CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Dery, S .
Date : 2006.
Title : Large-scale interactions between the seasonal snow cover in Eurasia and hydroclimatic conditions in northern Canada.
Publication : Eos Transactions. AGU,
Issue : 87(52), Fall Meeting Supplement,
Page(s) : Abstract C11B-01.
Abstract
In this presentation, we will investigate large-scale interactions between the seasonal snow cover in Eurasia and the subsequent hydroclimatic conditions in northern Canada. Pan-Arctic climate connectivity is explored using historical (1966-2004) time series of satellite-based measurements of Eurasian snow cover extent and of observed Canadian snow water equivalent (SWE) and freshwater discharge, with a focus on the Churchill River Basin of Labrador and the Chesterfield Inlet Basin of Nunavut. Analysis of the data reveals statistically- significant positive (negative) correlations between spring and summer Eurasian standardized snow cover extent anomalies and annual maximum monthly SWE as well as freshwater discharge in the Churchill River (Chesterfield Inlet) Basin the following year. A spatially coherent response to the forcing is observed since nineteen rivers draining more than 0.6 million square kilometers of northern Québec and Labrador and with a mean annual total discharge of 320 cubic kilometers show statistically-significant positive correlations to the annual Eurasian standardized snow cover extent anomalies. The origin of this pan-Arctic climate connectivity is related to the persistent nature of the Eurasian snow cover extent anomalies and the associated accumulated gains or deficits in the surface radiation and water budgets that impose a memory in the climate system. The Eurasian snow cover extent anomalies provide some degree of predictability (up to one year in advance) of the surface water budget in the Churchill River and Chesterfield Inlet Basins. It further suggests that a declining trend in Eurasian snow cover extent will yield decreasing (increasing) SWE and river discharge in the Churchill River (Chesterfield Inlet) Basin in the twenty-first century. The talk will close with a discussion of the ability of GCM's to represent the observed large-scale interactions between the Eurasian seasonal snow cover and hydroclimatic conditions in northern Canada.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology