Characteristics of Rainfall, Snowmelt and Runoff in the Headwater Region of the Main River Watershed in Germany

In the headwater region of the Main River watershed in Germany, floods resulted from rain-on-snow events often occur in winter. Data of long-term observations at 16 gauging stations and 11 climate stations are available. Using these data, the objective of this paper is to study the characteristics of precipitation including snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE). The importance of rainfall on the snow melt process has been assessed. Statistical analysis and trend analysis of extreme precipitation, snow depth, SWE and river discharges have been carried out. Through introducing equivalent precipitation depth from snowmelt with rainfall as a new variable, the simultaneous occurrence of snowmelt and rain-on-snow has been assessed; the characteristics of runoff including peak discharge caused by rain-on-snow have been investigated. The major climatic feature was found to be a precipitation, which as maximum in summer; and the major hydrological feature was a discharge, which was maximum in winter. By using two different models, the Unit Hydrographs at some gauging stations have been determined and compared.     

Impacts of Snowmelt on Peak Flows in a Forest Watershed

Using data of long-term observations at three gauging stations and one climatic station in a forest region in southeast Germany, the impacts of snowmelt on peak flow have been investigated in this paper. Results show that the major climatic feature was found to be a precipitation maximum during the hydrological summer, and the major hydrological feature was a discharge maximum during the hydrological winter. Empirical equations describing snow depth and snow water equivalent for the studied climatic station have been developed for both snow accumulation period and ablation period. Through introducing snowmelt-rainfall depth as a new variable, the present work investigates the simultaneous occurrence of snowmelt and rainfall on snow cover, assesses the characteristics of runoff including peak flows, calculates the runoff from the snowmelt and rainfall. A hydrological model has been applied to generate hydrographs resulted from snowmelt and rainfall-on-snow.     

Analysis of Climate and Melt-runoff in Dunagiri Glacier of Garhwal Himalaya (India)

The hydrology of high altitude glacierized basin in Himalaya is complex to understand due to high variability in climate and lack of hydro-meteorological data. In this study, analysis of hydrological, glacier ablation and meteorological records have been made for Dunagiri Glacier (~4,200 m) during the melt season (July - September), for the years 1985 and 1987–1989. In the daily cycle of mean diurnal discharge in summer months during 1985–1989, maximum discharge occurred at midnight, and minimum discharge occurred in the morning. Mean daytime and nighttime discharge volume was contributing approximately equal amounts. Such type of analysis will be the basis for designing/developing Run-off-the river type hydroelectric power projects which are heavily dependent on snow and glacier melt in Himalaya. Time series analysis of available hydro-meteorological records have been used to understand governing hydrological processes within the basin and to develop regression model for future development in runoff forecasting using climate data.     

基于MODIS遥感影像的融雪径流模拟研究

高寒山区冰雪覆盖面积的大小直接影响山区河流的冰雪融水补给量。文中以新疆塔什库尔干河伊尔列黑水文站控制流域为研究对象,从MODIS遥感影像提取流域冰雪的覆盖面积比例,采用SRM融雪径流模型对伊尔列黑水文站径流过程进行模拟。SRM的模拟预报效果表明:采用SRM融雪径流模型并结合MODIS遥感影像进行研究流域冰雪融水径流模拟具有普遍适用性,可为研究流域水资源的优化管理及下游水库入库流量进行数据支持。     

Test of newly developed conceptual hydrological model for simulation of rain-on-snow events in forested watershed

A conceptual hydrological model that links the Xin’anjiang hydrological model and a physically based snow energy and mass balance model, described as the XINSNOBAL model, was developed in this study for simulating rain-on-snow events that commonly occur in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The resultant model was applied to the Lookout Creek Watershed in the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon, and its ability to simulate streamflow was evaluated. The simulation was conducted at 24-hour and one-hour time scales for the period of 1996 to 2005. The results indicated that runoff and peak discharge could be underestimated if snowpack accumulation and snowmelt under rain-on-snow conditions were not taken into account. The average deterministic coefficient of the hourly model in streamflow simulation in the calibration stage was 0.837, which was significantly improved over the value of 0.762 when the Xin’anjiang model was used alone. Good simulation performance of the XINSNOBAL model in the WS10 catchment, using the calibrated parameter of the Lookout Creek Watershed for proxy-basin testing, demonstrates that transplanting model parameters between similar watersheds can provide a useful tool for discharge forecasting in ungauged basins.     

