The stochastic relationships between terrestrial snow water equivalent (SWE)
and measures of the atmospheric circulation were investigated for the
Canadian Prairies and the American Great Plains for the winter of 1988.
Snow-cover extent, derived from EASE-grid SSM/I satellite data, and griddcd
atmospheric data from the National Meteorological Center were averaged at
five day intervals. Principal components analysis (PCA) were performed for
the time series of SSM/I snow-cover imagery as well as for 700 mb
geopotential height and temperature, 500 mb height and 700–500 mb thickness.
Canonical correlation analysis of the derived principal component weights
was used to identify relationships between atmospheric variables and SWE.
Results of the PCA indicate that a high degree of variance in upper air
variables (>75%) can be explained by the first three principal
components, while the first three SWE components account for over 90% of the
variance in the original data. Results of the canonical correlation analysis
show positive relationships between snow-cover accumulation and a meridional
pressure distribution pattern, while snow ablation is linked to a zonal
atmospheric pressure pattern.