Influence of snow cover on ground surface temperature in the zone of sporadic permafrost, Tatra Mountains, Poland and Slovakia

This paper examines a statistical relationship between air temperature, snow cover and its basal temperature in the zone of sporadic permafrost occurrence in the Tatra Mountains of Poland and Slovakia. A two-year record was analysed containing daily values of air temperature and snow cover depth at a reference station, and also winter ground surface temperature at 5 sites located in different topographic conditions. Correlation coefficients between the daily basal temperature of snow cover and mean air temperature or/and snow depth from previous days were calculated. The results show that inter-seasonal changes of winter ground surface temperature may be related both to changes in snow depth and air temperature in winter, and to air temperature changes in snow-free period. We infer that snow cover is an important but not necessarily a critical factor determining sporadic permafrost occurrence in the Tatra Mountains.