28 March 2026 | 13:30 - 16:30 CET
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: Mødelokale 2.2
Organiser: Andrea Spolaor (CNR, Italy)
Session Description:
Alongside the general increase in Arctic temperatures, extreme events characterized by persistent intrusions of warm, humid air masses from mid-latitudes are now increasing in winter. These warm spells are marked by prolonged periods of anomalously high temperatures and are often accompanied by rain-on-snow (RoS) events. Such conditions pose major challenges to the fragile Arctic ecosystem and its communities, with environmental, ecological, and socio-economic implications.
Winter warm spells accelerate snow and ice melt, destabilize the air-surface interface, promote permafrost thaw, contributing to greenhouse gas release and to the alteration of hydrological flow patterns. When combined with RoS events, they can form surface ice crusts or water layers at the snow–ground interface, changing the snow–albedo feedback, enhancing heat transfer, and intensifying melt processes. These dynamics not only increase avalanche risk but also influence microbial activity, biogeochemical cycling, and the mobility of pollutants. A particularly critical consequence is the early release of nutrients, organic matter, and particulate material into rivers and coastal waters, where they may reshape Arctic marine ecosystems and biogeochemical processes.
While satellite remote sensing and atmospheric reanalyses are effective in identifying RoS events, comprehensive interdisciplinary research is still required to assess their cascading impacts on the cryosphere, terrestrial ecosystems, and the ocean. This session aims to promote a multi-scale, multi-source approach that integrates satellite, ground-based observations and modelling, advancing knowledge of snow and ice physics, snow chemistry, microbiology, and hydrology in supraglacial and periglacial environments, as well as their downstream consequences for Arctic marine systems, including future climate scenarios. Contributions addressing socio-economic impacts are also welcome, with particular emphasis on the knowledge, perspectives, and experiences of local Arctic communities