TITLE:
Relationship between the Concentration of Impurity and Albedo in Snow Surface
AUTHORS:
Yuki Komuro, Toshitaka Suzuki
KEYWORDS:
Snow Albedo, Snow Impurity, Mineral Particle, Metal Analysis, Acid Digestion
JOURNAL NAME:
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences,
Vol.5 No.4,
October
9,
2015
ABSTRACT: Recent
decline of cryosphere typified by retreat of glaciers is often explained by
temperature rise due to global warming. However, the existence of glaciers
shrinking since before 1950s warming accelerated suggested that decline of
cryosphere may be due to not only temperature rise, but also another
possibility. As a possible cause of snow and ice melting, it has been pointed
out that the surface albedo reduction due to increase of snow impurity, aeolian
dust and anthropogenic pollutant, for example. To clarify the quantitative
relationship between albedo and impurity in snow surface, we investigated the
correlativity of turbidity and metal concentration in snow to the snow surface
albedo from the simultaneous observations on the snow-covered area in Yamagata,
Japan. The observed albedo shows a tendency of decrease with the turbidity
increase in snow surface, we could find strong correlation between the albedo
and the turbidity in 76% of contribution factor using logarithmic regression
analysis. The relationship of albedo to total concentration of Fe and Al in
snow surface shows the similar tendency to turbidity, we could model the
relationship using logarithmic equation with high value of contribution ratio,
74% and 66%, respectively. The concentration ratio of Fe/Al is nearly constant
with about 0.75, which is close to mean crustal ratio of both elements,
therefore, it can be said there is a strong correlation between the albedo and
the concentration of mineral particle in snow surface. We cannot find a
significant correlation between the albedo and total concentration of Na in
snow surface. It can be considered that Na existed as dissolved ion has not
significant effect to the albedo in snow surface. These results indicate that
the snow albedo correlates strongly with the particulate matter in snow
surface, which is typified by mineral particle.