No description available.

Title: Application of the Snowmelt Runoff Model for snow accumulation and snowmelt modelling in experimental catchments Bystřice and Zlatý Brook in the Krušné Mountains Modelling of hydrological processes is a dynamically developing part of hydrology. The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) was applied for modelling the runoff in two experimental catchments Bystřice and Zlatý Brook. The aim of this thesis is to set up and calibrate SRM model and to evaluate methods and procedures used for runoff simulations. The SRM model was used for modelling snow accumulation and snowmelt in two selected catchments in the Krušné Mountains. The snow depths and snow water equivalents are measured since 2009 at selected locations situated in catchments. Calibration and validation of the model was based on continual time series of precipitation, air temperature and discharge measured 2009. Hydrological years 2009 and 2010 were used for model calibration and hydrological years 2011 and 2012 were used for model validation. Sensitivity analysis, which quantifies the effect of individual model parameters on the simulating proces, was carried out based on results. Recession coefficient and runoff coefficient belong to the most sensitive parameters with highest impact on runoff simulations. Model calibration was successful, which...

I studied the species Rumex alpinus by reviewing the literature on the taxonomy, morphology, population biology, genetics, chemistry, physiology and ecology. Herbochronological studies on growth parameters of rhizomes were done on the Rumex alpinus plants in relation to altitude and to the climtic fluctulations, specifically to the snow accumulation.

Dealing with the issue of spring flood events is primarily based on their causes. It is therefore important to study the processes of snow accumulation and snowmelt especially in mountain areas where the development of snow water equivalent (SWE) is primarily observed. The snow water equivalent indicates amount of the water in the snow and thus represents a runoff volume during the spring melting period and demonstrates the flood risk potential. In this thesis the lumped modelling approach of the rainfall-runoff model HEC- HMS was used. The model was applied in the Bystřice River basin in the Ore Mountains where the field measurements of the snow cover and SWE is carried out. Applied temperature-index method is the well-developed method because it takes into account both the melting during precipitation and melting in the period without any precipitation and aims to capture snow energy balance by means of air temperature. Three winter periods (2006, 2008 and 2009) were simulated. The evolution of the snow water equivalent was observed and the agreement between observed and simulated hydrographs was assessed in the closure profile Ostrov. Published results show the influence of winter course and character on the model capability to simulate the snow water equivalent and runoff. The observed and...

An energy-based model accounting for snow accumulation and snowmelt in a coniferous forest and in an open area An energy balance approach was used to simulate snow water equivalent (SWE) evolution in an open area, forest clearing and coniferous forest during winter seasons 2011/12 and 2012/13 in the Bystřice River basin (Krušné Mountains). The aim was to describe the impact of vegetation on snow accumulation and snowmelt under different forest canopy structure and density of trees. Hemispherical photographs were used to describe the forest canopy structure. Energy balance model of snow accumulation and melt was set up. For forest sites the snow model was altered for accounting the effects of the forest canopy on the driving meteorological variables of the snow model. Leaf area index derived from 32 hemispherical photographs of the vegetation and sky was used for forest influence implementation in the snow model. The model was evaluated using snow depth and SWE field data measured at 16 localities in winter seasons from 2011 to 2013. The model was able to reproduce the SWE evolution in both winter seasons beneath the forest canopy, forest clearing and open area with correlations to observations ranging from 0.16 to 0.99. The SWE maximum in forest sites is by 18% lower than in open areas and forest...

Snow depth variability at the plot scale: Assesment of topography and vegetation influence Abstract This master thesis deals with the evaluation of snow depth variability at the plot scale. It focuses on influence of topography and vegetation factors as slope, exposure, curvature, solar radiation and leaf area index. There is also assesment the impact of the size scale. Measurement was carried out in period of accumulation and snowmelt in winter 2014/2015 in the Krkonoše Mountains on Hanapetrova glade. To evaluate the effect of selected factors on variability of snow depth there was used multiple linear regresion and other descriptive statistical methods. The research shows that the variability of snow depth during the accumulation is greater in forest which is probably due to vegetation. The dependency was not confirmed by regression analysis. Higher variability of snow cover in the forest was also observed in the melting period. The variability of snow cover increased in the forest in general. The results show that the snow depth variability decreasses with increasing grid size. Keywords: snow accumulation, snowmelt, topography, vegetation, multivariate analysis

