A Simple Process-Based Snowmelt Routine to Model Spatially Distributed Snow Depth and Snowmelt in the SWAT Model

作者：Fuka Daniel R^*; Easton Zachary M; Brooks Erin S; Boll Jan; Steenhuis Tammo S; Walter M Todd

来源：Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 2012, 48(6): 1151-1161.

DOI：10.1111/j.1752-1688.2012.00680.x

• snowmelt
• snow cover
• radiation
• energy budget
• distributed hydrological model
• environmental energy
• process-based model
• temperature index
• SWAT

We present a method to integrate a process-based (PB) snowmelt model that requires only daily temperature and elevation information into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The model predicts the spatiotemporal snowpack distribution without adding additional complexity, and in fact reduces the number of calibrated parameters. To demonstrate the utility of the PB model, we calibrate the PB and temperature-index (TI) SWAT models to optimize agreement with stream discharge on a 46-km2 watershed in northwestern Idaho, United States, for 10 individual years and use the calibrated parameters for the year with the best agreement to run the model for 15 remaining years. Stream discharge predictions by the PB and TI model were similar, although the PB model simulated snowmelt more accurately than the TI model for the remaining 15-year period. Spatial snow distributions predicted by the PB model better matched observations from LandSat imagery and a SNOTEL station. Results for this watershed show that including PB snowmelt in watershed models is feasible, and calibration of TI-based watershed models against discharge can incorrectly predict snow cover.

• 出版日期2012-12
• 单位美国弗吉尼亚理工大学(Virginia Tech)