the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 19 Dec 2022
Review of snow phenology variation in the Northern Hemisphere and its relationship with climate and vegetation
Abstract. Snow phenology, recurrent seasonal patterns in snow cover and snowfall, has been significantly affected by global warming. Through the interaction with the climate, the dynamic variability of snow phenology affects the regional climate environment, vegetation ecosystem, soil properties, agricultural water resources, snow disasters and animal migration. First, this study compares the advantages, disadvantages and applicability of different sources of observation data and the principal research methods involved in studying snow phenology. Then, this work discusses the spatiotemporal variability and changing trends of snow phenology in the Northern Hemisphere, and summarizes the relationship between climate, vegetation and snow phenology. Finally, this review highlights the key areas related to snow phenology that require further study. Overall, during the past 50 years in the Northern Hemisphere, the snow cover end date (SCED) has shown a significantly advanced trend, the snow cover onset date (SCOD) has also been occurring slowly earlier, and the snow cover days (SCD) has shortened, but these two trends are not significant. The snow phenology variation is closely related to climate factors, atmospheric circulation, vegetation status and some spatial factors. Snow cover impacts climate change through interactions with atmospheric circulation systems. The rise in temperature will delay the SCOD, and the SCED is closely related to the temperature of the snowmelt season. The interaction between seasonal snow cover and climate will either stimulate or impede vegetation growth. With the change in snow cover, especially the decrease in snow cover in the melting stage can impact the climate change, the rise in temperature will change the growth conditions and extend the vegetation growth season. The relationship between snow cover and vegetation is inconsistent in different elevations and latitudes. Snow phenology variation is very complex and is the result of the combined action of many factors. Additionally, snow phenology will also have a great impact on the cryosphere. Therefore, we must understand snow phenology variation and prepare for future changes.
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Status: closed
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RC1: 'Comment on tc-2022-229', Anonymous Referee #1, 19 Jan 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-RC1-supplement.pdf
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AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-AC2-supplement.pdf
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AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
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RC2: 'Comment on tc-2022-229', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 Feb 2023
General comments:
There is a lot of good information in this paper. The authors have done a good job of researching the literature, especially as it relates to snow cover in China. They provide a short but nice review of remote sensing data products in Section 2.1.2 and in Table 2. Additionally, they address an important topic that deals with cyclic change in the Northern Hemisphere snow cover patterns, i.e., snow phenology, as it is related to climate change.
In the early part of the Introduction the authors should define ‘snow phenology’ so that the reader understands the exact meaning with respect to this paper. It is defined in the first sentence of the Abstract, but needs to be defined more clearly using proper English there. The words ‘snow phenology’ are used repeatedly throughout the manuscript, thus the authors need to ensure that the phrase is referred to in a consistent manner throughout and matches the exact definition that they need to add to the Introduction.
I am not clear about whether this review paper belongs in The Cryosphere. Perhaps the authors could re-focus the paper on snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau?? I don’t think they have done a thorough job addressing snow cover in the entire Northern Hemisphere.
Do we really need all of those remote sensing products to address the snow phenology questions? It almost seems like there are two papers here – one that reviews remote sensing products and another that addresses the snow phenology question.
Work is needed to improve the English in this paper. Overall it is acceptable but there are many places that need work. I only mentioned a few, below, though there are many other places that need improvement in the English on every page.
The authors should consider removing the word ‘variation’ from the title, and perhaps replacing it with the word ‘literature,’ because you cannot review variation
Specific comments:
Line
36 delete: “which significantly affects Earth’s climate change.”
54 the Warren references is in appropriate here since climate change was not really written about much in 1982
Table 1 and write-up preceding the table: what about snow depth datasets in the United States?
102 Passive microwave products do not have very good accuracy for mapping snow, snow depth and SWE
105 the word “influential” is not appropriate in this context
112 what is “L1R?”
Table 2: all of the MODIS products are global, including MOD10A1, MOD10A2, MOD10C2 and MOD10CM; also all of the MODIS products extend from 2000-present1
183 and 211 the word “plain” should read “plains”
200 delete the word “significantly”
Figure 2: please provide a reference for the caption; where has this analysis been published?