SRM 融雪径流模型在奎屯河流域洪水预报的应用

我国中小河流域防洪标准普遍偏低,急需加强洪水预报工作,特别是在站点稀少,资料匮乏的高寒山区,由融雪产生的径流与由降水产生的径流难以区分,加大了洪水预报工作难度。SRM融雪径流模型是专门解决这个问题的水文模型,它对于山区流域融雪径流预报和模拟研究起着非常重要的作用。基于SRM融雪径流模型,以新疆地区典型山区中小河流域奎屯河为例,通过MODIS遥感数据提取流域积雪覆盖率,并结合气象台站数据,对研究区进行水文模拟,研究结果认为:融雪径流模型能够很好的模拟奎屯河流域的径流过程,率定期与验证期Nash效率系数都达到了0.7以上,说明融雪径流模型能够适用于奎屯河流域的洪水预报,对高寒山区中小河流域防洪预警具有一定的指导意义。     

SRM融雪径流模型在疏勒河流域上游的应用

疏勒河是西北典型的干旱区内陆河流域,其冰雪融水是春季径流补给的重要来源之一。本文结合MODIS积雪产品MOD10A2、DEM数据和气象台站数据,构建了疏勒河流域上游SRM融雪径流模型,模拟结果的拟合优度确定系数Nash-Sutcliffe系数R2=0.834和体积差DV=1.63%。结果表明:该模型能基本上把握疏勒河流域融雪径流的趋势,达到了较好的模拟效果,可用于该流域春季径流的预测,为预防春季融雪型洪水灾害和减轻春季旱情提供了基础。     

KM河流域融雪径流与积雪面积-气温关系分析

为更好地探明气候变化下高寒山区积雪的消融规律及其对径流的影响,以及积雪面积、气温、径流之间存在的关系,本文根据2006-2009年的8日合成MODIS积雪产品数据,以及同时期出山口水文站的径流、气温数据,分析了KM河流域的融雪径流特征,定量分析了积雪面积、气温与融雪径流的关系。结果表明:进入3月份,海拔≤2 000 m积雪已经消融完结;在3月10日前后,海拔2 000～3 500 m积雪开始消融,到融雪期末积雪基本消融完结;在4月初,海拔3 500～4 500 m才开始融雪,到融雪期末积雪没有消融完结;海拔≥4 500 m积雪面积在融雪期内变化相对比较稳定。流域各高程带积雪面积与气温都呈抛物线关系,且相关性随高程的上升而减弱。     

Application of hydrological models in a snowmelt region of Aksu River Basin

This study simulated and predicted the runoff of the Aksu River Basin, a typical river basin supplied by snowmelt in an arid mountain region, with a limited data set and few hydrological and meteorological stations. Two hydrological models, the snowmelt-runoff model （SRM） and the Danish NedbФr-AfstrФmnings rainfall-runoff model （NAM）, were used to simulate daily discharge processes in the Aksu River Basin. This study used the snow-covered area from MODIS remote sensing data as the SRM input. With the help of ArcGIS software, this study successfully derived the digital drainage network and elevation zones of the basin from digital elevation data. The simulation results showed that the SRM based on MODIS data was more accurate than NAM. This demonstrates that the application of remote sensing data to hydrological snowmelt models is a feasible and effective approach to runoff simulation and prediction in arid unguaged basins where snowmelt is a major runoff factor.     

