ASSESSMENT OF THE CHANGES IN SNOW RESOURCES OF ALTAI BY FIELD SURVEYS

Abstract

On the data of the snow surveys of Kazhydromet for 1960-2019 the fluctuations of the sums of precipitation, snow depth and snow-water equivalent in 10 river basins were estimated. According to the data from Ridder meteorological station, the rise in the average air temperature for November-March is 0.15°С/10 yr. The sums of precipitation for November-March have increased (12,4 mm/10 yr).The averaged snow depth measured using permanent stake on the sites of meteorological stations for the periods 1960-1990 and 1991-2019, increased by 10-70%. Totally, the values of the snow depth and snow-water equivalent in the mountains became greater at 72% of the points of field snow surveys. The maps of the distribution of the mean snow depth and snow-water equivalent in March were compiled in ArcGIS. Comparison of the maps has demonstrated that for the last 30 years the area in middle- and high altitudes with snow resources exceeding 200 mm , has increased.