Vegetation change is an important factor affecting the global carbon cycle, land-atmosphere interaction, and terrestrial ecology. The study of vegetation change on a global scale can be used to evaluate the impact of global climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. Satellite remote sensing can monitor vegetation change at the global scale,...
An integrative method for monitoring glacier geometry change and mass balance is presented and applied to the Pacific Northwest, USA. Acting as a baseline for interpretation of future changes in glacier size and shape, we first derive a new inventory of regional glacier cover using remotely sensed data. To investigate...
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Anne W. Nolin
An integrative method for monitoring glacier geometry change and mass balance
Forested, mountain landscapes in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are changing at an unprecedented rate, largely due to shifts in the regional climate regime. Documented climatic trends across the PNW include increasing wildfire frequency and intensity and an increasingly ephemeral snowpack, especially at moderate elevations. One relationship that has yet to...
Rising global temperatures are having lasting effects on mountain snow environments in the form of diminishing snowpacks, shorter accumulation seasons, and shifts in meltwater timing. Seasonal snowpack is a vital source of water for natural and human systems. In the forested mountain landscapes of the Pacific Northwest seasonal snowmelt feeds...
This study examines climatological influences, particularly that of snowpack, on tree growth and stable carbon isotope discrimination (Δ¹³C) from ~1980 to 2013 at two sites located in the upper reaches of the McKenzie River watershed of the Oregon Cascade Mountains. We tested the use of Δ¹³C values from latewood, corroborated...
Cold-season storms are responsible for generating most of the snow that accumulates in mountainous watersheds across the western United States, but with overwhelming evidence of warming temperature trends, this seasonal snowpack is at risk for melt, The vast majority of snow trend studies utilize undifferentiated air temperature records – these...
Throughout many of the world’s mountain ranges snowpack accumulates during the winter and into the spring, providing a natural reservoir for water. As this reservoir melts, it fills streams and recharges groundwater for over 1 billion people globally. Despite its importance to water resources, our understanding of the storage capacity...
Satellite remote sensing is an effective tool for mapping snow covered area. However, complex terrain and heterogeneous land cover, due to vegetation and patchy snow cover, present challenges to snow cover mapping. This research compares two techniques for mapping snow covered area: binary and enhanced fractional snow cover mapping techniques....
As a result of a warming climate, subsequent declining snowpack, and a century of fire suppression, forest fires are increasing across the western United States. However, we still do not fully understand how forest fire effects snowpack energy balance, nor the volume and availability of snow melt and associated water...
Declines in glacier area and volume are widespread. These changes will have important hydrologic consequences since glaciers store tremendous amounts of fresh water and buffer seasonally low flows in many densely populated regions. In this thesis I focus on a region that is hydrologically vulnerable to glacier change, namely the...
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Anne W. Nolin
Declines in glacier area and volume are widespread. These changes will have