Representing spatial variability of snow water equivalent in hydrologic and land-surface models: A review

Water Resources Research

Volumn 47, Issue 7, 2011, Pages

  Clark, Martyn P ^a   Hendrikx, Jordy ^b   Slater, Andrew G ^c   Kavetski, Dmitri ^d   Anderson, Brian ^e   Cullen, Nicolas J ^f   Kerr, Tim ^g   Örn Hreinsson, Einar ^g   Woods, Ross A ^g  

^a NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH   (United States)

^b MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE   (Australia)

^e VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON   (New Zealand)

^f UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO   (New Zealand)

^g NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF WATER AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH   (New Zealand)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CHOICE OF PARAMETERS; DIFFERENT PROCESS; ELEVATION GRADIENT; EXTENSIVE REANALYSIS; FIELD DATA; FIELD STUDIES; FOREST CANOPIES; LAND SURFACE MODELS; METEOROLOGICAL DATA; METEOROLOGICAL FIELDS; MODELING APPROACH; MODELING STRATEGY; NEAR-SURFACE; NEW ZEALAND; RIVER BASINS; SNOW MODELS; SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT; SPATIAL DISCRETIZATIONS; SPATIAL INTERPOLATION; SPATIAL SCALE; SPATIAL VARIABILITY; STEEP SLOPE; SUB-GRIDS;

CATCHMENTS; LANDFORMS; METEOROLOGY; PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS; SNOW MELTING SYSTEMS; UNLOADING; WATERSHEDS;

SNOW;

CATCHMENT; DATA SET; ELEVATION; HILLSLOPE; HYDROLOGICAL MODELING; INTERPOLATION; LAND SURFACE; LITERATURE REVIEW; MOUNTAIN REGION; NUMERICAL MODEL; PROBABILITY; SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT; SPATIAL VARIATION;

CANTERBURY [SOUTH ISLAND]; JOLLIE BASIN; NEW ZEALAND; SOUTH ISLAND; SOUTHERN ALPS;

EID: 79960903616     PISSN: 00431397     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/2011WR010745     Document Type: Review

References (98)

