The hydrological drought in Northern Italy in 2022 was, in large part, the consequence of a snow drought in the Italian Alps in the winter of 2021/22 and the resulting deficit of melt water runoff. In this communication, we assessed the snow-cover dynamics in nine Alpine Italian catchments using long time series of satellite-derived snow line elevation (SLE) measurements. We compared the SLE of the hydrological year 2021/22 to the long-term dynamics of 1985--2021. In early 2022, the SLE was located several hundred meters above the expected median values in all of the nine catchments. This resulted in deficits of snow-covered area of up to 83\% in the Western Alps (catchment of Sesia, March 2022) and up to 61\% in the Eastern Alps (Brenta, March 2022) compared to the long-term median. Although snow-cover data from optical satellite imagery do not contain information about snow depth and water content, in a preliminary qualitative analysis, the derived SLE dynamics show good agreement with the Standardized Snowpack Index (SSPI) which is based on the snow water equivalent (SWE). While the exact relationships between SLE, SWE, and runoff have to be explored further on the catchment basis, long-time series of SLE may have potential for use in drought early warning systems.
%0 Journal Article
%1 dlr191402
%A Koehler, Jonas
%A Dietz, Andreas
%A Zellner, Peter James
%A Baumhoer, Celia
%A Dirscherl, Mariel
%A Cattani, Luca
%A Vlahović, \vZiva
%A Alasawedah, Mohammad Hussein
%A Mayer, Konrad
%A Haslinger, Klaus
%A Bertoldi, Giacomo
%A Jacob, Alexander
%A Künzer, Claudia
%D 2022
%I Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
%J Remote Sensing
%K Kuenzer article lsfe
%P 1-10
%R 10.3390/rs14236091
%T Drought in Northern Italy: Long Earth Observation Time Series Reveal Snow Line Elevation to Be Several Hundred Meters Above Long-Term Average in 2022
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/23/6091
%X The hydrological drought in Northern Italy in 2022 was, in large part, the consequence of a snow drought in the Italian Alps in the winter of 2021/22 and the resulting deficit of melt water runoff. In this communication, we assessed the snow-cover dynamics in nine Alpine Italian catchments using long time series of satellite-derived snow line elevation (SLE) measurements. We compared the SLE of the hydrological year 2021/22 to the long-term dynamics of 1985--2021. In early 2022, the SLE was located several hundred meters above the expected median values in all of the nine catchments. This resulted in deficits of snow-covered area of up to 83\% in the Western Alps (catchment of Sesia, March 2022) and up to 61\% in the Eastern Alps (Brenta, March 2022) compared to the long-term median. Although snow-cover data from optical satellite imagery do not contain information about snow depth and water content, in a preliminary qualitative analysis, the derived SLE dynamics show good agreement with the Standardized Snowpack Index (SSPI) which is based on the snow water equivalent (SWE). While the exact relationships between SLE, SWE, and runoff have to be explored further on the catchment basis, long-time series of SLE may have potential for use in drought early warning systems.
@article{dlr191402,
abstract = {The hydrological drought in Northern Italy in 2022 was, in large part, the consequence of a snow drought in the Italian Alps in the winter of 2021/22 and the resulting deficit of melt water runoff. In this communication, we assessed the snow-cover dynamics in nine Alpine Italian catchments using long time series of satellite-derived snow line elevation (SLE) measurements. We compared the SLE of the hydrological year 2021/22 to the long-term dynamics of 1985{--}2021. In early 2022, the SLE was located several hundred meters above the expected median values in all of the nine catchments. This resulted in deficits of snow-covered area of up to 83\% in the Western Alps (catchment of Sesia, March 2022) and up to 61\% in the Eastern Alps (Brenta, March 2022) compared to the long-term median. Although snow-cover data from optical satellite imagery do not contain information about snow depth and water content, in a preliminary qualitative analysis, the derived SLE dynamics show good agreement with the Standardized Snowpack Index (SSPI) which is based on the snow water equivalent (SWE). While the exact relationships between SLE, SWE, and runoff have to be explored further on the catchment basis, long-time series of SLE may have potential for use in drought early warning systems.},
added-at = {2023-03-16T12:53:54.000+0100},
author = {Koehler, Jonas and Dietz, Andreas and Zellner, Peter James and Baumhoer, Celia and Dirscherl, Mariel and Cattani, Luca and Vlahovi{\'c}, {\vZ}iva and Alasawedah, Mohammad Hussein and Mayer, Konrad and Haslinger, Klaus and Bertoldi, Giacomo and Jacob, Alexander and K{\"u}nzer, Claudia},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2839775229f2d0fe6718c4dc35e2ff666/earthobs_uniwue},
doi = {10.3390/rs14236091},
interhash = {9c3b11352924ccbeccf80bdb030d17f9},
intrahash = {839775229f2d0fe6718c4dc35e2ff666},
issn = {2072-4292},
journal = {Remote Sensing},
keywords = {Kuenzer article lsfe},
language = {EN},
month = {Dezember},
pages = {1-10},
publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)},
timestamp = {2023-03-16T12:53:54.000+0100},
title = {Drought in Northern Italy: Long Earth Observation Time Series Reveal Snow Line Elevation to Be Several Hundred Meters Above Long-Term Average in 2022},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/23/6091},
year = 2022
}