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Meet Snow Scientist Todd Redpath

published
October 25, 2022
location
NEW ZEALAND
discipline
Skiing

Meet Snow Scientist Todd Redpath

copy Todd Redpath hero image Copy

Meet Snow Scientist Todd Redpath

published
October 25, 2022
location
NEW ZEALAND
discipline
Skiing
5
 mins read
WORDS
11th Hour Racing
PHOTOS
Todd Redpath
Protect Our Winters (New Zealand) board member, and lecturer at the University of Otago, Todd Redpath sat down with us to discuss New Zealand’s unique weather patterns and what the rest of the world can learn from them.

‍

Could you explain what you do scientifically… but in layman’s terms?

To put it simply: I’m a scientist. My interests, in terms of research, are mostly around seasonal snow, but also glaciers in New Zealand and the Southern Alps.

‍

In terms of the way we do that research, we don't have lots of permanent weather stations above the snow line here in New Zealand, and where we have them we don't have very long records. My focus is to look at snow and try to understand what's going on; to do this, we do a lot of remote sensing. 

‍

Remote sensing is essentially using satellite imagery to map things out. We can also do statistics and analysis on what we know to see what's going on.

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Todd Redpath
“In New Zealand our climate is quite dynamic and as a result our snow seasons are quite variable.”
Our project (Shaped By Water Film) is all about being connected by the water. Can you explain how New Zealanders are connected to snow and mountains… even if they don’t ski nor live near the Southern Alps?

Snow is important because it provides a proportion of the freshwater that we see flowing through our rivers and lakes, and ultimately out to the ocean. This is all important for our hydroelectricity generation. In years where we have a reduced snowpack, there's less reservoir in the mountains to flow into our hydro lakes in the spring and into the summer.

‍

What about using these models to help us understand the future?

Models help us understand what the baseline is and what the future conditions might look like compared to 2022. That said, it’s tricky to understand what the future of snow in New Zealand looks like, because snow here varies a lot in space and time. We have really good seasons… and really bad seasons. Finding the average is tough because every season is so different.

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Listen to Jack ...
How does weather (particularly snowstorms) work in New Zealand? We hear the word variable a lot…

In terms of general setting, New Zealand is an interesting place. For starters it’s dynamic. We're a relatively small island in the South Pacific and we're surrounded by ocean. Day-to-day weather here is really influenced by the synoptic scale in climatological terms. 

‍

This is the scale that contains the migrating cyclones and anticyclones that control day-to-day weather changes.  In New Zealand we are affected by low-pressure systems that come from the Southern Ocean, but we are also affected by low-pressure systems that originate to the north of New Zealand in the subtropical or tropical regions. 

‍

Our climate overall is relatively mild. It is fairly strongly moderated by the ocean, and the weather from day to day depends on whether we've got a low-pressure system nearby or a high-pressure system sitting over us, where they originated from and their position, and also what the wind is doing.

‍

What about this season – what has it been like overall?

This year we had indicators that it was going to be warmer than expected, with more airflow from the north/northeast, but actually we've had a number of low-pressure systems that have delivered lots of snow. It's also been a really wet winter in the low-lying areas of the South Island. 

Todd Redpath
“We’re a relatively small island in the South Pacific and we're surrounded by ocean.”
No items found.
Are you seeing the effects of climate change like we are in the Northern Hemisphere?

In other parts of the world, there are some clear trends emerging around snow cover and snow depth. And that often tends to be where you have distinct seasons. Folks in the Northern Hemisphere start to see the reduction in snow, whereas here, much of what we see is influenced by subtle changes in the weather systems.Within the last few years we've had some really poor ski seasons, but also some really good ones. And it gets hard to put that together. 

‍

We are starting to see the snow-covered area in the Southern Alps decrease, and the snow in the higher mountains of the Southern Alps is starting to disappear a bit earlier too.

Are you seeing the effects of climate change like we are in the Northern Hemisphere?

In other parts of the world, there are some clear trends emerging around snow cover and snow depth. And that often tends to be where you have distinct seasons. Folks in the Northern Hemisphere start to see the reduction in snow, whereas here, much of what we see is influenced by subtle changes in the weather systems.Within the last few years we've had some really poor ski seasons, but also some really good ones. And it gets hard to put that together. 

‍

We are starting to see the snow-covered area in the Southern Alps decrease, and the snow in the higher mountains of the Southern Alps is starting to disappear a bit earlier too.

Are you seeing the effects of climate change like we are in the Northern Hemisphere?

In other parts of the world, there are some clear trends emerging around snow cover and snow depth. And that often tends to be where you have distinct seasons. Folks in the Northern Hemisphere start to see the reduction in snow, whereas here, much of what we see is influenced by subtle changes in the weather systems.Within the last few years we've had some really poor ski seasons, but also some really good ones. And it gets hard to put that together. 

‍

We are starting to see the snow-covered area in the Southern Alps decrease, and the snow in the higher mountains of the Southern Alps is starting to disappear a bit earlier too.

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QUESTIONS
11th Hour Racing
ANSWERS
Todd Redpath
Protect Our Winters (New Zealand) board member, and lecturer at the University of Otago, Todd Redpath sat down with us to discuss New Zealand’s unique weather patterns and what the rest of the world can learn from them.

‍

Could you explain what you do scientifically… but in layman’s terms?

