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Mapping snow cover and snow depth across the Lake Limnopolar watershed on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Maritime Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2013

S.R. Fassnacht ,
J.I. López-Moreno ,
M. Toro  and
D.M. Hultstrand
S.R. Fassnacht*
Affiliation:
ESS-Watershed Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1476, USA
J.I. López-Moreno
Affiliation:
Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, CSIC, Zaragoza, Spain
M. Toro
Affiliation:
Área de Medio Ambiente Hídrico, Centro de Estudios Hidrográficos (CEDEX), Madrid, Spain
D.M. Hultstrand
Affiliation:
ESS-Watershed Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1476, USA
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Few parts of Antarctica are not permanently covered in ice. The retreat of the ice sheet from Byers Peninsula on western Livingston Island, Maritime Antarctica, has provided a new area of seasonal snow cover. Snow surveys were conducted in late November 2008 at the time of peak accumulation across the 1 km2 Lake Limnopolar watershed. Topographic variables were derived from a digital elevation model to determine the variables controlling the presence or absence of snow and the distribution of snow depth. Classification with binary regression trees showed that wind related variables dominated the presence and depth of snow. The product of the sine of aspect and the sine of slope was the first variable in both regression trees. Density profiles were also measured and illustrated a relatively homogeneous snowpack over space at peak snow accumulation.

Keywords

binary regression treesdensitySouth Shetland Islandstopographic drivers
Type
Research Articles
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 25 , Issue 2: Byers Peninsula – A New Reference Site For The Maritime Antarctic , April 2013 , pp. 157 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2013

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