Professor 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
• Simulating snow properties and Ku-band backscatter across the forest-tundra ecotone, Woolley, G., Rutter, N., Wake, L., Vionnet, V., Derksen, C., Meloche, J., Montpetit, B., Leroux, N., Essery, R., Hould Gosselin, G., Marsh, P. 23 Feb 2026, In: The Cryosphere
• UK Arctic Terrestrial Research: Towards International Polar Year 2032/33 and Beyond: Research Strengths, Priorities and Implementation, Phoenix, G., Harding, M., Hartley, I., Lancastle, L., Murton, J., Parker, T., Rutter, N., Street, L., Abbott, G., Barr, I., de la Barreda-Bautista, B., Belcher, A., Burke, E., Cameron, K., Chaturvedi, V., Clarkson, A., Convey, P., Crouch, J., Dalrymple, S., Dasari, S., Dutch, V., Hilton, B., Hirst, C., Hole, G., Kerby, J., Keskitalo, K., Lim, M., Macias-Fauria, M., Mayfield, R., Palmer, P., Pearce, D., Peck, L., Robinson, C., Sjögersten, S., van Soest, M., Streeter, R., Sulikova, S., Swainston, O., Wookey, P. 24 Mar 2026
• A Flexible Snow Model (FSM 2.1.1) including a forest canopy, Essery, R., Mazzotti, G., Barr, S., Jonas, T., Quaife, T., Rutter, N. 18 Jun 2025, In: Geoscientific Model Development
• Enhancing simulations of snowpack properties in land surface models with the Soil, Vegetation and Snow scheme v2.0 (SVS2), Vionnet, V., Leroux, N., Fortin, V., Abrahamowicz, M., Woolley, G., Mazzotti, G., Gaillard, M., Lafaysse, M., Royer, A., Domine, F., Gauthier, N., Rutter, N., Derksen, C., Bélair, S. 27 Nov 2025, In: Geoscientific Model Development
• Impact of snow thermal conductivity schemes on pan-Arctic permafrost dynamics in the Community Land Model version 5.0, Damseaux, A., Matthes, H., Dutch, V., Wake, L., Rutter, N. 14 Apr 2025, In: The Cryosphere
• Snow thermal conductivity controls future winter carbon emissions in shrub-tundra, Rutherford, J., Rutter, N., Wake, L., Cannon, A. 29 Sep 2025, In: Biogeosciences
• 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

• Amy Clark ??Quantifying the effects of wildfire forest disturbance on snow? Start Date: 01/10/2023
• Georgina Woolley Measurement and modelling of Arctic snow across the forest-tundra ecotone Start Date: 01/10/2021 End Date: 27/06/2025
• Gabriel Hould Gosselin Measurement and modelling of carbon emissions in snow-covered Arctic tundra and taiga biomes Start Date: 01/10/2023
• Jonathan Rutherford Simulating Arctic snow using process-based and machine learning approaches for future carbon flux projections Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 21/02/2026
• Gabriel Hould Gosselin Measurement and modelling of carbon emissions in snow-covered Arctic tundra and taiga biomes Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025
• Jonathan Rutherford Simulating Arctic snow using process-based and machine learning approaches for future carbon flux projections Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025
• Amy Clark Forest disturbance effects on snow hydrology in an operational runoff forecast model Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025