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DOI | 10.3389/feart.2019.00177 |
Near Real-Time Measurement of Snow Water Equivalent in the Nepal Himalayas | |
Kirkham, James D.1,2,3; Koch, Inka1; Saloranta, Tuomo M.4; Litt, Maxime1,5; Stigter, Emmy E.5; Moen, Knut4; Thapa, Amrit1; Melvold, Kjetil4; Immerzeel, Walter W.5 | |
发表日期 | 2019 |
ISSN | 2296-6463 |
卷号 | 7 |
英文摘要 | Seasonal snow is an important component of the Himalayan hydrological system, but a lack of observations at high altitude hampers understanding and forecasting of water availability in this region. Here, we use a passive gamma ray sensor that measures snow water equivalent (SWE) and complementary meteorological instruments installed at 4962 m a.s.l. in the Nepal Himalayas to quantify the evolution of SWE and snow depth over a 2-year period. We assess the accuracy, spatial representativeness and the applicability of the SWE and snow depth measurements using time-lapse camera imagery and field observations. The instrument setup performs well for snowpacks >50 mm SWE, but caution must be applied when interpreting measurements from discontinuous, patchy snow cover or those that contain lenses of refrozen meltwater. Over their typical similar to 6-month lifetime, snowpacks in this setting can attain up to 200 mm SWE, of which 10-15% consists of mixed precipitation and rain-on-snow events. Precipitation gauges significantly underrepresent the solid fraction of precipitation received at this elevation by almost 40% compared to the gamma ray sensor. The application of sub-daily time-lapse camera imagery can help to correctly interpret and increase the reliability and representativeness of snowfall measurements. Our monitoring approach provides high quality, continuous, near-real time information that is essential to develop snow models in this data scarce region. We recommend that a similar instrument setup be extended into remote Himalayan environments to facilitate widespread snowpack monitoring and further our understanding of the high-altitude water cycle. |
WOS研究方向 | Geology |
来源期刊 | FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
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文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/100559 |
作者单位 | 1.Int Ctr Integrated Mt Dev, Kathmandu, Nepal; 2.Univ Cambridge, Scott Polar Res Inst, Cambridge, England; 3.British Antarctic Survey, Nat Environm Res Council, Cambridge, England; 4.Norwegian Water Resources & Energy Directorate, Oslo, Norway; 5.Univ Utrecht, Dept Phys Geog, Utrecht, Netherlands |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Kirkham, James D.,Koch, Inka,Saloranta, Tuomo M.,et al. Near Real-Time Measurement of Snow Water Equivalent in the Nepal Himalayas[J],2019,7. |
APA | Kirkham, James D..,Koch, Inka.,Saloranta, Tuomo M..,Litt, Maxime.,Stigter, Emmy E..,...&Immerzeel, Walter W..(2019).Near Real-Time Measurement of Snow Water Equivalent in the Nepal Himalayas.FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE,7. |
MLA | Kirkham, James D.,et al."Near Real-Time Measurement of Snow Water Equivalent in the Nepal Himalayas".FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE 7(2019). |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
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