Rain-on-snow events impact soil temperatures and affect ungulate survival

[1] Field data from Spitsbergen and numerical modeling reveal that rain-on-snow (ROS) events can substantially increase sub-snowpack soil temperatures. However, ROS events have not previously been accounted for in high latitude soil thermal analyses. Furthermore such events can result in widespread die-offs of ungulates due to soil surface icing. The occurrence of Spitsbergen ROS events is controlled by the North Atlantic Oscillation. Globally, atmospheric reanalysis data show that significant ROS events occur predominantly over northern maritime climates, covering 8.4 x 10(6) km(2). Under a standard climate change scenario, a global climate model predicts a 40% increase in the ROS area by 2080-2089.