241 over what time period has the snow cover extent in the Arctic decreased?
333 delete the word “organic”
352-354 I am not quite sure what this sentence means??
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-229-RC2 -
AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-AC3-supplement.pdf
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AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
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EC1: 'Editor's recommendation', Florent Dominé, 21 Feb 2023
Dear Authors
Both reviews indicate that there may be some interest in your paper, however, they both note significant weaknesses. One important comment by Referee 2 is that you present a thorough analysis of data from the Tibetan plateau but that the data on other parts of the world is less convincing. Please improve your description and validation of general Northern hemisphere data, or perhaps, as suggested by the Referee, refocus your work on the Tibetan plateau only. That may also be a valuable contribution.
I agree with the Referees that the English is not satisfactory. Major improvements on this aspect are absolutely required.
Referee 1 is fairly critical of your work. The paper may need significant restructuring. Sections that no not reach a useful and clear conclusion may have to be deleted. I am not convinced about the usefulness of Figures 3 and 4. In summary, very major changes to your paper are required before serious consideration for publication can be made. The paper definitely needs to be condensed and focused on solid data. Unnecessary speculation or considerations should be deleted. I let you decide whether you can strengthen the paper and keep presenting data for the whole northern hemisphere or just focus on the Tibetan plateau. If you choose to consider the entire northern hemisphere, please explain in your response to Referee 2 how you have improved your analysis of northern hemisphere data in general.
Lastly, I think a few clarifications pertaining to Figure 1 are required.
Please define clearly D1 and D2 in text, not as a Table footnote.
Figure 1. How about having dates instead of weeks from 1 August? This would facilitate visualization. For Fig 1a, the scale would then be 1 September to 16 March. By the way, does a SCOD on 16 March make much sense? In Figure 1b, it is not clear to me what the dates are. Is week 27 from 1 August February 6th? This does not read very well. Reader should be able to figure out dates without having to compute them. Perhaps also add an intermediate date in the color scales for improved legibility.
Please upload your responses to both reviews as well as a response to my recommendations. Please then wait for another comment on my part before uploading a revised version.
Thank you for submitting your work to The Cryosphere.
Best regards,
Florent Domine
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-229-EC1 -
AC1: 'Reply on EC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-AC1-supplement.pdf
-
AC1: 'Reply on EC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
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EC2: 'Intermediary assessment', Florent Dominé, 07 Mar 2023
Dear Authors
Thank you for your responses to the Reviewers’ comments and to my recommendation. Please upload a revised version that considers all the comments discussed. The data analysis you present is potentially interesting. However, please avoid general speculative considerations regarding the consequences of changes in snow cover extent. I recommend that your discussion be focused on reasonably documented specific cases. Some of your responses to Reviewer 1 may be too general to be of interest to most readers.
Best regards,
Florent Domine
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-229-EC2
Status: closed
-
RC1: 'Comment on tc-2022-229', Anonymous Referee #1, 19 Jan 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-RC1-supplement.pdf
-
AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-AC2-supplement.pdf
-
AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
-
RC2: 'Comment on tc-2022-229', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 Feb 2023
General comments:
There is a lot of good information in this paper. The authors have done a good job of researching the literature, especially as it relates to snow cover in China. They provide a short but nice review of remote sensing data products in Section 2.1.2 and in Table 2. Additionally, they address an important topic that deals with cyclic change in the Northern Hemisphere snow cover patterns, i.e., snow phenology, as it is related to climate change.
In the early part of the Introduction the authors should define ‘snow phenology’ so that the reader understands the exact meaning with respect to this paper. It is defined in the first sentence of the Abstract, but needs to be defined more clearly using proper English there. The words ‘snow phenology’ are used repeatedly throughout the manuscript, thus the authors need to ensure that the phrase is referred to in a consistent manner throughout and matches the exact definition that they need to add to the Introduction.
I am not clear about whether this review paper belongs in The Cryosphere. Perhaps the authors could re-focus the paper on snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau?? I don’t think they have done a thorough job addressing snow cover in the entire Northern Hemisphere.
Do we really need all of those remote sensing products to address the snow phenology questions? It almost seems like there are two papers here – one that reviews remote sensing products and another that addresses the snow phenology question.