1. Anderton, S. P., S. M. White, and B. Alvera (2004), Evaluation of spatial variability in snow water equivalent for a high mountain catchment, Hydrol. Processes, 18, 435-453. (Pubitemid 38300808)
2. Balk, B., and K. Elder, (2000), Combining binary decision tree and geostatistical methods to estimate snow distribution in a mountain watershed, Water Resour. Res., 36, 13-26, doi:10.1029/1999WR900251. (Pubitemid 30042106)
3. Blöschl, G. (1999), Scaling issues in snow hydrology, Hydrol. Processes, 13, 2149-2175. (Pubitemid 30061763)
4. Blöschl, G., and R. Kirnbauer (1992), An Analysis of snow cover patterns in a small alpine catchment, Hydrol. Processes, 6, 99-109.
5. Blöschl, G., and M. Sivapalan (1995), Scale issues in hydrological modelling- A review, Hydrol. Processes, 9, 251-290. (Pubitemid 26441703)
6. Blöschl, G., R. Kirnbauer, and D. Gutknecht (1991a), Distributed snowmelt simulations in an alpine catchment, 1. Model evaluation of the basis of snow cover patterns, Water Resour. Res., 27, 3171-3179, doi:10.1029/ 91WR02250.
7. Blöschl, G., D. Gutknecht, and R. Kirnbauer (1991b), Distributed snowmelt simulations in an alpine catchment, 2. Parameter study and model predictions, Water Resour. Res., 27, 3180-3188, doi:10.1029/91WR02251.
8. Blöschl, G., R. B. Grayson, and M. Sivapalan (1995), On the representative elementary area (REA) concept and its utility for distributed rainfall-runoff modeling, Hydrol. Processes, 9, 313-330. (Pubitemid 26441702)
9. Bruland, O., K. Sand, and A. Killingtveit (2001), Snow distribution at a high arctic site in Svalbard, Nord. Hydrol., 32, 1-12. (Pubitemid 32386731)
10. Bruland, O., G. E. Liston, J. Vonk, K. Sand, and A. Killingtveit (2004), Modelling the snow distribution at two high arctic sites at Svalbard, Norway, and at an alpine site in central Norway, Nord. Hydrol., 35, 191-208. (Pubitemid 39112594)
11. Buttle, J. M., and J. J. McDonnell (1987), Modeling the areal depletion of snowcover in a forested catchment, J. Hydrol., 90, 43-60. (Pubitemid 17572837)
12. Cess, R. D., et al. (1991), Interpretation of snow-climate feedback as produced by 17 general-circulation models, Science, 253, 888-892. (Pubitemid 21917229)
13. Clark, M. P., and A. G. Slater (2006), Probabilistic quantitative precipitation estimation in complex terrain, J. Hydrometeorol., 7(1), 3-22.
14. Cline, D., et al. (2009), NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX 2002/03): Airborne remote sensing, J. Hydrometeorol., 10, 338-346.
15. Dadic, R., R. Mott, M. Lehning, and P. Burlando (2010), Wind influence on snow depth distribution and accumulation over glaciers, J. Geophys. Res., 15, F01012, doi:10.1029/2009JF001261.
16. Davis, R. E., J. P. Hardy, W. Ni, C. Woodcock, J. C. McKenzie, R. Jordan, and X. Li (1997), Variation of snow cover ablation in the boreal forest: A sensitivity study on the effects of conifer canopy, J. Geophys. Res., 102(D24), 29,389-29,395, doi:10.1029/97JD01335.
17. Deems, J. S., S. R. Fassnacht, and K. J. Elder (2006), Fractal distribution of snow depth from Lidar data, J. Hydrometeorol., 7, 285-297.
18. Deems, J. S., S. R. Fassnacht, and K. J. Elder (2008), Interannual consistency in fractal snow depth patterns at two Colorado mountain sites, J. Hydrometeorol., 9, 977-988.
19. Elder, K., J. Dozier, and J. Michaelsen (1991), Snow accumulation and distribution in an alpine watershed, Water Resour. Res., 27, 1541-1552, doi:10.1029/91WR00506.
20. Elder, K., W. Rosenthal, and R. E. Davis (1998), Estimating the spatial distribution of snow water equivalence in a montane watershed, Hydrol. Processes, 12, 1793-1808. (Pubitemid 29007375)
21. Erickson, T. A., M. W. Williams, and A. Winstral (2005), Persistence of topographic controls on the spatial distribution of snow in rugged mountain terrain, Colorado, United States, Water Resour. Res., 41, W04014, doi:10.1029/2003WR002973. (Pubitemid 40707959)
