Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 755–770, 2016 www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/20/755/2016/ doi:10.5194/hess-20-755-2016 © Author(s) 2016. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Variability in snow cover phenology in China from 1952 to 2010 Chang-Qing Ke1,2,6, Xiu-Cang Li3,4, Hongjie Xie5, Dong-Hui Ma1,6, Xun Liu1,2, and Cheng Kou1,2 1Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China 2Key Laboratory for Satellite Mapping Technology and Applications of State Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation of China, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China 3National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China 4Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters Faculty of Geography and Remote Sensing, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China 5Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas 78249, USA 6Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing 210023, China Correspondence to: Chang-Qing Ke (
[email protected]) Received: 12 February 2015 – Published in Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss.: 30 April 2015 Revised: 11 January 2016 – Accepted: 3 February 2016 – Published: 19 February 2016 Abstract. Daily snow observation data from 672 stations in 1 Introduction China, particularly the 296 stations with over 10 mean snow cover days (SCDs) in a year during the period of 1952–2010, are used in this study. We first examine spatiotemporal vari- Snow has a profound impact on the surficial and atmospheric ations and trends of SCDs, snow cover onset date (SCOD), thermal conditions, and is very sensitive to climatic and en- and snow cover end date (SCED).