Work is needed to improve the English in this paper. Overall it is acceptable but there are many places that need work. I only mentioned a few, below, though there are many other places that need improvement in the English on every page.
The authors should consider removing the word ‘variation’ from the title, and perhaps replacing it with the word ‘literature,’ because you cannot review variation
Specific comments:
Line
36 delete: “which significantly affects Earth’s climate change.”
54 the Warren references is in appropriate here since climate change was not really written about much in 1982
Table 1 and write-up preceding the table: what about snow depth datasets in the United States?
102 Passive microwave products do not have very good accuracy for mapping snow, snow depth and SWE
105 the word “influential” is not appropriate in this context
112 what is “L1R?”
Table 2: all of the MODIS products are global, including MOD10A1, MOD10A2, MOD10C2 and MOD10CM; also all of the MODIS products extend from 2000-present1
183 and 211 the word “plain” should read “plains”
200 delete the word “significantly”
Figure 2: please provide a reference for the caption; where has this analysis been published?
241 over what time period has the snow cover extent in the Arctic decreased?
333 delete the word “organic”
352-354 I am not quite sure what this sentence means??
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-229-RC2 -
AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-AC3-supplement.pdf
-
AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
-
EC1: 'Editor's recommendation', Florent Dominé, 21 Feb 2023
Dear Authors
Both reviews indicate that there may be some interest in your paper, however, they both note significant weaknesses. One important comment by Referee 2 is that you present a thorough analysis of data from the Tibetan plateau but that the data on other parts of the world is less convincing. Please improve your description and validation of general Northern hemisphere data, or perhaps, as suggested by the Referee, refocus your work on the Tibetan plateau only. That may also be a valuable contribution.
I agree with the Referees that the English is not satisfactory. Major improvements on this aspect are absolutely required.
Referee 1 is fairly critical of your work. The paper may need significant restructuring. Sections that no not reach a useful and clear conclusion may have to be deleted. I am not convinced about the usefulness of Figures 3 and 4. In summary, very major changes to your paper are required before serious consideration for publication can be made. The paper definitely needs to be condensed and focused on solid data. Unnecessary speculation or considerations should be deleted. I let you decide whether you can strengthen the paper and keep presenting data for the whole northern hemisphere or just focus on the Tibetan plateau. If you choose to consider the entire northern hemisphere, please explain in your response to Referee 2 how you have improved your analysis of northern hemisphere data in general.
Lastly, I think a few clarifications pertaining to Figure 1 are required.
Please define clearly D1 and D2 in text, not as a Table footnote.
Figure 1. How about having dates instead of weeks from 1 August? This would facilitate visualization. For Fig 1a, the scale would then be 1 September to 16 March. By the way, does a SCOD on 16 March make much sense? In Figure 1b, it is not clear to me what the dates are. Is week 27 from 1 August February 6th? This does not read very well. Reader should be able to figure out dates without having to compute them. Perhaps also add an intermediate date in the color scales for improved legibility.
Please upload your responses to both reviews as well as a response to my recommendations. Please then wait for another comment on my part before uploading a revised version.
Thank you for submitting your work to The Cryosphere.
Best regards,
Florent Domine
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-229-EC1 -
AC1: 'Reply on EC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-229/tc-2022-229-AC1-supplement.pdf
-
AC1: 'Reply on EC1', Xiaoyan Wang, 02 Mar 2023
-
EC2: 'Intermediary assessment', Florent Dominé, 07 Mar 2023
Dear Authors
Thank you for your responses to the Reviewers’ comments and to my recommendation. Please upload a revised version that considers all the comments discussed. The data analysis you present is potentially interesting. However, please avoid general speculative considerations regarding the consequences of changes in snow cover extent. I recommend that your discussion be focused on reasonably documented specific cases. Some of your responses to Reviewer 1 may be too general to be of interest to most readers.
Best regards,
Florent Domine
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-229-EC2
Data sets
Snow phenological parameters based on Northern Hemisphere EASE Grid 2.0 Weekly Snow and Sea Ice Extent (NHSCE) from 1972-2019 Guo Hui https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7432273
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