Tape Number: H2001-113-10

Matthew Sturm spoke at the annual meeting of OLCG teachers on December 6-7, 2003 in Fairbanks. The theme of the meeting was snow and ice. SNOW AND CLIMATE Dr. Matthew Sturm U.S.A. Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory-Alaska Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703

Click on an outlined section below to listen to the audio. (Transcripts will be available soon)

2) Begin Slide Show
water molecule slide\ Blake -- building block\ tetrahedron -- hexagon\ snow molecules\ Hyrdo-meteorites -- building block of snow|

3) Pictures of snow crystals and layers of snow
web -- Caltech website\ Snowflake Bentley\ SEM -- department of agriculture\ hexagons\ layer cake\ SHEBA (Surface Heat Energy Budget of the Arctic)\ importance of snow to climate|

4) Layers of snow and types of snow
Dan Solie -- snow in Fairbanks\ layers -- interactions\ perennial snow\ taiga -- tundra\ glacier\ seasonal snow pack\ perennial snow -- always there\ seasonal snow -- melts every year\ albedo|

5) Metamorphic changes graph
snow -- close to melting point\ strange properties\ World Trade Center -- metal close to melting point\ high vapor pressure -- gasoline\ snow -- high vapor pressure\ snow not stable -- metamorphism|

6) Trapped snowflake experiment
experiment -- 60 years ago\ trapped snowflake -- kept at same temp\ changed -- smooth edges\ snow unstable -- changes\ tetrahedral -- curve\ hydro-meteorite|

7) Snow changes into two pathways
snow falls on ground -- changes\ equilibrium pathway -- ET round\ temp gradients -- minor\ kinetic growth -- sharp edges\ depth hoar\ Fairbanks\ Nome\ kinetic growth\ temperature gradient -- effects pathway|

8) Snow crystals
melt grain clusters -- rounded clusters\ wind grains\ kinetic growth\ Steubens glass company -- kinetic growth|

9) Bonds of snow crystals
snow -- experiment\ snow grains -- connected together\ high vapor pressure -- sinter\ sinter -- snow bonds\ bonds -- heat moves through snow|

10) Properties of a snow pack
layer cake\ properties of snow pack\ thermal conductivity, water equivalent albedo -- effect climate\ snow -- insulator\ ice crystals -- air spaces\ heat moves through ice|

11) Thermal Conductivity
property of snow -- insulator\ thermal conductivity -- snow insulation\ experiment -- temperature difference|

12) Thermal conductivity data collection
thermal conductivity of snow\ data collection\ Hjelmstorm -- 1889\ density -- not as good an insulator\ two types of snow in AK\ light fluffy new snow\ depth hoar -- pukak\ low density -- low thermal conductivity|

13) Pathway of a layer cake
snow changes with time\ thermal conductivity changes|

14) Alaska climate changes
climate\ AK changes -- climate changes\ deeper snow -- warmer\ shrub density\ snow depth\ soil temperature\ microbial activity\ nutrient availability|

15) Landscape changes
change landscape\ 1949 -- Chandler River\ 2001 -- same place\ landscape -- changes\ movement of trees north\ tundra change\ thermal conductiviy|

16) Soil pit
Gary Michaelson and Chen Lui Ping -- soil scientists\ snow -- determines how thick active layer will be\ talik -- layer that doesn't freeze\ talik -- active ground water all winter\ warming climate -- snow insulation property|

17) Graph: effects of warming
everything is linked\ snow trapping -- increased shrubs\ winter warming -- change permafrost temps\ year round functioning ground water|

18) albedo and solar radiation
albedo -- ability to reflect sunlight\ snow -- solar radiation\ reflection\ lakes -- forests\ sunburn|

19) Graph: measuring albedo throughout a melt season
measuring albedo -- across the melt season\ change in energy absorbed|

20) Monthly snow cover charts (Dave Robinson's website: http://climate.rutgers.edu/snowcover/mainsnow.html)
Dave Robinson -- website\ tracks snow cover -- Northern Hemisphere through time\ August -- Greenland covered by snow\ white -- high albedo\ October -- more snow coverage\ March -- even more coverage\ more reflection -- earth cool\ important for climate|

21) Feedback loop
feed-back loops\ thermal conductivity and albedo -- effect climate\ warming climate -- less snow\ more earth dark -- absorbs solar energy|

22) Sea ice is shrinking
sea ice -- coastal locations\ Don Perovich -- aerial photo\ sea ice extent -- shrinking|

23) Water resources
water resources\ fresh water -- comes from snow\ snow runoff -- North Slope\ water resources will change\ aspect of snow that effects climate\ break-up|

24) Final thoughts
Matthew's children -- Eli and Skye Sturm\ measuring snow\ temperature probes\ checking the temp|

25)Q\A 
Buckland, Selewick, Ambler -- villages in AK\ volcanic activity -- Pacific Ocean\ volcanoes -- climate changes\ climate trigger\ volcanoes -- lots of gases\ ice ages -- warming and cooling\ earth's climate system -- change rapidly\ Greenlandic Core -- shifts\ hard to track patterns\ current atmosphere -- rich in CO2\ warmer temps\ sea ice -- changes rapidly\ environmental indicators -- tempo uprise\ Eastern Canada -- cooling\ Alaska\ Siberia\ earth -- complex climate history|

26) Looking at snow crystals in the classroom
Nikon scope -- stereoscope\ bucket of snow -- in class\ hand lens\ stretch cloth over board\ see flakes\ Tanana -- class\ working in the cold -- difficult\ old style -- low powered stereo microscopes\ monocular scope -- too powerful\ magnifying glass\ Barrow\ depth hoar -- between tundra tussocks\ depth hoar -- large crystals\ way to get crystals\ 6 pointed snowflake\ making a snow flake|

27) Information on slides
google.com\ Caltech Snowflakes\ Rutgers snow\ resources on the web\ Snowflake Bentley -- Wilson Bentley http://snowflakebentley.com/snowflakes.htm\ Vermont -- photographed snow flakes\ book of photos\ farm -- now a museum\ Caltech http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals\ moist layers -- liquid water layer\ rime snow flake\ Nakaya -- snowflake\ messenger from heaven|

28) Snow up and break up
temperature measurements\ phenology -- changes in timing\ season changes -- timing\ human judgment\ microbe example\ snow cover -- insulator\ timing of snow and cold -- months\ freeze up-- breakup\ relationship to travel\ things to do in a classroom\ pattern recognition\ draws pattern on white board\ graphing -- patterns\ elders\ develop models\ 4th graders -- grasp patterns\ something vs. time\ best fit|

29) How climate effects people's lives
travel -- later in the season\ hunting\ reindeer herding\ transportation changes -- lack of snow\ challenge students\ something to think about\ human dimension -- season cycle|

30) Albedo explaination
albedo works towards cooling\ exchange\ shiny earth -- reflects light and is cooler\ dark earth absorbs heat\ snow cover -- temps drop\ white and black sweatshirts -- albedo experiments\ high albedo -- reflects energy\ promotes cooling\ temps climbing -- less snow coverage\ duration of snow\ spring earlier|

31) Climate Change
Mark Serreze -- expert\ arctic oscillation\ Vikings\ earths climate changes\ gulf stream\ storms -- cyclones\ Icelandic low\ Azores high\ North Atlantic Oscillation\ Pacific conveyor belt -- united express\ patterns\ centers of warming and cooling\ Eastern Canada -- cold winters\ Alaska -- warm winters\ Fairbanks warm -- high automobile accidents\ rain\ latent heat of freezing and cooling\ berries effected|

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