Abstract

The Andean snowpack is the primary source of water for many communities in South America. We have used Landsat imagery over the period 1986–2018 in order to assess the changes in the snow cover extent across a north-south transect of approximately 2,500 km (18°–40°S). Despite the significant interannual variability, here we show that the dry-season snow cover extent declined across the entire study area at an average rate of about −12% per decade. We also show that this decreasing trend is mainly driven by changes in the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), especially at latitudes lower than 34°S. At higher latitudes (34°–40°S), where the El Niño signal is weaker, snow cover losses appear to be also influenced by the poleward migration of the westerly winds associated with the positive trend in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM).

Details

Title
Dry-Season Snow Cover Losses in the Andes (18°–40°S) driven by Changes in Large-Scale Climate Modes
Author
Cordero, Raul R 1 ; Asencio, Valentina 1 ; Feron, Sarah 2 ; Damiani, Alessandro 3 ; Llanillo, Pedro J 1 ; Sepulveda, Edgardo 1 ; Jorquera, Jose 1 ; Carrasco, Jorge 4 ; Casassa, Gino 5 

 Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Av. Bernardo O’Higgins 3363, Santiago, Chile 
 Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Av. Bernardo O’Higgins 3363, Santiago, Chile; School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA 
 Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Av. Bernardo O’Higgins 3363, Santiago, Chile; Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan 
 Centro de Investigación GAIA Antártica, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile 
 Centro de Investigación GAIA Antártica, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile; Unidad de Glaciología y Nieves, Dirección General de Aguas, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Santiago, Chile 
Pages
1-10
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Nov 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2315510154
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.