Snow accumulation patterns can be highly variable depending on terrain and wind. Knowledge of spatial variability of snow accumulation is of high relevance for mass balance modelling. By not incorporating the variability in snow cover, the estimation in mass fluxes and the surface melt are incorrectly presented, affecting the eventual estimation of for instance contribution to sea level rise. Additionally, knowledge of snow accumulation variability is essential for assessing the reliability of point-wise mass balance measurements. Using ground penetrating radar (GPR), the spatial variability of snow can be mapped with both a great spatial and temporal resolution. GPR enables tracing of summer surface melt layers, resulting in a 2D reconstruction of past snow accumulation and associated variability. GPR measurements have been done on Svalbard, during 2012, 2013 and 2014. Based on the selected 2009 summer surface in the GPR measurements, accumulation rates were estimated between 2009-2012; 2009-2013 and 2009-2014. In addition, several terrain parameters are computed by combining DEM calculations with wind direction, resulting in a sheltering index, slope and curvature. We explore relationships between the found accumulation pattern and the terrain parameters with varying wind directions. Correlations between terrain and accumulation depend on the selected wind angle, which appears to change with elevation. The results suggest that localized wind patterns prevail on the glacier and shape the snow cover. Katabatic winds form at low elevations on the glacier and are oriented in the glacier direction of approximately 20 degrees. At intermediate elevation, winds from the east-southeast regulate the accumulation pattern. On the upper parts of the glacier, the terrain is more exposed and winds from large-scale atmospheric circulation, at 240 degrees, become more important in formation of the snow accumulation pattern. Correlations are overall high, indicating a strong influence of terrain features on the accumulation distribution. No distinction can be made between the different terrain parameters and accumulation, all returning similar correlations with accumulation except for curvature, which overall returns slightly lower correlations. In addition, the results found great spatial variability in snow accumulation, underlining the importance of incorporating snow accumulation variability in glacier mass balance models. / Snow accumulation patterns can be highly variable depending on terrain and wind. Knowledge of spatialvariability of snow accumulation is of high relevance for mass balance modelling. By not incorporating the variability in snow cover, the estimation in mass fluxes and the surface melt are incorrectlypresented, affecting the eventual estimation of for instance contribution to sea level rise. Additionally,knowledge of snow accumulation variability is essential for assessing the reliability of point-wise mass balance measurements.Using ground penetrating radar (GPR), the spatial variability of snow can be mapped with both agreat spatial and temporal resolution. GPR enables tracing of summer surface melt layers, resulting in a 2D reconstruction of past snow accumulation and associated variability. GPR measurements have been done on Svalbard, during 2012, 2013 and 2014. Based on the selected 2009 summer surface in the GPR measurements, accumulation rates were estimated between 2009-2012; 2009-2013 and 2009-2014. In addition, several terrain parameters are computed by combining DEM calculations with wind direction, resulting in a sheltering index, slope and curvature. We explore relationships between the found accumulation pattern and the terrain parameters with varying wind directions.Correlations between terrain and accumulation depend on the selected wind angle, which appears to change with elevation. The results suggest that localized wind patterns prevail on the glacier and shape the snow cover. Katabatic winds form at low elevations on the glacier and are oriented in the glacier direction of approximately 20 degrees. At intermediate elevation, winds from the east-southeast regulate the accumulation pattern. On the upper parts of the glacier, the terrain is more exposed and winds from large-scale atmospheric circulation, at 240 degrees, become more important in formation of the snow accumulation pattern. Correlations are overall high, indicating a strong influence of terrain features on the accumulation distribution. No distinction can be made between the different terrain parameters and accumulation, all returning similar correlations with accumulation except for curvature, which overall returns slightly lower correlations. In addition, the results found great spatial variability in snowaccumulation, underlinin

