Climatic and Geographic Patterns in Snow Density Dynamics, Northern Eurasia

A body of data on snow density at different phases of snow-cover formation, in different areas provided the basis for building a model accounting for variation of snow density with the most essential factors. The obtained equation shows that the snow density increases with snow depth, snow-cover period, and mean January air temperature. The most intensive is the change of the snow density with air temperature variation in the range from −2 to −10°C. Within the range of −10 to −25°C, the snow density varies slightly, and below −25°C the changes in temperatures do not cause marked changes in snow density.Spatial distribution of snow-cover density background values in North Eurasia is given. The scheme presented shows that there are two regions where the density of the snow cover is very low and does not exceed 0.15 to 0.18 g cm−3. One of them encompasses central Yakutia and northern Transbaikal regions; the other covers Inner Mongolia. These regions are characteristic of extremely continental climate with s...