高寒山区融雪径流对气候变化的敏感性分析

以玛纳斯河流域为研究区,采用数理统计的方法以研究区1958—1987年实测的水文、气象资料为基础进行趋势变化及全球气候变化对降水、气温、径流影响的分析。以新安江模型为基础建立了研究区数字水文模型,并对1981年融雪径流进行模拟。利用该模型结合不同的气候情景假设分析高寒山区融雪径流对气候变化的敏感性。     

Assessment of Snowmelt Runoff Using Remote Sensing and Effect of Climate Change on Runoff

Runoff regimes in Himalayan basins are controlled mainly by melting of snow and ice cover. The air temperature is the principal variable to estimate the importance of the melting of the snow cover when using snowmelt runoff model. Changes in temperature will ultimately affect stream flow and snow/ice melt runoff in particular. Global atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) have been developed to simulate the present climate and used to predict future climatic changes and its effect. These GCMs have certain disadvantages, therefore another simple approach of hypothetical scenarios have been developed and successfully demonstrated in this study to investigate the effect of changes in temperature. Adopted plausible climate scenarios included three temperature scenarios (T + 1, T + 2, T + 3°C). The effect of these changes has been studied on the stream flow which has contribution from snowmelt, rainfall and base flow in the Satluj basin. It was observed that with the increase in temperature there is not much change in total stream flow, but the distribution of stream flow have changed. More snowmelt runoff occurred earlier due to increased snow melting however, reduced in the monsoon months.     

Comparison of Process-Based and Temperature-Index Snowmelt Modeling in SWAT

Snowmelt hydrology is an important part of hydrological analyses where significant proportion of precipitation is expected to fall in a snow form. Many models have long been introduced to enable the simulation of snowmelt processes in the watershed ranging from simple temperature based equations to complex and sophisticated process-based equations. Usually, mixed results have been reported whether or not the difference between results achieved by incorporating data demanding models vis-à-vis simple temperature-index models is justifiable. In this study, we compared the performances of physically based energy budget and simpler temperature-index based snowmelt calculation approaches within the SWAT model at three sites in two different continents. The results indicate insignificant differences between the two approaches. The temperature-index based snowmelt computation method had the overall model efficiency coefficients ranging from 0.49 to 0.73 while the energy budget based approach had efficiency coefficients ranging from 0.33 to 0.59 only. The magnitude of the differences varied based on where the models were applied. However, comparison between two process-based snowmelt estimation procedures (with and without the inclusion of aspect and slope as factors dictating the incoming solar energy) indicate that accounting for ground surface slope and aspect in the snowmelt model slightly improved the results. We conclude that for most practical applications where net solar radiation, not turbulent heat flux, dominates the snowmelt dynamics, a simpler temperature-index snowmelt estimation model is sufficient.     

高寒山区融雪模型的改进与应用研究

以台兰河流域为研究区,采用改进的含融雪结构的新安江模型,利用2003-2009年逐日水文气象资料进行水文模拟。结果表明:改进的融雪计算方法能够很好的应用于含融雪结构的新安江模型中,并能在径流模拟研究中取得令人满意的结果。     

Development of a Glacio-hydrological Model for Discharge and Mass Balance Reconstruction

The reconstruction of glacio-hydrological records for the data deficient Himalayan catchments is needed in order to study the past and future water availability. The study provides outcomes of a glacio-hydrological model based on the degree-day approach. The model simulates the discharge and mass balance for glacierised Shaune Garang catchment. The degree-day factors for different land covers, used in the model, were estimated using daily stake measurements on Shaune Garang glacier and they were found to be varying between 2.6?±?0.4 and 9.3?±?0.3 mm °C^?1day^?1. The model is validated using observed discharge during ablation season of 2014 with coefficient of determination (R²) 0.90 and root mean square error (RMSE) 1.05 m³ sec^?1. The model is used to simulate discharge from 1985 to 2008 and mass balance from 2001 to 2008. The model results show significant contribution of seasonal snow and ice melt in total discharge of the catchment, especially during summer. We observe the maximum discharge in July having maximum contribution from snow and ice melt. The annual melt season discharge shows following a decreasing trend in the simulation period. The reconstructed mass balance shows mass loss of 0.89 m we per year between 2001 and 2008 with slight mass gain during 2000/01 and 2004/05 hydrological years.     