To put it simply: I’m a scientist. My interests, in terms of research, are mostly around seasonal snow, but also glaciers in New Zealand and the Southern Alps.

‍

In terms of the way we do that research, we don't have lots of permanent weather stations above the snow line here in New Zealand, and where we have them we don't have very long records. My focus is to look at snow and try to understand what's going on; to do this, we do a lot of remote sensing. 

‍

Remote sensing is essentially using satellite imagery to map things out. We can also do statistics and analysis on what we know to see what's going on.

Keep exploring ...
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copy Todd Redpath Carousel one Copy
Keep exploring ...
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11.10.2023
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8.17.2022
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Listen to Jack ...
Our project (Shaped By Water Film) is all about being connected by the water. Can you explain how New Zealanders are connected to snow and mountains… even if they don’t ski nor live near the Southern Alps?

Snow is important because it provides a proportion of the freshwater that we see flowing through our rivers and lakes, and ultimately out to the ocean. This is all important for our hydroelectricity generation. In years where we have a reduced snowpack, there's less reservoir in the mountains to flow into our hydro lakes in the spring and into the summer.

‍

What about using these models to help us understand the future?

Models help us understand what the baseline is and what the future conditions might look like compared to 2022. That said, it’s tricky to understand what the future of snow in New Zealand looks like, because snow here varies a lot in space and time. We have really good seasons… and really bad seasons. Finding the average is tough because every season is so different.

Todd Redpath
“In New Zealand our climate is quite dynamic and as a result our snow seasons are quite variable.”
How does weather (particularly snowstorms) work in New Zealand? We hear the word variable a lot…

In terms of general setting, New Zealand is an interesting place. For starters it’s dynamic. We're a relatively small island in the South Pacific and we're surrounded by ocean. Day-to-day weather here is really influenced by the synoptic scale in climatological terms. 

‍

This is the scale that contains the migrating cyclones and anticyclones that control day-to-day weather changes.  In New Zealand we are affected by low-pressure systems that come from the Southern Ocean, but we are also affected by low-pressure systems that originate to the north of New Zealand in the subtropical or tropical regions. 

‍

Our climate overall is relatively mild. It is fairly strongly moderated by the ocean, and the weather from day to day depends on whether we've got a low-pressure system nearby or a high-pressure system sitting over us, where they originated from and their position, and also what the wind is doing.

‍

What about this season – what has it been like overall?

This year we had indicators that it was going to be warmer than expected, with more airflow from the north/northeast, but actually we've had a number of low-pressure systems that have delivered lots of snow. It's also been a really wet winter in the low-lying areas of the South Island. 

Are you seeing the effects of climate change like we are in the Northern Hemisphere?

In other parts of the world, there are some clear trends emerging around snow cover and snow depth. And that often tends to be where you have distinct seasons. Folks in the Northern Hemisphere start to see the reduction in snow, whereas here, much of what we see is influenced by subtle changes in the weather systems.Within the last few years we've had some really poor ski seasons, but also some really good ones. And it gets hard to put that together. 

‍

We are starting to see the snow-covered area in the Southern Alps decrease, and the snow in the higher mountains of the Southern Alps is starting to disappear a bit earlier too.

Todd Redpath
“We’re a relatively small island in the South Pacific and we're surrounded by ocean.”
copy Todd Redpath image carousel 3 Copy
What about the glaciers?

Our glaciers are very clearly receding. And if the glaciers are getting so much smaller, then why is our seasonal snow maybe not responding in quite the same way? Glaciers are exposed to the climate all year round; they tell us what's happening through winter and summer and over a number of years, and they record climate variability over a longer time scale. Whereas our seasonal snow varies and responds to the climate over hours,days and weeks. 

‍

They're related because glaciers rely on the seasonal snow that accumulates on them through the winter to sustain their mass, but they operate over a different process and time scales. That's something people are often curious about, because folks assume that if the glaciers are getting smaller, then the snow is all disappearing as well… but here that’s not really the case.

Protect Our Winters (New Zealand) board member, and lecturer at the University of Otago, Todd Redpath sat down with us to discuss New Zealand’s unique weather patterns and what the rest of the world can learn from them.

‍

Could you explain what you do scientifically… but in layman’s terms?

To put it simply: I’m a scientist. My interests, in terms of research, are mostly around seasonal snow, but also glaciers in New Zealand and the Southern Alps.

‍

In terms of the way we do that research, we don't have lots of permanent weather stations above the snow line here in New Zealand, and where we have them we don't have very long records. My focus is to look at snow and try to understand what's going on; to do this, we do a lot of remote sensing. 

‍

Remote sensing is essentially using satellite imagery to map things out. We can also do statistics and analysis on what we know to see what's going on.

No items found.
Anything else you’d like to add?

I just want to reiterate that in New Zealand our climate is quite dynamic and as a result our snow seasons are quite variable. 

There’s that word again…
Previously unseen
ABOUT THE PROJECT

To highlight the connection between water and sports, we’ve brought together an internationally renowned freediver, a world champion freeskier, and professional offshore sailing team. Like water, these athletes move in unison with their mind, body, and the present moment. Together, these athletes bring to life their fullest expressions– like water, they flow.

ABOUT THE TEAM

We chose athletes who are not only the best at what they do but also align with 11th Hour Racing’s mission to protect and restore the ocean. We hired local storytelling teams who are also some of the best in the world. Each part of the production was carefully considered to come together as one holistic story.

Behind the Scenes

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