Snow processes and climate sensitivity in an arid mountain region, northern Chile

Abstract

Seasonal snow and glaciers in arid mountain regions are essential in sustaining human populations, economic activity, and ecosystems, especially in their role as reservoirs. However, they are threatened by global atmospheric changes, in particular by variations in air temperature and their effects on precipitation phase, snowdynamics andmass balance. In arid environments, small variations in snow mass and energy balance can produce large changes in the amount of available water. This paper provides insights into the impact of global warming on the mass balance of the seasonal snowpack in the mountainous Copiapó river basin in northern Chile. A dataset from an experimental station was combined with reanalysis data to run a physically based snow model at site and catchment scales. The basin received an average annual precipitation of approximately 130 mm from 2001 to 2016, with sublimation losses higher than 70% of the snowpack. Blowing snow sublimation presented an orographic gradient resultant from the decreasing air temperature and windy environment in higher elevations. Under warmer climates, the snowpack will remain insensitive in high elevations (>4000 m a.s.l.), but liquid precipitation will increase at lower heights.