Dr Nick Rutter

I am interested in the hydrology of cold environments and how the frozen land surface interacts with the atmosphere. Most of my current research focuses on making improved field measurements of seasonal snow and applying this knowledge in order to better constrain uncertainties in environmental models. Models I work with include catchment scale glacio-hydrological models, snow-forest-atmosphere components of climate models, and radiative transfer models used in microwave remote sensing of snowpacks.

I have extensive experience of making snow measurements in boreal and mid-latitude forests (e.g. Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Rocky Mountains in Canada and USA), Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra (Alaska, USA, and Manitoba, Canada), sea ice (Canadian high-Arctic), and on Alpine and Polar glaciers (e.g. Switzerland, Svalbard). As many of these environments are rapidly responding to a warming climate, better measurement, modelling and critical evaluation of variations in seasonal snow contribute to improved projections of climate change and our understanding of cold regions hydrology.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Impact of Snow Thermal Conductivity Schemes on pan-Arctic Permafrost Dynamics in CLM5.0, Damseaux, A., Matthes, H., Dutch, V., Wake, L., Rutter, N. 17 Feb 2025, In: The Cryosphere
• Exploring the decision-making process in model development: focus on the Arctic snowpack, Menard, C., Rasmus, S., Merkouriadi, I., Balsamo, G., Bartsch, A., Derksen, C., Domine, F., Dumont, M., Ehrich, D., Essery, R., Forbes, B., Krinner, G., Lawrence, D., Liston, G., Matthes, H., Rutter, N., Sandells, M., Schneebeli, M., Stark, S. 9 Oct 2024, In: The Cryosphere
• Multi-physics ensemble modelling of Arctic tundra snowpack properties, Woolley, G., Rutter, N., Wake, L., Vionnet, V., Derksen, C., Essery, R., Marsh, P., Tutton, R., Walker, B., Lafaysse, M., Pritchard, D. 6 Dec 2024, In: The Cryosphere
• Simulating net ecosystem exchange under seasonal snow cover at an Arctic tundra site, Dutch, V., Rutter, N., Wake, L., Sonnentag, O., Hould Gosselin, G., Sandells, M., Derksen, C., Walker, B., Meyer, G., Essery, R., Kelly, R., Marsh, P., Boike, J., Detto, M. 15 Feb 2024, In: Biogeosciences
• Simulation of Arctic snow microwave emission in surface-sensitive atmosphere channels, Sandells, M., Rutter, N., Wivell, K., Essery, R., Fox, S., Harlow, C., Picard, G., Roy, A., Royer, A., Toose, P. 4 Sep 2024, In: The Cryosphere
• Canopy structure and air temperature inversions impact simulation of sub-canopy longwave radiation in snow-covered boreal forests, Rutter, N., Essery, R., Baxter, R., Hancock, S., Horton, M., Huntley, B., Reid, T., Woodward, J. 27 Jul 2023, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Environmental controls of winter soil carbon dioxide fluxes in boreal and tundra environments, Mavrovic, A., Sonnentag, O., Lemmetyinen, J., Voigt, C., Rutter, N., Mann, P., Sylvain, J., Roy, A. 20 Dec 2023, In: Biogeosciences
• Evaluating Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer (SMRT) model emissivities with 89 to 243GHz observations of Arctic tundra snow, Wivell, K., Fox, S., Sandells, M., Harlow, C., Essery, R., Rutter, N. 13 Oct 2023, In: The Cryosphere
• Snow accumulation and ablation measurements in a mid-latitude mountain coniferous forest (Col de Porte, France, 1325 m alt.): The Snow Under Forest (SnoUF) field campaigns dataset, Sicart, J., Ramseyer, V., Picard, G., Arnaud, L., Coulaud, C., Freche, G., Soubeyrand, D., Lejeune, Y., Dumont, M., Gouttevin, I., Le Gac, E., Berger, F., Borgniet, L., Mermin, E., Rutter, N., Webster, C., Essery, R. 24 Nov 2023, In: Earth System Science Data
• Airborne SnowSAR data at X- and Ku- bands over boreal forest, alpine and tundra snow cover, Lemmetyinen, J., Cohen, J., Kontu, A., Vehviläinen, J., Hannula, H., Merkouriadi, I., Scheiblauer, S., Rott, H., Nagler, T., Ripper, E., Elder, K., Marshall, H., Fromm, R., Adams, M., Derksen, C., King, J., Meta, A., Coccia, A., Rutter, N., Sandells, M., Macelloni, G., Santi, E., Leduc-Leballeur, M., Essery, R., Menard, C., Kern, M. 1 Sep 2022, In: Earth System Science Data

• Gabriel Hould Gosselin Measurement and modelling of carbon emissions in snow-covered Arctic tundra and taiga biomes Start Date: 01/10/2023
• Amy Clark Forest disturbance effects on snow hydrology in an operational runoff forecast model Start Date: 01/10/2023
• Jonathan Rutherford Simulating Carbon Emissions Across the Arctic Boreal-Tundra Ecotone Start Date: 01/10/2022
• Georgina Woolley Measurement and modelling of Arctic snow across the forest-tundra ecotone Start Date: 01/10/2021

Geography DPhil June 30 2002