Streamflow Modeling in a Highly Managed Mountainous Glacier Watershed Using SWAT: The Upper Rhone River Watershed Case in Switzerland

Streamflow simulation is often challenging in mountainous watersheds because of irregular topography and complex hydrological processes. Rates of change in precipitation and temperature with respect to elevation often limit the ability to reproduce stream runoff by hydrological models. Anthropogenic influence, such as water transfers in high altitude hydropower reservoirs increases the difficulty in modeling since the natural flow regime is altered by long term storage of water in the reservoirs. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used for simulating streamflow in the upper Rhone watershed located in the south western part of Switzerland. The catchment area covers 5220 km², where most of the land cover is dominated by forest and 14 % is glacier. Streamflow calibration was done at daily time steps for the period of 2001–2005, and validated for 2006–2010. Two different approaches were used for simulating snow and glacier melt process, namely the temperature index approach with and without elevation bands. The hydropower network was implemented based on the intake points that form part of the inter-reservoir network. Subbasins were grouped into two major categories with glaciers and without glaciers for simulating snow and glacier melt processes. Model performance was evaluated both visually and statistically where a good relation between observed and simulated discharge was found. Our study suggests that a proper configuration of the network leads to better model performance despite the complexity that arises for water transaction. Implementing elevation bands generates better results than without elevation bands. Results show that considering all the complexity arising from natural variability and anthropogenic influences, SWAT performs well in simulating runoff in the upper Rhone watershed. Findings from this study can be applicable for high elevation snow and glacier dominated catchments with similar hydro-physiographic constraints.     

基于MODIS的积雪时空变化与CMADS气象因子相关性研究——以塔什库尔干河流域为例

积雪是塔什库尔干河流域宝贵的资源,了解流域融雪时空变化规律及其与气象、地形因素的相关关系具有重要意义。基于不同高程带、坡度和坡向的Arc GIS解译积雪覆盖数据和CMADS数据,采用方差分析和Pearson相关性分析等方法,研究不同高程带、坡度和坡向雪盖时空变化规律及其与气象因子的相关关系。结果表明:平均气温、太阳辐射和降水是影响塔什库尔干河流域积雪的主导气象因子,同时还受地形(高程、坡度、坡向)的限制;积雪覆盖率在各地形上存在明显季节差异性及月差异性,积雪覆盖率与气象因子相关度从高到低依次排序为:平均气温太阳辐射降水风速相对湿度,积雪覆盖率与前3个因素存在显著负相关关系,风速次之,与相对湿度的相关性最小。     

A Stream Water Availability Model of Upper Indus Basin Based on a Topologic Model and Global Climatic Datasets

Integrated water resources management at river basin scales and evaluation of effects of climate change on regional water resources require quantitative estimates of space-time variability of monthly discharges within a river network. This study demonstrates that such estimates, which can be called stream water availability, for regional river basins with meager or nonexistent gauge data, can be obtained by combining continuity models of hydrological processes, flow routing, and topology of the river basin. The hydrologic processes can be adequately modeled using high quality databases of hydrologic significance. A stream water availability model is presented for Upper Indus Basin (UIB) utilizing the most up-to-date datasets for topography, temperature, precipitation, net radiation, land cover, soil type, and digital atlas. Multiple datasets have been evaluated and the ones with best accuracy and temporal coverage have been selected for the final model. Upper Indus River and its major tributaries are highly significant in regional water resources management and geopolitics. However, UIB is a poorly studied and largely ungauged river basin with an area of 265,598 km² and extremely rugged topography. Several factors, the chief ones being the challenging terrain and the trans-boundary nature of the basin, have contributed to this knowledge gap. Hydro-climatologically it is a complex basin with a significant cryospheric component. The spatial and temporal variation of the principal climatic variables, namely precipitation, net radiation, and temperature has been thoroughly accounted for in the development of a stream water availability model based on a process model coupled with a topologic model and a linear reservoir model of river flow routing. Model calculations indicate that there are essentially two hydrologic regimes in UIB. The regime that is truly significant in contributing stream flows, originates from the UIB cryosphere containing outstanding glaciers and snowfields. The other regime, generated from wet precipitation and melt water from seasonal snow covers is insignificant due to high rates of infiltration and evaporation in the semi-desert environment prevailing at elevations below perennial snow and ice covers. In general, the modeled stream flow characteristics match with the sparse discharge measurements that are available. Flow in the Indus considerably increases at its confluence with Shyok River and further downstream where other tributaries form the north join the main stem. At or near the outlet of the basin stream flow can vary from less than 800 m³ s^− 1 in the winter and spring to nearly 8,000 m³ s^− 1 in the peak summer and can persist to over 1,500 m³ s^− 1 in the autumn. The importance of snow and glacial melt in Indus River discharge is apparent and any global or regional climate change affecting the equilibrium line elevation of the snow fields in the Karakoram will have a profound influence on the water availability in the Indus. Estimates are made for per capita water availability in Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan territories, controlled by India and Pakistan respectively. Geopolitical significance and climate change effects are discussed briefly.     