22. Erxleben, J., K. Elder, and R. Davis (2002), Comparison of spatial interpolation methods for estimating snow distribution in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Hydrol. Processes, 16, 3627-3649. (Pubitemid 36080696)
23. Essery, R. (1997), Modelling fluxes of momentum, sensible heat and latent heat over heterogeneous snow, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 123, 1867-1883.
24. Essery, R., and J. Pomeroy (2004a), Vegetation and topographic control of wind-blown snow distributions in distributed and aggregated simulations for an Arctic tundra basin, J. Hydrometeorol., 5, 735-744. (Pubitemid 39565661)
25. Essery, R., and J. Pomeroy (2004b), Implications of spatial distributions of snow mass and melt rate for snow-cover depletion: Theoretical considerations, Ann. Glaciol., 38, 261-265. (Pubitemid 40398533)
26. Essery, R., L. Li, and J. Pomeroy (1999), A distributed model of blowing snow over complex terrain, Hydrol. Processes, 13, 2423-2438. (Pubitemid 30061781)
27. Faria, D. A., J. W. Pomeroy, and R. L. H. Essery (2000), Effect of covariance between ablation and snow water equivalent on depletion of snow covered area within a forest, Hydrol. Processes, 14, 2683-2695.
28. Fitzharris, B. B. (1977), Estimating maximum snow storage capacity of central Otago terrain, paper presented at New Zealand Hydrological Society Annual Symposium, N. Z. Hydrol. Soc., Christchurch, NZ.
29. Geddes, C. I. A., D. G. Brown, and D. B. Fagre (2005), Topography and vegetation as predictors of snow water equivalent across the alpine treeline ecotone at Lee Ridge, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, Arc. Antarctic Alpine Res., 37, 197-205. (Pubitemid 40748369)
30. Greene, E. M., G. E. Liston, and R. A. Pielke (1999), Simulation of above treeline snowdrift formation using a numerical snow-transport model, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 30, 135-144. (Pubitemid 30113155)
31. Grünewald, T., M. Schirmer, R. Mott, and M. Lehning (2010), Spatial and temporal variability of snow depth and ablation rates in a small mountain catchment, Cyrosphere, 4, 215-225.
32. Hardy, J. P., R. E. Davis, R. Jordan, X. Li, C. Woodcock, W. Ni, and J. C. McKenzie (1997), Snow ablation modeling at the stand scale in a boreal jack pine forest, J. Geophys. Res., 102(D24), 29,397- 29,405, doi:10.1029/96JD03096.
33. Harrison, W. (1986), Seasonal accumulation and loss of snow from a block mountain catchment in central Otago, J. Hydrol. (N.Z.), 25, 1-17. (Pubitemid 17568157)
34. Homan, J. W., C. H. Luce, J. P. McNamara, and N. F. Glenn (2011), Improvement of distributed snowmelt energy balance modeling with MODIS-based NDSI-derived fractional snow-covered area data, Hydrol. Processes, 25, 650-660, doi:10.1002/hyp.7857.
35. Hosang, J., and K. Dettwiler (1991), Evaluation of a water equivalent of snow cover map in a small catchment using a geostatistical approach, Hydrol. Processes, 5, 283-290. (Pubitemid 21722041)
36. Iacozza, J., and D. G. Barber (1999), An examination of the distribution of snow on sea ice, Atmos. Ocean, 17, 21-51.
37. Jost, G., M. Weiler, D. R. Gluns, and Y. Alila (2007), The influence of forest and topography on snow accumulation and melt at the watershedscale, J. Hydrol., 347, 101-115. (Pubitemid 350054884)
38. König, M., and M. Sturm (1998), Mapping snow distribution in the Alaskan Arctic using aerial photography and topographic relationships, Water Resour. Res., 34, 3471-3483, doi:10.1029/98WR02514. (Pubitemid 29032962)
39. Kuchment, L. S., and A. N. Gelfan (2001), Statistical self-similarity of spatial variations in snow cover: Verification of the hypothesis and application in snowmelt runoff generation models, Hydrol. Processes, 15, 3343-3345.
40. Kumar, P. (2011), Typology of hydrologic predictability, Water Resour. Res., 47, W00H05, doi:10.1029/2010WR009769.
