SNOW COVER MODELING AT THE PUNA TSANG RIVER BASIN IN BHUTAN WITH CORRECTED JRA-25 TEMPERATURE

Abstract

A physically based distributed hydrological model (WEB-DHM-S) was used for modeling 3 years of time series, from 2006 to 2008, for the Puna Tsang River Basin and to compare the results with the observed measurements. Furthermore, with additional inputs of initial snow cover area, snow depth, glacier area, and temperature, WEB-DHM-S can simulate the snow and glacier melt flow contribution to the stream discharge accurately. By adjusting the air temperature from the JRA-25 datasets, the model can simulate the seasonal snow melt and accumulation. This study may benefit the community in Bhutan by providing reliable predictions of flow regimes in the rivers due to climate change. It may provide a physically based modeling of the snow and glacier melts; and further assessment of the impact of GLOFs.