Satellite observations indicate the most significant part of the decline in snow cover is occurring just below or at the elevation of many Australian ski-resorts.

New data set shows decline in Australian snow season

03 July 2012

The maximum extent of Australian snowfields has reduced by up to 39% and the spring melt has started a month earlier over the past decade according to a new satellite dataset constructed by UNSW Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) Researcher Kat Borman.

This decrease in snow cover could have a profound impact on spring and summer water supplies of the agriculturally intensive Murray Darling Basin, where run-off from the snowmelt delivers significant quantities of water to this otherwise water limited environment.

The new dataset showing this trend is the first of its kind in Australia. It was derived from daily satellite images taken of snowfields in NSW and Victoria during 2000-2010 and has a resolution down to 500m.

“The snow cover trends from this dataset correspond, as expected, with the temperature trends during this period but we were quite surprised by the shift of the spring melt to a month earlier, ” Ms Borman said.

“While this is a relatively short period for this kind of continuing dataset, if the correlation of earlier spring melting with the warming temperature trend remains consistent with our observations over the past decade, it would suggest this earlier melting has been occurring for longer than the past 11 years.”

Previously, the majority of Australian snow-cover data was collected through ground based measurements by ski-field operators and personnel from hydro-electricity-generating schemes. This data is less useful for detecting snow cover changes than satellite observations because the ground measurements are spatially limited throughout the snowfields and are generally made on south-east slopes, which receive higher natural cover and have greater snow persistence.

“Satellite observations indicate the most significant part of the decline in snow cover is occurring at around 1400-1600m – just 100m below or at the elevation of many Australian ski-resorts” Ms Borman said.

“Over the coming years, we will extend this data-set and do further research to examine the impacts of these snow cover declines and to see the effect this will have on the hydrology of the region and its stream flows.”

The snow cover dataset is available from the CCRC for research applications. Kat Borman is working as a PhD student under the supervision of Dr Jason Evans (CCRC) and Dr Matthew McCabe (Civil & Environmental Engineering) at the University of New South Wales.

Links

Follow the link to the paper, Satellite based observations for seasonal snow cover detection and characterisation in Australia.

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