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Mapping temperature in complex terrain:
How do spatial patterns vary with weather and climate?
A realistic quantification of how temperatures vary over mountain terrain is crucial for models of basin-scale snowmelt and spring streamflow. Recent work with Nick Pepin at the University of Portsmouth, UK [Pepin and Lundquist, 2008] examining high elevation temperature records across the globe has demonstrated that temperature trends vary between mountain ranges and within a mountain range and are highly affected by local topography.
For example, Lundquist and Cayan [2007] showed that decadal-scale changes in atmospheric circulation patterns appear to have changed the temperature contrast across the east and west sides of the Sierra Nevada range. Specifically, weakening westerly winds were associated with less long-term warming on the east slope than the west slope of the Sierra Nevada.
Our group is currently working with networks of near-surface air temperature sensors, using deployment strategies detailed in Lundquist and Huggett [2008], in the Sierra Nevada, CA, Rocky Mountains, CO, North Cascades, WA, and Pyrenees, France, to come up with general methods for mapping temperature patterns through space and time, based on knowledge of local topography and large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns.
A technique for mapping areas prone to cold-air pooling is detailed in a recent paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research [Lundquist et al., 2008].
Currently, Jessica Lundquist is working with Dr. Phil Mote and Atmospheric Science Graduate Student Justin Minder at the University of Washington to examine how lapse rates in the state of Washington vary from the "standard atmosphere." Jenna Forsyth is examining how representative long-term temperature measurement locations in Washington are of the surrounding terrain, examining regions of cold-air pools and of gap flow.
In January 2009, Jessica will travel with Nick Pepin to the Laplands of Northern Finland, to examine how temperature patterns and cold air pools vary north of the Arctic Circle.
For more information on how you can deploy inexpensive temperature sensors in mountain forests, click here to find step-by-step instructions.
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