Estimation of melt rate in seasonally snow-covered mountainous areas

Abstract

The following paper presents two different snowmelt submodels requiring a minimum input and suitable for estimating the monthly snowmelt-runoff in seasonally snowcovered watersheds. The first submodel discussed is based on the degree-day method, relating the variation of the degree-day factor in the melt season to temperature range as an index for the available radiation energy. The second submodel estimates the melt rate according to each of the components of the total energy contributing to the melt process of the snowpack. The submodels were used as a subroutine of a monthly water yield model in conjunction with a nonlinear optimization algorithm for identification of the parameters. The inputs used are the monthly precipitation, the average of daily air temperatures over a given month, and the extra-terrestrial radiation. © 1989 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.