Abstract

This chapter outlines applications of snow cover depletion information in hydrologic applications. The works described have improved the ability to characterize the spatial distribution of snowmelt, snow water equivalent (SWE), and associated runoff response. More recent hydrologic applications of remotely sensed snow cover data have characterized the subbasin spatial distribution of snow-covered area (SCA) and SWE. This evolution from lumped, basin-wide representation of SCA and SWE toward pixel-specific distributions of these quantities is implicitly described in the chapter. The performance of both the reconstruction and the blended SWE estimates were determined using 17 extensive snow surveys at 6 locations with spatial sampling and with the operational snow sensor networks. The reconstructed and blended SWE estimates were also compared against National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operational Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS). Incorporation of remotely sensed snow observations into distributed models remains a pressing challenge in mountain hydrology.

Citation

Molotch, N.P., Durand, M.T., Guan, B., Margulis, S.A., and Davis, R.E. (2014): Snow cover depletion curves and snow water equivalent reconstruction: six decades of hydrologic remote sensing applications . In Lakshmi, Venkataraman, ed., AGU Monograph on Remote Sensing of the Terrestrial Water Cycle, American Geophysical Union, p. 159-174, ISBN 978-1-118-87203-1. DOI: 10.1002/9781118872086.ch10

This Paper/Book acknowledges NSF CZO grant support.