Articles | Volume 9, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1685-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1685-2015
Research article
 | 
21 Aug 2015
Research article |  | 21 Aug 2015

Black carbon in snow in the upper Himalayan Khumbu Valley, Nepal: observations and modeling of the impact on snow albedo, melting, and radiative forcing

H.-W. Jacobi, S. Lim, M. Ménégoz, P. Ginot, P. Laj, P. Bonasoni, P. Stocchi, A. Marinoni, and Y. Arnaud

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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
AR by Hans-Werner Jacobi on behalf of the Authors (10 Feb 2015)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (19 Mar 2015) by Andrew Klein
AR by Hans-Werner Jacobi on behalf of the Authors (04 Jun 2015)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (18 Jun 2015) by Andrew Klein
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (04 Jul 2015)
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (09 Jul 2015) by Andrew Klein
AR by Hans-Werner Jacobi on behalf of the Authors (06 Aug 2015)  Author's response    Manuscript
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Short summary
We detected up to 70 ppb of black carbon (BC) in surface snow in the upper Khumbu Valley, Nepal. With an upgraded snowpack model, including radiative transfer inside the snow, we studied the impact of BC on snow albedo, melting and radiative forcing for the sensitive high altitude regions of the Himalayas. We found that due to BC, the melting of the snow can be shifted by several days up to several weeks depending on meteorological conditions. The impact of BC is larger in dirty snow.