack in linking biogeochemical cycles to climate has been largely neglected although it may have considerable significance. In particular, physical, chemical, and biological processes involving carbon in snow have major impacts on most atmospheric and biogeochemical cycles [McNeil et al., 2012]. The view on snow seems to have recently changed from that of a passive medium to that of a highly dynamic multiphase reactor in which a variety of physical, chemical and biological processes occur [e.g. Grannas et al., 2007, Amoroso et al., 2010]. This change of perspective is reflected by trends in snow-related research in Svalbard, which reveal a growing emphasis on the radiative properties of snow, snow-soil-atmosphere interactions, and the microbiology of snow and ice covered environments. However, linking the findings from the many field studies conducted over the years remains a major challenge, due to the lack of synchronized observations and standardized sampling and analytical protocols between different studies at different sites. To address the issues mentioned above, and based on discussions that arose in the recent Svalbard Strategic Grant funded workshop "Taking the next step in Svalbard snow research" (Poland, Sept. 2015), we propose a pilot field study that will promote interdisciplinary snow research in Svalbard and provide new insights into snow-atmosphere-biosphere and climate interactions. The proposed project is a community effort built on on-going projects by well-established groups, with the aim of optimizing the use of existing field research infrastructure to achieve a broader, integrative view on the role of snow in biogeochemical cycles and climate.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