41. Kuusisto, R. (1980), On the values and variability of the degree-day melting factor in Finland, Nord. Hydrol., 11, 235-242.
42. Lapen, D. R., and L. W. Martz (1996), An investigation of the spatial association between snow depth and topography in a prairie agricultural landscape using digital terrain analysis, J. Hydrol., 184, 277-298.
43. Lehning, M., H. Lowe, M. Ryser, and N. Raderschall (2008), Inhomogeneous precipitation distribution and snow transport in steep terrain, Water Resour. Res., 44, W07404, doi:10.1029/2007WR006545.
44. Link, T. E., and D. Marks (1999a), Point simulation of seasonal snow cover dynamics beneath boreal forest canopies, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D22), 27,841-27,857, doi:10.1029/1998JD200121.
45. Link, T., and D. Marks (1999b), Distributed simulation of snowcover massand energy-balance in the boreal forest, Hydrol. Processes, 13, 2439-2449.
46. Liston, G. E. (1995), Local advection of momentum, heat, and moisture during the melt of patchy snow covers, J. Appl. Meteorol., 34, 1705-1715. (Pubitemid 26440740)
47. Liston, G. E. (1999), Interrelationships among snow distribution, snowmelt, and snow cover depletion: Implications for atmospheric, hydrologic, and ecologic modelling, J. Appl. Meteorol., 38, 1474-1487.
48. Liston, G. E. (2004), Representing subgrid snow cover heterogeneities in regional and global models, J. Clim., 17, 1381-1397. (Pubitemid 38462999)
49. Liston, G. E., and M. Sturm (2002), Winter precipitation patterns in arctic Alaska determined from a blowing-snow model and snow-depth observations, J. Hydrometeorol., 3, 646-659. (Pubitemid 36122403)
50. Luce, C. H., and D. G. Tarboton (2004), The application of depletion curves for parameterization of subgrid variability of snow, Hydrol. Processes, 18, 1409-1422. (Pubitemid 38763143)
51. Luce, C. H., D. G. Tarboton, and K. R. Cooley (1998), The influence of the spatial distribution of snow on basin-averaged snowmelt, Hydrol. Processes, 12, 1671-1683. (Pubitemid 29007368)
52. Luce, C. H., D. G. Tarboton, and K. R. Cooley (1999), Sub-grid parameterization of snow distribution for an energy and mass balance snow model, Hydrol. Processes, 13, 1921-1933. (Pubitemid 30024790)
53. Lundquist, J. D., and M. Dettinger (2005), How snowpack heterogeneity affects diurnal streamflow timing, Water Resour. Res., 41, W05007, doi:10.1029/2004WR003649. (Pubitemid 40856457)
54. Lundquist, J. D., M. Dettinger, and D. Cayan (2005), Snow-fed streamflow timing at different basin scales: Case study of the Tuolumne River above Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite, California, Water Resour. Res., 41, W07005, doi:10.1029/2004WR003933. (Pubitemid 41197288)
55. Machguth, H., O. Eisen, F. Paul, and M. Hoelzle (2006), Strong spatial variability of snow accumulation observed with helicopter-borne GPR on two adjacent alpine glaciers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L13503, doi:10.1029/ 2006GL026576. (Pubitemid 44945942)
56. Marchand, W., and A. Killingtveit (2005), Statistical probability distribution of snow depth at the model sub-grid cell spatial scale, Hydrol. Processes, 19, 355-369. (Pubitemid 40195700)
57. Marks, D., M. Reba, J. Pomeroy, T. Link, A. Winstral, G. Flerchinger, and K. Elder (1998), Comparing simulated and measured sensible and latent heat fluxes over snow under a pine canopy to improve an energy balance snowmelt model, J. Hydrometeorol., 9, 1506-1522.
58. McCartney, S. E., S. K. Carey, and J. W. Pomeroy (2006), Intra-basin variability of snowmelt water balance calculations in a subarctic catchment, Hydrol. Processes, 20, 1001-1016. (Pubitemid 43380343)
59. Mott, R., and M. Lehning (2010), Meteorological modeling of very high-resolution wind fields and snow deposition for mountains, J. Hydrometeorol., 11, 934-949.
