A framework to explore the services value provided by snow cover: A case study for Heilongjiang Province, China

Ecosystem services and their accounting frameworks have been extensively studied. Snow, as a special climatic product, can provides essential resources and services for human well-being and socioeconomic development which is often ignored. However, the services and value it provides have not been effectively evaluated. To address this crucial omission, we develop a snow service value (SSV) accounting framework that summarizes the value of snow services in a single monetary metric. We illustrate the measurement of SSV by applying it to the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, demonstrating that the approach is feasible with the data at hand. On the basis of MODIS, statistical data, and meteorological station data, the value of 10 services, such as product supply (PS), regulating and supporting services (RSS), and cultural service (CS), was determined. In 2019, the SSV value of Heilongjiang province was 554.2 billion yuan, with Greater Khingan Mountains, Harbin, and Heihe city accounting for more than 60 billion yuan. Snow has a significant impact on climate regulation and runoff regulation, constituting almost 60% of SSV. Through the survey questionnaire, we discovered that Heilongjiang residents are more concerned about the impact of snow on agriculture. Using the results of accounting and a questionnaire survey, our study focuses on highlighting the importance and policy significance of snow service evaluation, which is conducive to enhancing the public's attention to snow resource management in the face of a reduction in snow cover due to climate change and investigating how to transform snow service into economic value.