Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1879-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1879-2015
Research article
 | 
24 Sep 2015
Research article |  | 24 Sep 2015

Satellite observations of changes in snow-covered land surface albedo during spring in the Northern Hemisphere

K. Atlaskina, F. Berninger, and G. de Leeuw

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Cited articles

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Alton, P.: A simple retrieval of ground albedo and vegetation absorptance from MODIS satellite data for parameterisation of global Land-Surface Models, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 149, 1769–1775, 2009.
Aoki, T., Hachikubo, A., and Hori, M.: Effects of snow physical parameters on shortwave broadband albedos, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, 4616, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003506, 2003.
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Baldocchi, D., Kelliher, F. M., Black, T. A., and Jarvis, P.: Climate and vegetation controls on boreal zone energy exchange, Global Change Biol., 6, 69–83, 2000.
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Short summary
Snow cover explained most of the spring surface albedo changes in the Northern Hemisphere in the years 2000−2012. However, there are vast areas where albedo changed up to ±0.2 under full snow-covered conditions. We found that if in these areas, the mean monthly air temperature exceeds a value between -15°C and -10°C, depending on the region, albedo decreases with an increase of the temperature. The complexity of processes involved in surface albedo changes is discussed.