Land surface albedo dynamics

The positive 2017 albedo anomalies especially in the visible range over the U.S. Northwest and High Plains, southwest and eastern Canada, Scandinavia, and northern Russia are probably associated with above-average snow cover and extent in spring with the occurrence of snow storms in some of these regions. Below-average snow cover extent across most of Europe, Turkey, Iran, southern Russia, and in parts of the U.S. Northern Plains and Rockies extending into the southern Canadian Prairies may be responsible for the negative anomalies reaching (or locally exceeding) −30 % in the visible and about −10 % in the near-infrared domain. The fast decline of the snow cover extent and duration as early as February (section 2c2) may be due to unusually warm and relatively dry conditions over western Europe from early spring to June (https://climate.copernicus.eu/resources/data-analysis/average-surface-air-temperature-analysis/monthly-maps/)

PINTY Bernard;  GOBRON Nadine; 

2018-11-14

AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC

JRC112173

0003-0007 (online),   

https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2018BAMSStateoftheClimate.1,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC112173,   

10.1175/2018BAMSStateoftheClimate.1 (online),