Elevation dependency of the surface climate change signal: A model study
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); and others
This paper presents a study of the elevation dependency of surface climate change using the results from a regional climate simulation over a European region. The simulation used a regional climate model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research driven by output from a present day (control run) simulation and a simulation under doubled carbon dioxide concentration. In the doubled carbon dioxide run, snow was entirely depleted except at the highest elevations. As a result of snow depletion, the solar absorbed flux at the surface showed a strong elevation signal in winter spring, and at high elevations in summer. The elevation warming trends were thus consistent with the trends in solar flux change caused by the snow depletion, and point to the importance of the snow/albedo feedback mechanism in causing the elevation warming signal. Based on these results, it is argued that high elevation temperature changes during winter and spring might be used as an early detection tool for global warming. 11 refs., 4 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 535525
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970207-; TRN: 97:005076-0057
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 77. annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society, Long Beach, CA (United States), 2-7 Feb 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of Eighth symposium on global change studies; PB: 402 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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