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CONCLUSIONS<br />

Three regional-continental scale snow depth dat<strong>as</strong>ets have been evaluated, derived from station<br />

observational data or satellite remote sensing data. All of <strong>the</strong> dat<strong>as</strong>ets consistently exhibit differing<br />

behavior between inter<strong>an</strong>nual timeseries <strong>an</strong>omalies of average snow-covered depth <strong>an</strong>d North<br />

America snow extent at regional/continental scales, generally consistent with what is expected at<br />

local scales. Correlation maps of snow depth vs. snow extent show a broad, continental-scale<br />

region is maintained throughout much of <strong>the</strong> snow se<strong>as</strong>on in which snow depth variations are not<br />

mutually consistent with North America snow extent variations. Research also recognized that<br />

relative magnitude of snow depth <strong>an</strong>omalies is considerably larger th<strong>an</strong> that for snow extent.<br />

The observed differing behavior of <strong>the</strong> two snowpack parameters at regional/continental scales<br />

suggest that snow depth variations may be of sufficiently large magnitude, spatial scope <strong>an</strong>d<br />

temporal duration to influence regional-hemispheric climate, in a m<strong>an</strong>ner unrelated to <strong>the</strong> more<br />

extensively studied snow extent variations. Such <strong>an</strong>alysis represents <strong>the</strong> first step towards <strong>the</strong> goal<br />

of identifying explicit snow depth – climate relationships <strong>an</strong>d integrating <strong>the</strong>m with snow extent–<br />

climate relationships.<br />

REFERENCES<br />

Brown, R.D., 2000. Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Hemisphere snow cover variability <strong>an</strong>d ch<strong>an</strong>ge, 1915–1997. Journal<br />

of Climate 13: 2339–2355.<br />

Derksen, C., Brown, R. D. <strong>an</strong>d Walker, A., 2004. Merging conventional (1915–1992) <strong>an</strong>d p<strong>as</strong>sive<br />

microwave (1978–2002) estimates of snow extent <strong>an</strong>d water equivalent over central North<br />

America. Journal of Hydrometeorology 5(5): 850–861.<br />

Dyer, L.J. <strong>an</strong>d Mote,T.L., 2006. Spatial Variability And Trends In <strong>Snow</strong> Depth Over North<br />

America. Geophysical Research Letters, in press.<br />

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