Abstract

In this investigation, we analyzed the changes of snow albedo in the area of the upper Mendoza river basin, that it is associated with the potential deposition of atmospheric aerosols in spring using snow albedo, aerosol optical depth, land surface temperature, and other relevant relevant parameters obtained by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) anboard NASA Terra satellite in the period 2000-2016. We have been selected satellite pixels with 100% snow coverage to derive the average snow albedo, optical aerosol depth, surface temperature, and days after snowfall from September to November to perform the multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that after the land surface temperature, the aerosol optical depth represents the most important parameter that affects the variation of snow albedo. Regression analysis illustrates that an increase in one standard deviation at ground surface temperature (3.7 °C) and aerosol optical depth (0.12306) may lead to a decrease in snow albedo of 0.03762 and 0.00354, respectively. This study also shows that approximately 21% of the spring snow albedo reduction over the Mendoza river basin is caused by an increase in aerosol optical depth, thus having a significant impact on the resources available to ecosystem and cities that are supplied from this basin