Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin
Abstract In the mountainous headwaters of the Colorado River episodic dust deposition from adjacent arid and disturbed landscapes darkens snow and accelerates snowmelt, impacting basin hydrology. Patterns and impacts across the heterogenous landscape cannot be inferred from current in situ observati...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112757 |
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| author | Patrick Naple S. McKenzie Skiles Otto I. Lang Karl Rittger Sebastien J. P. Lenard Annie Burgess Thomas H. Painter |
| author_facet | Patrick Naple S. McKenzie Skiles Otto I. Lang Karl Rittger Sebastien J. P. Lenard Annie Burgess Thomas H. Painter |
| author_sort | Patrick Naple |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In the mountainous headwaters of the Colorado River episodic dust deposition from adjacent arid and disturbed landscapes darkens snow and accelerates snowmelt, impacting basin hydrology. Patterns and impacts across the heterogenous landscape cannot be inferred from current in situ observations. To fill this gap daily remotely sensed retrievals of radiative forcing and contribution to melt were analyzed over the MODIS period of record (2001–2023) to quantify spatiotemporal impacts of snow darkening. Each season radiative forcing magnitudes were lowest in early spring and intensified as snowmelt progressed, with interannual variability in timing and magnitude of peak impact. Over the full record, radiative forcing was elevated in the first decade relative to the last decade. Snowmelt was accelerated in all years and impacts were most intense in the central to southern headwaters. The spatiotemporal patterns motivate further study to understand controls on variability and related perturbations to snow water resources. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2d495c2c642d4e1abcf383318bce79ea |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-2d495c2c642d4e1abcf383318bce79ea2025-08-20T03:52:42ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-03-01525n/an/a10.1029/2024GL112757Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River BasinPatrick Naple0S. McKenzie Skiles1Otto I. Lang2Karl Rittger3Sebastien J. P. Lenard4Annie Burgess5Thomas H. Painter6Snow Hydrology Research to Operations Laboratory School of Environment Society & Sustainability University of Utah Salt Lake City UT USASnow Hydrology Research to Operations Laboratory School of Environment Society & Sustainability University of Utah Salt Lake City UT USASnow Hydrology Research to Operations Laboratory School of Environment Society & Sustainability University of Utah Salt Lake City UT USAInstitute of Arctic and Alpine Research University of Colorado Boulder CO USAInstitute of Arctic and Alpine Research University of Colorado Boulder CO USAEarth Science Department Montana State University Bozeman MT USAJoint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering University of California – Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USAAbstract In the mountainous headwaters of the Colorado River episodic dust deposition from adjacent arid and disturbed landscapes darkens snow and accelerates snowmelt, impacting basin hydrology. Patterns and impacts across the heterogenous landscape cannot be inferred from current in situ observations. To fill this gap daily remotely sensed retrievals of radiative forcing and contribution to melt were analyzed over the MODIS period of record (2001–2023) to quantify spatiotemporal impacts of snow darkening. Each season radiative forcing magnitudes were lowest in early spring and intensified as snowmelt progressed, with interannual variability in timing and magnitude of peak impact. Over the full record, radiative forcing was elevated in the first decade relative to the last decade. Snowmelt was accelerated in all years and impacts were most intense in the central to southern headwaters. The spatiotemporal patterns motivate further study to understand controls on variability and related perturbations to snow water resources.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112757snow hydrologyremote sensingdust on snowsnowmeltsnow water resourcesColorado river basin |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Naple S. McKenzie Skiles Otto I. Lang Karl Rittger Sebastien J. P. Lenard Annie Burgess Thomas H. Painter Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin Geophysical Research Letters snow hydrology remote sensing dust on snow snowmelt snow water resources Colorado river basin |
| title | Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin |
| title_full | Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin |
| title_fullStr | Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin |
| title_short | Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin |
| title_sort | dust on snow radiative forcing and contribution to melt in the colorado river basin |
| topic | snow hydrology remote sensing dust on snow snowmelt snow water resources Colorado river basin |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112757 |
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