Articles | Volume 18, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-7097-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-7097-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Daily snow depth in the Southern Andes (2010–2024): a quality-controlled dataset from Chile and Argentina
Alexis Caro
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geography, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Laboratorio de Teledetección Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
Javier Medina
Laboratorio de Teledetección Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
HUB Ambiental, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
Laboratorio de Teledetección Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
HUB Ambiental, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
Fernando Gimeno
Doctorado en Ciencias de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile
Center for Climate and Resilience Research, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Jorge Huenante
Dirección General de Aguas, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Santiago, Chile
Mariano Masiokas
Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), CCT CONICET Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
Cristian Orrego
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), La Serena, Chile
Ana Hernández
Laboratorio de Teledetección Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
HUB Ambiental, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
James McPhee
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Advanced Mining Technology Center, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Pierre Pitte
Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), CCT CONICET Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
Sebastián Krogh
Departamento de Recursos Hídricos, Universidad de Concepción, Campus Chillán, Chillán, Chile
David Farías-Barahona
Department of Geography, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Nevenka Bulovic
Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Iñigo Irarrázaval
Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia, Coyhaique, Chile
Shelley MacDonell
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), La Serena, Chile
Waterways Centre, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini
Center for Climate and Resilience Research, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile
Carlos Romero
Laboratorio de Teledetección Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
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Álvaro Ayala, Simone Schauwecker, and Shelley MacDonell
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Sebastian A. Krogh, Lucia Scaff, James W. Kirchner, Beatrice Gordon, Gary Sterle, and Adrian Harpold
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3393–3417, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3393-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3393-2022, 2022
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We present a new way to detect snowmelt using daily cycles in streamflow driven by solar radiation. Results show that warmer sites have earlier and more intermittent snowmelt than colder sites, and the timing of early snowmelt events is strongly correlated with the timing of streamflow volume. A space-for-time substitution shows greater sensitivity of streamflow timing to climate change in colder rather than in warmer places, which is then contrasted with land surface simulations.
Nicole Schaffer and Shelley MacDonell
The Cryosphere, 16, 1779–1791, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1779-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1779-2022, 2022
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Over the last 2 decades the importance of Andean glaciers, particularly as water resources, has been recognized in both scientific literature and the public sphere. This has led to the inclusion of glaciers in environmental impact assessment and the development of glacier protection laws. We propose three categories that group glaciers based on their environmental sensitivity to hopefully help facilitate the effective application of these measures and evaluation of water resources in general.
Giulia de Pasquale, Rémi Valois, Nicole Schaffer, and Shelley MacDonell
The Cryosphere, 16, 1579–1596, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1579-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1579-2022, 2022
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We presented a geophysical study of one intact and one relict rock glacier in semi-arid Chile. The interpretation of the collected data through different methods identifies geophysical signature differences between the two rock glaciers and characterizes their subsurface structure and composition. This is of great importance because of rock glaciers' relevant role in freshwater production, transfer and storage, especially in this area of increasing human pressure and high rainfall variability.
Benjamin Aubrey Robson, Shelley MacDonell, Álvaro Ayala, Tobias Bolch, Pål Ringkjøb Nielsen, and Sebastián Vivero
The Cryosphere, 16, 647–665, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-647-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-647-2022, 2022
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This work uses satellite and aerial data to study glaciers and rock glacier changes in La Laguna catchment within the semi-arid Andes of Chile, where ice melt is an important factor in river flow. The results show the rate of ice loss of Tapado Glacier has been increasing since the 1950s, which possibly relates to a dryer, warmer climate over the previous decades. Several rock glaciers show high surface velocities and elevation changes between 2012 and 2020, indicating they may be ice-rich.
Oscar M. Baez-Villanueva, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, Pablo A. Mendoza, Ian McNamara, Hylke E. Beck, Joschka Thurner, Alexandra Nauditt, Lars Ribbe, and Nguyen Xuan Thinh
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5805–5837, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5805-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5805-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Most rivers worldwide are ungauged, which hinders the sustainable management of water resources. Regionalisation methods use information from gauged rivers to estimate streamflow over ungauged ones. Through hydrological modelling, we assessed how the selection of precipitation products affects the performance of three regionalisation methods. We found that a precipitation product that provides the best results in hydrological modelling does not necessarily perform the best for regionalisation.
Cited articles
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Short summary
Snowpack dynamics in the Southern Andes remain poorly quantified due to sparse and inconsistent in situ data, limiting hydrological modeling. We compile and quality-control daily snow depth observations from 81 stations (21–54° S, 2010–2024). The resulting dataset improves the Physical Consistency Index (up to 95 %) despite reduced data availability, reveals a north–south increase in snow depth but no consistent positive relationship with elevation across river basins.
Snowpack dynamics in the Southern Andes remain poorly quantified due to sparse and inconsistent...
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