Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Sensitivity analysis of snow patterns in Swiss ski resorts to shifts in temperature, precipitation and humidity under conditions of climate change

Published inInternational journal of climatology, vol. 29, no. 8, p. 1048-1055
Publication date2009
Abstract

The value of snow as a resource has considerably increased in Swiss mountain regions, in particular in the context of winter tourism. In the perspective of a warming climate, it is thus important to quantify the potential changes in snow amount and duration that could have large repercussions on the economy of ski resorts. Because of the fine spatial variability of snow, the use of a Surface Energy Balance Model (SEBM) is adequate to simulate local snow cover evolution. A perturbation method has been developed to generate plausible future meteorological input data required for SEBM simulations in order to assess the changes in snow cover patterns. Current and future snow depths have also been simulated within the ski areas themselves. The results show a large decrease of the snow depths and duration, even at high elevation in a warmer climate and emphasize the sensitivity of snow to topographical characteristics of the resorts. The most vulnerable areas would be the Western regions of Switzerland or the Eastern Prealps whereas the Central Alps or Valais would be less affected. The study highlights the fact that not only the altitude of a domain but also its exposure, localization inland and slope gradients need to be taken into account when evaluating current and future snow depths. This method enables a precise assessment of the snow pattern over a small area.

Citation (ISO format)
UHLMANN-SCHNEITER, Bastienne, GOYETTE, Stéphane, BENISTON, Martin. Sensitivity analysis of snow patterns in Swiss ski resorts to shifts in temperature, precipitation and humidity under conditions of climate change. In: International journal of climatology, 2009, vol. 29, n° 8, p. 1048–1055. doi: 10.1002/joc.1786
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0899-8418
717views
1015downloads

Technical informations

Creation16/02/2012 14:16:00
First validation16/02/2012 14:16:00
Update14/03/2023 17:08:35
Status update14/03/2023 17:08:35
Last indexation29/10/2024 19:00:22
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack