The impact of different elevation steps on simulation of snow covered area and the resulting runoff variance
This study analyses the impact of vertical model discretisation on modelling snow covered area and the consequential effects on runoff formation of the semi-distributed water balance model HQsim. Therefore, the parameters relevant for snow modelling are varied within the frame of a uniformly distrib...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Advances in Geosciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.adv-geosci.net/32/69/2012/adgeo-32-69-2012.pdf |
| Summary: | This study analyses the impact of vertical model discretisation on modelling
snow covered area and the consequential effects on runoff formation of the
semi-distributed water balance model HQsim. Therefore, the parameters
relevant for snow modelling are varied within the frame of a uniformly
distributed Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). Since the model is based on the
hydrological response unit (HRU) approach, the effect of building the HRUs
with different elevation steps (250 m and 500 m) is tested for two alpine
catchments. In total 5000 parameter combinations were generated for
simulation. The results of modelled snow covered area were compared with
thirty MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) snow cover maps
for the melting periods in 2003–2011. Based on a contingency table the
comparisons were evaluated by different skill measures. Finally, the pareto
optimal parameter settings of each skill measure were detected. Evaluation
of runoff variability within the MCS and their pareto optimal runs show
reduced variances of model output resulting from an improved simulation of
the snow covered area. |
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| ISSN: | 1680-7340 1680-7359 |