Linking vegetation greenness and seasonal snow characteristics using field observations, SnowModel, and daily MODIS imagery in high-Arctic Greenland

In the terrestrial high-Arctic, the spatial distribution of vegetation is largely governed by the persistent pattern of snow cover through decades. Whereas the maximum level of vegetation greenness and its timing are likely controlled by the timing of snowmelt, the snow-free date, and the meltwater amounts released from the snowpack during spring snowmelt. To explore this second relationship, we applied the SnowModel snow modelling tool, with meteorological station observations and ERA-Interim reanalysis data, to reproduce the spatial and temporal snow distribution and snow-pack evolution in a high-Arctic region extending from the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet to the east coast of Greenland. Within this region, and for the period 1979-2015, interannual variations in late-winter snow-water-equivalent, snowmelt timing, snow-free date, and meltwater quantities will be presented. Furthermore, spatially distributed vegetation greenness from daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery at 300-m spatial resolution are included to discuss the relationships between snowmelt measures (e.g., snow-free date) and vegetation phenological events (e.g., timing of annual maximum vegetation greenness) during the growing seasons 2000-2015.