Seasonal Snow Extent and Snow Mass in South America Using SSM/I Passive Microwave Data (1988-2003)

Submitted by Armida on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 09:56
TitleSeasonal Snow Extent and Snow Mass in South America Using SSM/I Passive Microwave Data (1988-2003)
Publication TypeConference Proceedings
Year of Conference2007
AuthorsFoster, J. L., Hall D. K., Chiu L., and Kelly, R./Powell H.
Conference Name75th Annual Western Snow Conference
Series TitleProceedings of the 75th Annual Western Snow Conference
Date PublishedApril 2007
PublisherWestern Snow Conference
Conference LocationKailua-Kona, HI
KeywordsSeasonal snow cover, SSM/I, South America, satellite
Abstract

Seasonal snow cover in extra-tropical areas of South America was examined in this study using passive microwave satellite data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imagers (SSM/I) on board the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites. For the period from 1988-2003, both snow cover extent and snow mass were estimated for the months of July, typically the coldest winter month. Most of the seasonal snow in South America is in the Patagonia region of Argentina. The average snow cover and snow mass for the 16-year period was 284,492 km2 and 0.763 x 1013 kg, respectively. The year with the greatest average snow extent and snow mass during the 16-year period of record was 1992 -- 551,875 km2 and 2.073 x 1013, respectively. If the strong El-Nino years of 1991-1992 and 1997-1998 are excluded, the July snow mass shows a linear trend of 28% over the 16 years period, with a p-value of 0.0098, which is significant at the 85% level.
URLsites/westernsnowconference.org/PDFs/2007Foster.pdf