5:15 PM - 7:15 PM
[AHW28-P06] Assessing Changes in Snow Depth and Snow Water Equivalent in Japanese Mountains Over 25 Years
Keywords:Snow water equivalent, Mountain snow, Hydrological resources
Mountain snow in Japan plays a crucial role as a water resource that supplements water supply. Recent climate change is expected to alter snow conditions, making it essential to understand these changes and their impacts. However, snow and meteorological observations in mountainous regions face significant challenges due to severe winter weather conditions, and there are only a limited number of previous studies with long-term observations. As a result, long-term and extensive observational data necessary for understanding snow conditions remain insufficient.
The Snow and Ice Research Center (SIRC) of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience has operated a snow and weather observation network for over 25 years. This network spans a wide area from northern to western Japan, monitoring variations in meteorological and snow conditions at high elevations. This study aims to statistically analyze the long-term observational data to gain a comprehensive understanding of recent changes in snow conditions in Japan’s mountainous regions. In particular, we focus on the variation characteristics of maximum snow depth and snow water equivalent.
The observation sites are distributed from Aomori Prefecture (40.655°N, 140.293°E) to Tottori Prefecture (35.340°N, 133.582°E), covering an elevation range of 98 m to 1310 m. The analysis showed that although the trends in maximum snow depth and snow water equivalent are similar, the fluctuations in snow water equivalent are more pronounced than those in snow depth. Although not statistically significant, a decreasing trend in maximum snow depth has been observed at nearly all observation sites in recent years. Furthermore, maximum snow depth strongly depends on elevation, showing different trends between mountainous and low-elevation areas. Detailed results on the influence of climate change on mountain snow conditions will be discussed in the presentation.
The Snow and Ice Research Center (SIRC) of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience has operated a snow and weather observation network for over 25 years. This network spans a wide area from northern to western Japan, monitoring variations in meteorological and snow conditions at high elevations. This study aims to statistically analyze the long-term observational data to gain a comprehensive understanding of recent changes in snow conditions in Japan’s mountainous regions. In particular, we focus on the variation characteristics of maximum snow depth and snow water equivalent.
The observation sites are distributed from Aomori Prefecture (40.655°N, 140.293°E) to Tottori Prefecture (35.340°N, 133.582°E), covering an elevation range of 98 m to 1310 m. The analysis showed that although the trends in maximum snow depth and snow water equivalent are similar, the fluctuations in snow water equivalent are more pronounced than those in snow depth. Although not statistically significant, a decreasing trend in maximum snow depth has been observed at nearly all observation sites in recent years. Furthermore, maximum snow depth strongly depends on elevation, showing different trends between mountainous and low-elevation areas. Detailed results on the influence of climate change on mountain snow conditions will be discussed in the presentation.