60. Mott, R., M. Schirmer, and M. Lehning (2011), Scaling properties of wind and snow depth distribution in an alpine catchment, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D06106, doi:10.1029/2010JD014886.
61. Murray, C. D., J. M. Buttle (2003), Impacts of clearcut harvesting on snow accumulation and melt in a northern hardwood forest, J. Hydrol., 271, 197-212. (Pubitemid 36141154)
62. Niu, G. Y., and Z.-L. Yang (2007), An observation-based formulation of snow cover fraction and its evaluation over large North American river basins, J. Geophys. Res., 112(D21), D21101, doi:10.1029/2007JD008674.
63. Norton, D. A. (1985), A multivariate technique for estimating New Zealand temperature normals, Weather and Climate, 5, 64-74.
64. Owens, I., and B. Fitzharris (2004), Seasonal snow and water, in Freshwaters of New Zealand, Chap. 6, edited by J. Harding et al., Caxton Press, Christchurch, New Zealand.
65. Pomeroy, J. W., D. M. Gray, and P. G. Landine (1993), The prairie blowing snow model - Characteristics, validation, operation, J. Hydrol., 144, 165-192.
66. Pomeroy, J. W., D. M. Gray, K. R. Shook, B. Toth, R. L. H. Essery, A. Pietroniro, and N. Hedstrom (1998), An evaluation of snow accumulation and ablation processes for land surface modeling, Hydrol. Processes, 12, 2339-2367. (Pubitemid 29176081)
67. Pomeroy, J. W., D. M. Gray, N. R. Hedstrom, and J. R. Janowicz (2002), Prediction of seasonal snow accumulation in cold climate forests, Hydrol. Processes, 16, 3543-3558. (Pubitemid 36073125)
68. Pomeroy, J., R. Essery, and B. Toth (2004), Implications of spatial distributions of snow mass and melt rate for snow-cover depletion: Observations in a subarctic mountain catchment, Ann. Glaciol., 38, 195-201. (Pubitemid 40398524)
69. Pomeroy, J. W., D. S. Bewley, R. L. H. Essery, N. R. Hedstrom, T. Link, R. J. Granger, J. E. Sicart, C. R. Ellis, and J. R. Janowicz (2006), Shrub tundra snowmelt, Hydrol. Processes, 20, 923-941. (Pubitemid 43380338)
70. Pomeroy, J., A. Rowlands, J. Hardy, T. Link, D. Marks, R. Essery, J. E. Sicart, and C. Ellis (2008), Spatial variability of shortwave irradiance for snowmelt in forests, J. Hydrometeorol., 9, 1482-1490.
71. Roesch, A., M. Wild, H. Gilgen, and A. Ohmura (2001), A new snow cover fraction parametrization for the ECHAM4 GCM, Clim. Dyn., 17, 933-946. (Pubitemid 32939778)
72. Seyfried, M. S., and B. P. Wilcox (1995), Scale and the nature of spatial variability: Field examples having implications for hydrologic modeling, Water Resour. Res., 31, 173-184, doi:10.1029/94WR02025.
73. Shanley, J. B., and A. Chalmers (1999), The effect of frozen soil on snowmelt runoff at Sleepers River, Vermont, Hydrol. Processes, 13, 1843-1857. (Pubitemid 30024785)
74. Shook, K., and D. M. Gray (1996), Small-scale spatial structure of shallow snow covers, Hydrol. Processes, 10, 1283-1293.
75. Sicart, J. E., J. W. Pomeroy, R. L. H. Essery, J. Hardy, T. Link, and D. Marks (2004), A sensitivity study of daytime net radiation during snowmelt to forest canopy and atmospheric conditions, J. Hydrometeorol., 5, 774-784. (Pubitemid 39565664)
76. Skaugen, T. (2007), Modelling the spatial variability of snow water equivalent at the catchment scale, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1543-1550. (Pubitemid 47383579)
77. Skoien, J. O., and G. Blöschl (2006), Sampling scale effects in random fields and implications for environmental monitoring, Environ. Monit. Assess., 114, 521-552.
78. Sturm, M. (1992), Snow distribution and heat flow in the taiga, Arct. Alp. Res., 24, 145-152.
79. Sturm, M., and G. E. Liston (2003), The snow cover on lakes of the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska, USA, J. Glaciol., 49, 370-380. (Pubitemid 38473582)
80. Sturm, M., J. Holmgren, and G. E. Liston (1995), A Seasonal Snow Cover Classification System for Local to Global Applications, J. Clim., 8, 1261-1283. (Pubitemid 26442034)
