Measurements of Black Carbon Induced Snow-Albedo Reduction

Several modeling studies have indicated that black carbon (BC) reduces the albedo of snow and ice and appreciably contributes to Northern Hemisphere warming and glacier retreat. Observations of the BC impact on snow albedo are needed to verify model predictions. Whereas field studies dating back to the early 1980s measured BC concentrations in snow and ice in the arctic, the BC effect on snow albedo and melting has been difficult to observe directly because the albedo reduction is small and often masked by other natural variables. This study evaluates both the initial impact of BC on snow albedo, as well as associated feedbacks due to snow age and BC scavenging during snow melting. The first feedback is related to the increasing grain size of snow as it ages. Larger snow grains allow sunlight to penetrate farther, where it is exposed to and may be increasingly absorbed by BC. This enhances the albedo reduction attributable to the mass of BC present in the snow and deposits energy at greater depths in the snowpack, potentially increasing the melt rate and therefore the growth rate of the snow grains. The second potential feedback, associated with BC transport through a melting snowpack, occurs if BC is scavenged from the melt water by the ice grains thus increasing the BC concentration in the remaining snow. Measurement of pristine and sooty snow made in the laboratory verifies that BC reduces snow albedo to a greater extent for larger-grained snow. Experimental observations yield an empirical model of the BC snow albedo reduction. Measurements of BC transport in both laboratory and natural snow were used to develop a model of the evolution of the vertical distribution of BC in melting snow. These measurements provide the first quantification of a BC concentration enhancement in melting snow.