A Distributed Hydrological Model Driven by Multi-Source Spatial Data and Its Application in the Ili River Basin of Central Asia

Hydrological simulation in ungauged regions is a popular topic in water resource and environmental research, and is also an important part of the international research initiative Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB). In this study, a multi-spatial data-based DTVGM (MS-DTVGM), combining multi-source spatial data (MS-spatial data) with the Distributed Time-Variant Gain Model (DTVGM), was built in order to reduce dependence on conventional observation, and was applied to the Ili River basin where traditional data sets are scarce. Because it utilizes MS-spatial data to measure precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, air temperature, vegetation parameters, and soil parameters, the model is driven purely by data from common platforms, thus overcoming the disadvantage of the large amounts of data typically required for distributed hydrological models. The inputs and simulation results were calibrated and validated using station or field observations. The results indicate that: 1) the MS-DTVGM is feasible in the Ili River basin; all model inputs can be acquired from multi-source spatial data and the key parameters are accurate; 2) the MS-DTVGM has good performance on a monthly time scale, and its simulation results can be used for a longer time-scale water resource analysis; and (3) daily runoff generation correlated strongly with snowmelt, the R² is about 0.69 indicating that the latter is an important contributor to water resources and suggesting that a snowmelt module is indispensable this area. The potential of distributed models for hydrological simulation in data-scarce regions using MS-spatial data was clearly demonstrated.     

Role of Elevation and Aspect in Snow Distribution in Western Himalaya

Snow is a dynamic natural element, the distribution of which is largely controlled by latitude and altitude. In the tropical country like India, snow distribution is mostly controlled by altitude. The present study aims to identify the relationship between snow accumulation with elevation and aspect in rugged terrain in the Himalayan region. The river basins of four tributaries of the River Indus i.e. Satluj, Chenab, Ravi and Beas located in the western Himalaya were considered for study. Snow covered area was estimated for a period of 2 years (01 Jan 2003 to 17 Dec 2004) using MODIS 8 days’ maximum snow cover products. Aspect and classified relief maps were prepared using the USGS DEM. The inter-relationship between aspect, elevation and snow cover area was determined for all the four river basins and comparative analysis has been made. A 2 years average shows that Satluj has the minimum snow covered area 23%, while Chenab has the highest snow covered area i.e. 42%, Ravi and Beas has 33% and 38% respectively. The minimum elevation from where snow covered area appears has been calculated and it has been observed that in case of Satluj, snow appears at a higher elevation (1,369 m) while in Chenab snow appears at an elevation of 834 m, followed by Ravi (1,058 m) and Beas (1,264 m). It was found that aspect has a major impact on snow accumulation in the lower elevations in all the basins as compared to higher elevations. Snow accumulates most in the northwest and northeast aspect. The rate of change in snow cover with elevation is determined for all the river basins and it has been concluded that Satluj has the lowest rate of change of snow cover with elevation (1.3% per 100 m), Chenab 1.8% per 100 m, followed by Ravi 2% per 100 m and Beas (2% per 100 m).