Joint Body on the status of the mountain snow cover (SMSC)
(2022 – 2025)
Joint Body co-chairs
Wolfgang Schöner, University of Graz, Austria
Lijuan Ma, China Meteorological Administration, China
Shawn Marshall, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada
Members are listed under the Work Packages WP1, WP2, WP3, and WP4 below.
Parent IACS Division: Snow and Avalanches
Background
Snow is a key feature of mountain regions globally. Snow helps mountain regions to serve as water towers, providing a critical supply of water to downstream areas. Furthermore, water from snow melt is essential for power generation, irrigation, water supply, groundwater recharge and aquatic ecosystems. Besides hydrology, snow plays an important role in numerical weather prediction, for sustaining mountain ecosystems, and tourism. Moreover, snow related natural hazards impact directly or indirectly people and infrastructure, in all mountain regions.
Objectives
The overall goal of this Joint Body is to highlight the relevance of the mountain snow cover in general. The main objectives are:
Work Packages
WP1: Mountain snow data quality control and homogenization for use in climatology and hydrology
Co-leads:
Members (in alphabetical order):
WP2: Status of snow cover multi-decadal changes in mountain regions of the world
Co-leads:
Members (in alphabetical order):
WP3: Snow accumulation processes
Co-leads:
Members (in alphabetical order):
WP4: Snow ablation processes – research gaps in mountain snow modelling
Co-leads:
Members (in alphabetical order):