Scenario Projections of Changes in Snow Water Equivalent Due to Possible Climate Changes in Different Regions of the Earth

Water Resources volume 48, pages133–145(2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The study was carried out under the international Earth System Model–Snow Model Intercomparison Project on ten experimental well-instrumented snow sites in different parts of the Earth and aimed to examine the ability of the SWAP land surface model, developed by the authors, to reproduce the current characteristics of snow cover dynamics. A procedure was developed for scenario projecting of changes in the characteristics of snow cover formation in the XXI century with the use of series of meteorological forcing data, calculated with the use of atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models. The developed procedure was used to evaluate changes in the characteristics of snow cover formation in the XXI century in the areas of snow site locations in the context of current climate changes.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the organizers of ESM-SnowMIP Project and, personally, R. Essery and  C.B. Mé-nard (Edinburg University, Great Britain), who provided data for model simulations.

Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 16-17-10 039.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute of Water Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119333, Moscow, Russia

    E. M. Gusev, O. N. Nasonova, E. E. Kovalev & E. A. Shurkhno

Authors
  1. E. M. Gusev
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  2. O. N. Nasonova
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  3. E. E. Kovalev
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  4. E. A. Shurkhno
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Correspondence to E. M. Gusev.

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Translated by G. Krichevets

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Gusev, E.M., Nasonova, O.N., Kovalev, E.E. et al. Scenario Projections of Changes in Snow Water Equivalent Due to Possible Climate Changes in Different Regions of the Earth. Water Resour 48, 133–145 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0097807821010176

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Keywords:

  • ESM-SnowMIP project
  • models of snow cover formation
  • land surface model SWAP
  • snow water equivalent
  • RCP-scenarios of climate change