Date

Call for Abstracts
Snow Processes and Snow-Dominated Catchments
2004 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting
13-17 December 2004

For additional information, please visit:
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm04/

Abstract Submission Deadline:
Thursday, 9 September 2004 (Submissions via the web)


Please consider submitting an abstract for either of the two
complementary sessions described below.

Session C 14: Experimental Catchments and Observatories for Cold Season
Hydrologic Analysis

Conveners: Danny Marks and John Pomeroy

In mountainous and high-latitude regions, such as the western US,
hydrology, water management, and resources are dominated by winter
precipitation and snowfall in mountain catchments, which then becomes
runoff and streamflow in spring and early summer. In these regions
recent climate conditions have led to extended drought, and changes in
precipitation, soil moisture, and streamflow that are having a
significant impact on water supplies, ecosystems, and agriculture. Only
a limited number of experimental watersheds offer the infrastructure and
conditions to allow us to engage in winter experiments to evaluate the
response of snow dominated cold-season hydro-climatic processes to
changing and variable climate, and interaction with and impact on
vegetation cover, land use, and increasing urban and agricultural
demand. This session will bring together a series of presentations about
those watersheds, describing existing and planned snow dominated
experimental catchments from North America (Canada and the US), Asia,
and Europe. Emphasis will be on site mission and infrastructure
evolution for catchments with a long history and long term data,
development rationale and plans for sites initiated within the last
decade, and objectives and rationale for new sites that are yet to be
established.

Session C 15: Recent Advances in Monitoring, Measuring, and Modeling
Snow Processes

Conveners: Timothy Link and Richard Essery

The storage and modulated release of water from seasonal snowpacks are
major components of hydrologic systems in many parts of the world,
particularly in mountainous and boreal areas. In these regions, the
seasonal snowcover is a critical component of the annual water cycle,
controlling soil moisture, soil temperature, streamflow, and the
development and stability of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Many
snow-dominated regions may be strongly affected by climatic warming in
the near future, therefore advances in snow science are essential to
understand concomitant impacts on related systems. This session will
bring together operational, experimental, and modeling experts to
address a broad range of topics that are important to understanding this
important resource. The session is scheduled for an entire day to
facilitate interactions between snow science and related researchers. We
are soliciting poster presentations on all aspects of monitoring,
measuring, and modeling snow processes, with emphasis on the following
specific topics:
- Investigations on the physical properties of snow
- Catchment-scale studies on snowpack patterns and dynamics
- Interactions between snowcover, soil, and biotic processes
- The role of long-term hydrologic observatories in advancing snow
science
- Scaling strategies to link microscale properties to macroscale
processes
- Snowcover modeling in vegetated and complex terrain
- Remote sensing of snowcover properties and extent
- Snow measurement and monitoring techniques and instruments
- Impacts of climatic variability and projected changes on water
resources

For additional information, please visit:
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm04/