Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg

Sixteen years of low-resolution Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images were used to construct Boolean images of snow cover over the Drakensberg through a GIS. Contemporary patterns of snow cover, including altitudinal variations, were determined for individual months and various seasons. The seasonal occu...

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Main Authors: N. Mulder, S. Grab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academy of Science of South Africa 2010-01-01
Series:South African Journal of Science
Online Access:https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/10309
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spelling doaj-77a4131645944b69be3f0d0390e875c22021-02-27T06:07:39ZengAcademy of Science of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Science1996-74892010-01-011055/6Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the DrakensbergN. Mulder0S. Grab1School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa.School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa.Sixteen years of low-resolution Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images were used to construct Boolean images of snow cover over the Drakensberg through a GIS. Contemporary patterns of snow cover, including altitudinal variations, were determined for individual months and various seasons. The seasonal occurrence and spatial influence of various snow-producing weather systems were determined through remote sensing and the consultation of daily climate data and synoptic charts. A proportional relationship was found between altitude of snow-covered pixels and the number of occurrences that pixels were covered in snow. The highest incidence and most widespread snow cover occurred from June to August; spring snow occurred preferentially in the central and southern Drakensberg regions. Cold fronts and associated cut-off lows accounted for about 80% of snow cover over the Drakensberg.https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/10309
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author N. Mulder
S. Grab
spellingShingle N. Mulder
S. Grab
Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg
South African Journal of Science
author_facet N. Mulder
S. Grab
author_sort N. Mulder
title Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg
title_short Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg
title_full Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg
title_fullStr Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg
title_full_unstemmed Contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the Drakensberg
title_sort contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover over the drakensberg
publisher Academy of Science of South Africa
series South African Journal of Science
issn 1996-7489
publishDate 2010-01-01
description Sixteen years of low-resolution Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images were used to construct Boolean images of snow cover over the Drakensberg through a GIS. Contemporary patterns of snow cover, including altitudinal variations, were determined for individual months and various seasons. The seasonal occurrence and spatial influence of various snow-producing weather systems were determined through remote sensing and the consultation of daily climate data and synoptic charts. A proportional relationship was found between altitude of snow-covered pixels and the number of occurrences that pixels were covered in snow. The highest incidence and most widespread snow cover occurred from June to August; spring snow occurred preferentially in the central and southern Drakensberg regions. Cold fronts and associated cut-off lows accounted for about 80% of snow cover over the Drakensberg.
url https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/10309
work_keys_str_mv AT nmulder contemporaryspatiotemporalpatternsofsnowcoveroverthedrakensberg
AT sgrab contemporaryspatiotemporalpatternsofsnowcoveroverthedrakensberg
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