MODIFICATION OF THE SNOW COVER THICKNESS IN THE TRANSCARPATHIAN REGION BETWEEN 1961 AND 2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2786-5843/2026-3-4Keywords:
climate change, snow cover thickness, Transcarpathia, linear trends, cartographic methods, krigingAbstract
Relevance of the research: Global climate change has come to the forefront among environmental problems; along with global and regional climate warming, increasing attention is being paid to related climatic elements such as changes in snow cover. The subject of the research is changes in snow cover thickness in Transcarpathia during the period 1961–2010. The aim of the research is to identify the features of changes in the thickness of snow cover in Transcarpathia over recent decades, and to reveal possible causes of modifications. Research methods: to identify changes, statistical analysis methods were used, primarily trend analysis, and their geographical features were studied using cartographic visualization and analysis methods. The results of the study: The analysis revealed significant geographical differences in the average snow cover thickness in Transcarpathia in 1961–2010: it ranged from 7 to 124 cm, depending mainly on elevation above sea level and slope aspect. During the study period, snow cover thickness decreased across most of Transcarpathia, except for the highest mountain ridges. Although statistically significant changes at the 95% confidence level were detected only in limited areas, the rate of decrease in the Transcarpathian Lowland and the Pre-Carpathian region reached 10–15% per decade. Practical significance: the results contribute to a better understanding the regional consequences of climate change, including changes in snow cover, and contribute to the adaptation of human activities, in particular ski tourism, to them. Conclusions: the thickness of the snow cover in Transcarpathia is changing due to warming, but the features of the changes have significant spatial differences. The prospect of further research: the results can be used as a basis for further analysis, in particular to identify breakpoints in the time series of snow cover data.
References
IPCC. (2023). Climate change 2023: Synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (H. Lee & J. Romero, Eds.). IPCC. https://doi.org/10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647
Olefs, M., Koch, R., Schöner, W., & Marke, T. (2020). Changes in snow depth, snow cover duration, and potential snowmaking conditions in Austria, 1961–2020 – A model based approach. Atmosphere, 11(12), 1330. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11121330
Cohen, J., & Rind, D. (1991). The effect of snow cover on the climate. Journal of Climate, 4, 689–706. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1991)004<0689:TEOSCO>2.0.CO;2
Dyrrdal, A. V., Saloranta, T., Skaugen, T. T., & Stranden, H. B. (2013). Changes in snow depth in Norway during the period 1961–2010. Hydrology Research, 44(1), 169–179. https://doi.org/10.2166/nh.2012.064
Mohammadzadeh Khani, H., Kinnard, C., & Lévesque, E. (2022). Historical trends and projections of snow cover over the High Arctic: A review. Water, 14(4), 587. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14040587
Fontrodona Bach, A., van der Schrier, G., Melsen, L. A., Klein Tank, A. M. G., & Teuling, A. J. (2018). Widespread and accelerated decrease of observed mean and extreme snow depth over Europe. Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 12312–12319. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079799
Szwed, M., Pińskwar, I., Kundzewicz, Z. W., Graczyk, D., & Mezghani, A. (2017). Changes of snow cover in Poland. Acta Geophysica, 65, 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-017-0007-z
Vyshnevskyi, V. I. (2025). Climate change in Ukraine and its consequences. Journal of Landscape Ecology, 18(4), 150–174. https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2025-0032
Szyga-Pluta, K. (2022). Changes in snow cover occurrence and the atmospheric circulation impact in Poznań (Poland). Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 147, 925–940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-021-03875-8
Notarnicola, C. (2020). Hotspots of snow cover changes in global mountain regions over 2000–2018. Remote Sensing of Environment, 243, 111781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111781
Vyshnevskyi, V. I., & Donich, O. A. (2021). Snow cover in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Acta Hydrologica Slovaca, 22(2), 284–293. https://doi.org/10.31577/ahs-2021-0022.02.0032
Cheval, S., Birsan, M.-V., & Dumitrescu, A. (2014). Climate variability in the Carpathian Mountains Region over 1961–2010. Global and Planetary Change, 118, 85–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.gloplacha.2014.04.005