81. Sturm, M., K. Morris, and R. Massom (1998), The winter snow cover on the west Antarctic pack ice: Its spatial and temporal variability, in Antarctic Sea Ice: Physical Processes, Interactions, and Variability, Antarct. Res. Ser., 74, 1-18.
82. Sturm, M., Liston, G. E., C. S. Benson, and J. Holmgren (2001a), Characteristics and growth of a snowdrift in arctic Alaska, USA, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 33, 319-329. (Pubitemid 32876013)
83. Sturm, M., J. P. McFadden, G. E. Liston, F. S. Chapin, C. H. Racine, and J. Holmgren (2001b), Snow-shrub interactions in Arctic tundra: A hypothesis with climatic implications, J. Clim., 14, 336-344. (Pubitemid 33053103)
84. Sturm, M., J. Holmgren, and D. K. Perovich (2002), Winter snow cover on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean at the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA): Temporal evolution and spatial variability, J. Geophys. Res., 107(C10), 8047, doi:10.1029/2000JC000400.
85. Sturm, M., B. Taras, G. E. Liston, C. Derksen, T. Jonas, and J. Lea (2010), Estimating snow water equivalent using snow depth data and climate classes, J. Hydrometeorol., 11, 1380-1394.
86. Tait, A., R. Henderson, R. Turner, and X. Zheng (2006), Thin-plate smoothing spline interpolation of daily rainfall for New Zealand using a climatological rainfall surface, Int. J. Climatol., 26, 2097-2115. (Pubitemid 44823238)
87. Tarboton, D. G., and C. H. Luce (1996), Utah energy balance snow accumulation and melt model (UEB), Computer model technical description and users guide, Utah Water Res. Lab. and USDA For. Serv. Intermountain Res. Station, Logan, Utah.
88. Trujillo, E., J. A. Ramirez, and K. J. Elder (2007), Topographic, meteorologic, and canopy controls on the scaling characteristics of the spatial distribution of snow depth fields, Water Resour. Res., 43, W07409, doi:10.1029/2006WR005317. (Pubitemid 350194463)
89. Varhola, A., N. C. Coops, M. Weiler, and R. D. Moore (2010), Forest canopy effects on snow accumulation and ablation: An integrative review, J. Hydrol., 392, 219-233.
90. Veatch, W., P. D. Brooks, J. R. Gustafson, and N. P. Molotch (2009), Quantifying the effects of forest canopy cover on net snow accumulation at a continental, mid-latitude site, Ecohydrology, 2, 115-128.
91. Watson, F. G. R., T. N. Anderson, W. B. Newman, S. E. Alexander, and R. A. Garott (2006), Optimal sampling schemes for estimating snow water equivalents in stratified heterogeneous landscapes, J. Hydrol., 328, 432-452. (Pubitemid 44188746)
92. Weir, P. L. (1979), Topographic influences on snow accumulation at Mount Hutt, Master's Thesis, 83 pp., Univ. of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
93. Winkler, R. D., and R. D. Moore (2006), Variability in snow accumulation patterns within forest stands on the interior plateau of British Columbia, Canada, Hydrol. Processes, 20, 3683-3695. (Pubitemid 44762693)
94. Winstral, A., K. Elder, and R. E. Davis (2002), Spatial snow modelling of wind-redistributed snow using terrain-based parameters, J. Hydrometeorol., 3, 524-538. (Pubitemid 36209727)
95. Winther, J. G., O. Bruland, K. Sand, A. Killingtveit, and D. Marechal (1998), Snow accumulation distribution on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in 1997, Polar Res., 17, 155-164. (Pubitemid 29326218)
96. Woo, M. K., and P. Steer (1986), Monte-Carlo simulation of snow depth in a forest, Water Resour. Res., 22, 864-868, doi:10.1029/WR022i006p00864. (Pubitemid 16586902)
97. Wood, E. F., M. Sivapalan, K. Beven, and L. Band (1988), Effects of spatial variability and scale with implications to hydrologic modelling, J. Hydrol., 102, 29-47. (Pubitemid 19299499)
98. Yang, Z. L., R. E. Dickinson, A. Robock, and K. Y. Vinnikov (1997), Validation of the snow submodel of the biosphere-atmosphere transfer scheme with Russian snow cover and meteorological observational data, J. Clim., 10, 353-373.