Hydrological models have been developed to estimate snow accumulation, snowmelt and snowmelt runoff on the Canadian Prairies; however, their proper scale of application is unknown in the Prairie environment. The first objective of this thesis is to examine the proper scale for pre-melt snow accumulation as snow water equivalent (SWE) and snowmelt in a Prairie first order basin. Spatially distributed and spatially aggregated approaches were used to calculate SWE and snowmelt at St. Denis National Wildlife Area (SDNWA). Both approaches used models with similar physics, but differed in the model scale at which calculations were carried out. The simulated pre-melt SWE, cumulative seasonal SWE, and daily snowmelt from the two modelling approaches were compared to field observations of pre-melt SWE, cumulative seasonal SWE, and daily snowmelt; comparisons of areal cumulative seasonal SWE, areal snowmelt, snowmelt duration, and snow-covered area were also conducted between two modelling approaches. Results from these comparisons showed that both approaches had reasonable and similar accuracy in estimation of SWE and snowmelt. The spatially aggregated approach was more computationally efficient and was selected as a modelling scale for small-sized prairie basins. <p>Another objective of this thesis is to derive a snow hydrology model for the Canadian Prairies. Physically-based hydrological models were assembled in the Cold Regions Hydrological Model Platform (CRHM) using the aggregated approach. Tests of pre-melt SWE and surface snowmelt runoff were conducted at two basins in Saskatchewan Creighton Tributary of Bad Lake and Wetland 109, St. Denis. Results showed that the snow hydrology model had a reasonable capability to simulate SWE and snowmelt runoff to the stream and wetland. <p>Droughts are natural hazards that develop frequently on the Canadian Prairies. Analyzing the impact of drought on hydrological processes and water supply is another objective of this thesis. Synthetic drought scenarios were proposed for the Creighton Tributary of Bad Lake and the corresponding impacts on the snowmelt runoff-related processes were examined. Results indicated that wind redistribution of snow was very sensitive to drought conditions, sublimation of blowing snow and snow-covered period were sensitive to drought, but winter evaporation and infiltration did not show strong trend. The results also showed that drought conditions had magnified effects on the snowmelt runoff and could cause cessation of streamflow. Also, the impacts of the recent 1999-2005 drought on the snowmelt hydrology were investigated at St. Denis. Results illustrated that three-years (1999-2002) of severe winter drought were followed by a normal year (2002-03) and then a two-year (2003-05) recovery period, and then returning to normal (2005-06). Results showed that both snowfall and rainfall during hydrological winter were consistently low for severe drought and surface snowmelt runoff was very much lower during severe drought, about 45-65 mm less compared to that in the normal periods.

Hydrological models have been developed to estimate snow accumulation, snowmelt and snowmelt runoff on the Canadian Prairies; however, their proper scale of application is unknown in the Prairie environment. The first objective of this thesis is to examine the proper scale for pre-melt snow accumulation as snow water equivalent (SWE) and snowmelt in a Prairie first order basin. Spatially distributed and spatially aggregated approaches were used to calculate SWE and snowmelt at St. Denis National Wildlife Area (SDNWA). Both approaches used models with similar physics, but differed in the model scale at which calculations were carried out. The simulated pre-melt SWE, cumulative seasonal SWE, and daily snowmelt from the two modelling approaches were compared to field observations of pre-melt SWE, cumulative seasonal SWE, and daily snowmelt; comparisons of areal cumulative seasonal SWE, areal snowmelt, snowmelt duration, and snow-covered area were also conducted between two modelling approaches. Results from these comparisons showed that both approaches had reasonable and similar accuracy in estimation of SWE and snowmelt. The spatially aggregated approach was more computationally efficient and was selected as a modelling scale for small-sized prairie basins. <p>Another objective of this thesis is to derive a snow hydrology model for the Canadian Prairies. Physically-based hydrological models were assembled in the Cold Regions Hydrological Model Platform (CRHM) using the aggregated approach. Tests of pre-melt SWE and surface snowmelt runoff were conducted at two basins in Saskatchewan Creighton Tributary of Bad Lake and Wetland 109, St. Denis. Results showed that the snow hydrology model had a reasonable capability to simulate SWE and snowmelt runoff to the stream and wetland. <p>Droughts are natural hazards that develop frequently on the Canadian Prairies. Analyzing the impact of drought on hydrological processes and water supply is another objective of this thesis. Synthetic drought scenarios were proposed for the Creighton Tributary of Bad Lake and the corresponding impacts on the snowmelt runoff-related processes were examined. Results indicated that wind redistribution of snow was very sensitive to drought conditions, sublimation of blowing snow and snow-covered period were sensitive to drought, but winter evaporation and infiltration did not show strong trend. The results also showed that drought conditions had magnified effects on the snowmelt runoff and could cause cessation of streamflow. Also, the impacts of the recent 1999-2005 drought on the snowmelt hydrology were investigated at St. Denis. Results illustrated that three-years (1999-2002) of severe winter drought were followed by a normal year (2002-03) and then a two-year (2003-05) recovery period, and then returning to normal (2005-06). Results showed that both snowfall and rainfall during hydrological winter were consistently low for severe drought and surface snowmelt runoff was very much lower during severe drought, about 45-65 mm less compared to that in the normal periods.

Although forest properties are known to influence snowpack accumulation and spring runoff, the processes underlying the impacts of forest canopy cover on the input of snowmelt to the catchment remain poorly characterized. In this study I show that throughfall and canopy shading can combine to result in maximal snowpacks in forests of moderate canopy density. Snow depth and density data taken shortly before spring melt in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico show strong correlation between forest canopy density and snow water equivalent, with maximal snow accumulation in forests with density between 25 and 45%. Forest edges are also shown to be highly influential on local snow depth variability, with shaded open areas holding significantly deeper snow than either unshaded open or deep forest areas. These results are broadly applicable in improving estimates of water resource availability, predicting the ecohydrological implications of vegetation change, and informing integrated water resources management.