Observed snow depth trends in the European Alps: 1971 to 2019

Matiu, Michael; Crespi, Alice; Bertoldi, Giacomo; Carmagnola, Carlo Maria; Marty, Christoph; Morin, Samuel; Schöner, Wolfgang; Cat Berro, Daniele; Chiogna, Gabriele; De Gregorio, Ludovica; Kotlarski, Sven; Majone, Bruno; Resch, Gernot; Terzago, Silvia; Valt, Mauro; Beozzo, Walter; Cianfarra, Paola; Gouttevin, Isabelle; Marcolini, Giorgia; Notarnicola, Claudia; Petitta, Marcello; Scherrer, Simon C.; Strasser, Ulrich; Winkler, Michael; Zebisch, Marc; Cicogna, Andrea; Cremonini, Roberto; Debernardi, Andrea; Faletto, Mattia; Gaddo, Mauro; Giovannini, Lorenzo; Mercalli, Luca; Soubeyroux, Jean-Michel; Sušnik, Andrea; Trenti, Alberto; Urbani, Stefano; Weilguni, Viktor

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1343-2021

Articles | Volume 15, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1343-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1343-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 3

Research article

| Highlight paper

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18 Mar 2021

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 18 Mar 2021

Observed snow depth trends in the European Alps: 1971 to 2019

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

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Final revised paper (published on 18 Mar 2021)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 12 Oct 2020)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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RC1: 'Review', Anonymous Referee #1, 29 Oct 2020
- AC1: 'Reply to review of Anonymous Referee #1', Michael Matiu, 14 Dec 2020
RC2: 'Review comments for Matiu et al. “Observed snow depth trends in the European Alps 1971 to 2019”', Ross Brown, 02 Nov 2020
- AC2: 'Reply to review from Ross Brown', Michael Matiu, 14 Dec 2020
RC3: 'Review of Matiu et al.', Anonymous Referee #3, 17 Nov 2020
- AC3: 'Reply to review of Anonymous Referee #3', Michael Matiu, 14 Dec 2020

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (17 Dec 2020) by Guillaume Chambon

AR by Michael Matiu on behalf of the Authors (23 Dec 2020) Author's response Author's tracked changes Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (05 Jan 2021) by Guillaume Chambon

RR by Ross Brown (05 Jan 2021)

Suggestions for revision or reasons for rejection

Review comments for Matiu et al. revised manuscript, Ross Brown, Jan 5, 2021

Many thanks to the authors for their diligent and comprehensive responses to my and the other reviewers’ comments. The manuscript is significantly improved and I recommend the paper for publication after the authors have attended to the following minor comments:

1. The regression analysis contains a couple of loose ends, namely the use of different methods (OLR and GLR) for different variables, and the use of bounded definitions for SCD that the authors indicate has some influence on trend results at low and high elevations. The use of a standard non-parametric trend analysis method such as Mann-Kendall would solve the first issue, while less restrictive definitions of SCD would solve the latter e.g. SCD computed over entire snow year and separately for the first and second halves of the snow year.

2. Figure 8 is a useful addition, but did you consider computing regional series as standardized anomalies? This would highlight common responses and may allow the construction of a pan-regional series for each elevation range.

3. I flagged two places where I think some improvements could be made in the wording:

Section 3.7: the material on the homogenization of the series would fit better with the discussion of data homogeneity starting in line 180.

Line 523-524: Suggest removing the sentence “Such low R2 values…” as it does not add anything useful.

4. The fact that trend significance increases with elevation and is stronger in the spring period are important points that you should consider highlighting in the conclusions and abstract, as they are consistent with enhanced albedo feedbacks in mountain regions. I’m currently unable to access my collection of snow literature, but I recall there being several papers published on elevation-dependent albedo feedbacks that you can cite as part of this discussion.

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RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (17 Jan 2021)

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (20 Jan 2021) by Guillaume Chambon

AR by Michael Matiu on behalf of the Authors (30 Jan 2021)

ED: Publish as is (01 Feb 2021) by Guillaume Chambon

AR by Michael Matiu on behalf of the Authors (03 Feb 2021)

Post-review adjustments

AA: Author's adjustment | EA: Editor approval

AA by Michael Matiu on behalf of the Authors (05 Mar 2021) Author's adjustment Manuscript

EA: Adjustments approved (09 Mar 2021) by Guillaume Chambon

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.