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Trends in snow level elevation in the mountains of central Arizona
Author(s) -
Svoma Bohumil M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.2062
Subject(s) - snow , environmental science , precipitation , elevation (ballistics) , national weather service , surface runoff , climatology , range (aeronautics) , wet bulb temperature , meteorology , physical geography , geography , humidity , geology , ecology , materials science , geometry , composite material , biology , mathematics
Abstract Trends in daily mountain snow levels over two key watersheds in central Arizona were established for the last 70 years. Snowfall levels were approximated using two methods: (1) an empirical method based on daily snowfall and precipitation data from an array of National Weather Service Cooperative (COOP) Network stations at a range of elevations, and (2) a theoretical method based on the calculation of the wet‐bulb zero (WBZ) height using nearby rawindsonde atmospheric profile data. A trend towards a higher WBZ height since water year 1960 is evident, as is a highly significant trend in the percentage of days in which the snow level was above stations with elevations between 1095 and 2166 m since water year 1934. The two snow level variables are significantly positively related to air temperature. This could be problematic in a region where the population is dependent upon the efficiency of snow in generating runoff for replenishing ground and surface water supplies. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society