Horizontal distribution of snow cover and structure and future projection of snow cover around Central Mountains in Japan

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26750111
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Geography
• Research Institution: Japan, Meteorological Research Institute
• Principal Investigator: Kawase Hiroaki 気象庁気象研究所, 環境・応用気象研究部, 主任研究官 (20537287)
• Research Collaborator: Iida HAJIME 立山カルデラ砂防博物館, 学芸課長 ; KAZUMA Aoki 富山大学, 理学部, 教授 ; HIROYUKI Hirashima 防災科学技術研究所, 雪氷防災研究センター, 主任研究員 ; Ma XIEYAO Nanjing University of Information Science&Technology
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 山岳積雪分布 / 積雪の年々変動 / 地域気候変化予測 / 非静力学地域気候モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The horizontal distribution of snow amount has not been understood because of a lack of observation in the mountainous areas in Central Japan. This research observed snow cover at Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route and conducted numerical simulations using high-resolution regional climate model. The numerical simulations with different grid-spacings showed that the numerical model with 2 km grid-spacing were required to accurately simulate snow cover over the Japanese Northern Alps. The high-resolution numerical simulations and analysis of synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation elucidated the mechanism of small snow amounts in 2015/16 winter. The 17-years numerical simulation also clarify the altitudinal dependency of annual variation of snow cover around the Japanese Northern Alps. Analyzing future climate projections conducted by the regional climate model, total snowfall will decrease, while extremely heavy snowfall can be enhanced in the Japanese Northern Alps due to global warming.

Free Research Field

気象学、地域気候変動予測、降雪・積雪