Variability in snow depth time series in the Adige catchment

Abstract

Study region: The Upper and Middle Adige catchment, Trentino-South Tyrol, Italy. Study focus: We provide evidence of changes in mean seasonal snow depth and snow cover duration in the region occurred in the period from 1980 to 2009. New hydrological insights for the region: Stations located above and below 1650 m a.s.l. show different dynamics, with the latter experiencing in the last decades a larger reduction of average snow depth and snow cover duration, than the former. Wavelet analyses show that snow dynamics change with elevation and correlate differently with climatic indices at multiple temporal scales. We also observe that starting from the late 1980s snow cover duration and mean seasonal snow depth are below the average in the study area. We also identify an elevation dependent correlation with the temperature. Moreover, correlation with the Mediterranean Oscillation Index and with the North Atlantic Oscillation Index is identified.

Keywords

• Snow
• Climate change
• Alps
• Adige catchment