Ghosh et al. (2026) Contrasting Trends in Cold‐Season Daily Soil Temperature With Climate Warming in Snow‐Affected Settings

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-22
• Authors: Mousumi Ghosh, Mukesh Kumar, Martyn P. Clark
• DOI: 10.1029/2025gl118210

Research Groups

Information not available from the provided text.

Short Summary

This study analyzes long-term minimum soil temperature (TSMIN) trends at 526 stations in snow-affected regions of CONUS, finding that while annual TSMIN is rising, winter and spring TSMIN can decline despite increasing air temperatures, a divergence linked to snowpack changes.

Objective

• Analyze long-term minimum soil temperature (TSMIN) trends in snow-affected regions of the Contiguous United States (CONUS) and understand their relationship with air temperature and snowpack dynamics.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 526 stations located in snow-affected regions of the Contiguous United States (CONUS).
• Temporal Scale: Long-term (1981–2020) continuous records, extended beyond observational periods.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks for extending TSMIN records.
• Data sources: Observational station data for minimum soil temperature (TSMIN), mean air temperature, snow-free days, and snowpack depth.

Main Results

• Annual minimum soil temperature (TSMIN) is rising at nearly all stations.
• 60% of sites show winter TSMIN declines, and 29% show spring TSMIN declines.
• These seasonal TSMIN declines occur despite air temperature increasing at 98.7% (winter) and 72% (spring) of these sites.
• Explanatory analysis links these seasonal contrasts in TSMIN trends to mean air and soil temperature, and trends of snow-free days and snowpack depth.
• Seasonal soil temperature trends can diverge significantly from air temperature trends, especially in winter and spring.

Contributions

• Demonstrates the divergence of seasonal soil temperature trends from air temperature trends, particularly in snow-affected regions during winter and spring.
• Highlights the utility of LSTM-extended datasets for robust long-term analysis of soil temperature responses.
• Provides insights into implications for freeze-thaw dynamics, infiltration, and ecosystem function under changing snowpack conditions.

Funding

Information not available from the provided text.

Citation

@article{Ghosh2026Contrasting,
  author = {Ghosh, Mousumi and Kumar, Mukesh and Clark, Martyn P.},
  title = {Contrasting Trends in Cold‐Season Daily Soil Temperature With Climate Warming in Snow‐Affected Settings},
  journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025gl118210},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl118210}
}