Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Snow transport (wind drifting and avalanches) can concentrate a large amount of water into a relatively small area, in contrast to precipitation, which is spatially smoother. I develop a framework to constrain the minimum effective seasonal transport necessary to explain observed snowpack patterns. In the Wind River Range, Wyoming, extensive deep snow (4–6 m snow water equivalent, >0.01 km 2 ) is the result of long‐distance transport, with about half of the seasonal accumulation originating >1 km upwind. Cirque glaciers on the downwind margins of alpine plateaus can accumulate snow from contributing source areas exceeding 2–3 km 2 . Interbasin snow transport augments local snowfall by at least 22% in a glaciated first‐order stream catchment (2 km 2 ), with the upwind “snowshed” doubling the effective catchment area. Snow imported across topographic divides is equivalent to 7% of annual streamflow in a 125 km 2 watershed. Kilometer‐scale snow transport is an underappreciated driver of mountain snowpack heterogeneity.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl113599
Author: E. N. Boardman
Institution: University of Nevada, Reno
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Funder: Bureau of Reclamation
OpenAlex ID: W4410518676