Amihaesei, V.-A., Micu, D.-M., Cheval, S., Dumitrescu, A., Sfîcă, L., & Bîrsan, M. V. (2024). Changes in snow cover climatology and its elevation dependency over Romania (1961–2020). Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 51, 101637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2023.101637
Ioniță, A., Lopătiță, I., Ardelean, F., Sîrbu, F., Urdea, P., & Onaca, A. (2026). Spatiotemporal variability of seasonal snow cover over 25 years in the Romanian Carpathians: Insights from a MODIS CGF‑based approach. Remote Sensing, 18(3), 468. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18030468
Melnyk, A., Grodzynskyi, M., Obodovskiy, O., Kostiv, L., Karabiniuk, M., & Prytula, R. (2019). Altitudinal differentiation of snow cover in the north eastern sector of Chornohora Massive in Ukrainian Carpathians. In Proceedings of the International Conference of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering 2019 (ICCMSE-2019) (pp. 120018-1–120018-4). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5138049
Khomenko, I., & Marchyshyn, R. (2025). Trends and variability of snow cover in Slavsko during 1948–2020 under climate change. Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Journal, 34–35, 32–43. https://doi.org/10.32782/uhj.34-35.2025.03
Elsasser, H., & Messerli, P. (2001). The vulnerability of the snow industry in the Swiss Alps. Mountain Research and Development, 21(4), 335–339. https://doi.org/10.1659/0276
Durand, Y., Giraud, G., Laternser, M., Etchevers, P., Mérindol, L., & Lesaffre, B. (2009). Reanalysis of 47 years of climate in the French Alps (1958–2005): Climatology and trends for snow cover. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 48, 2487–2512. https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JAMC1810.1
Peng, S., Piao, S., Ciais, P., Friedlingstein, P., Zhou, L., & Wang, T. (2013). Change in snow phenology and its potential feedback to temperature in the Northern Hemisphere over the last three decades. Environmental Research Letters, 8, 014008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014008
NASA Open Data Portal. (2025). Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 1-arc second Global. Retrieved from: https://data.nasa.gov/dataset/shuttle-radar-topography-mission-1-arc-second-global
CARPATCLIM adatbázis © Európai Bizottság – JRC. (2013). http://www.met.hu/rolunk/ palyazatok_projektek/carpatclim/adatbazis/index.php
Szalai, S., Auer, I., Hiebl, J., et al. (2013). Climate of the Greater Carpathian Region. Final Technical Report. http://www.carpatclim-eu.org
Spinoni, J., Szalai, S., Szentimrey, T., et al. (2015). Climate of the Carpathian Region in the period 1961–2010: Climatologies and trends of 10 variables. International Journal of Climatology, 35(7), 1322–1341. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4059
Varga, Á. J., & Breuer, H. (2023). Evaluation of snow depth from multiple observation-based, reanalysis, and regional climate model datasets over a low-altitude Central European region. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 153, 1393–1409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04539-5
Szentimrey, T. (1999). Multiple Analysis of Series for Homogenization (MASH). Fourth Seminar for Homogenization and Quality Control in Climatological Databases, WMO/TD No. 962.
Szentimrey, T. (2008). Applications of homogenization methods for climate data. Időjárás, 112(1), 1–12.
Szentimrey, T., & Bihari, Z. (2007). Mathematical background of the MISH interpolation method. COST Action 719 Final Report, European Meteorological Services Network.
Bihari, Z., Bartholy, J., Pongrácz, R., & Szentimrey, T. (2007). Development of a meteorological interpolation model based on surface homogenized data basis (MISH). Időjárás, 111(1), 1–20.
Feki, H., Slimani, M., & Cudennec, C. (2012). Incorporating elevation in rainfall interpolation in Tunisia using geostatistical methods. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57(7), 1294–1314. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2012.710334
EarthExplorer (USGS). (2025). https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov
Molnár, J., & Molnár, D. I. (2026). A hótakarós időszak változásának vizsgálata Kárpátalja térségében az 1961–2010-es időszakban geoinformatikai módszerekkel. Acta Academiae Beregsasiensis: Geographica et Recreatio, 2, 39–54. https://doi.org/10.32782/2786-5843/2026-2-4
Bednorz, E., & Wibig, J. (2008). Snow depth in eastern Europe in relation to circulation patterns. Annals of Glaciology, 48, 135–149. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756408784700815
Molnár, J., & Kovács, A. (2025). A léghőmérséklet módosulása a Kárpát-medencében az 1981–2020-as időszak során. Acta Academiae Beregsasiensis: Geographica et Recreatio, 1, 37–48. https://doi.org/10.32782/2786-5843/2025-1-4
