Satellite mapping of red snow on North American glaciers

Abstract

Red snow caused by blooms of microalgae darkens the surface of summer snowfields, increasing snowmelt. To assess the contribution of red snow to supraglacial snowmelt in northwestern North America, we systematically mapped the 2019–2022 distribution of blooms by applying supervised classification to 6158 satellite images. Blooms occurred on 5% of the total glaciated area, heavily affecting many glaciers in years of prolonged snow cover duration. Individual glaciers had up to 65% of their surface area affected by bloom in one melt season, which we estimate caused as much as 3 cm of snow meltwater equivalent averaged across the glacier surface. These results demonstrate appreciable snowmelt caused by red snow albedo over vast areas of North American glaciers.