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

Albert, M. R. and Perron, F. E.: Ice layer and surface crust permeability in a seasonal snow pack, Hydrol. Process., 14, 3207–3214, 2000.
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.
Aoki, T., Motoyoshi, H., Kodama, Y., Yasunari, T. J., Sugiura, K., and Kobayashi, H.: Atmospheric Aerosol Deposition on Snow Surfaces and Its Effect on Albedo, Scient. Onl. Lett. Atmos. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn., 2, 13–16, 2006.
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.
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