Drivers and Environmental Responses to the Changing Annual Snow Cycle of Northern Alaska

Linkages between atmospheric, ecological, and biogeochemical variables in the changing Arctic are analyzed using long-term measurements near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska. Two key variables are the date when snow disappears in spring, as determined primarily by atmospheric dynamics, precipitation, air temperature, winter snow accumulation, and cloud cover, and the date of onset of snowpack in autumn that is additionally influenced by ocean...