Modeling Spatial Differences in Snowmelt Runoff Timing
Title | Modeling Spatial Differences in Snowmelt Runoff Timing |
Publication Type | Conference Proceedings |
Year of Conference | 2008 |
Authors | Lott, F. C., and Lundquist J. D. |
Conference Name | 76th Annual Western Snow Conference |
Series Title | Proceedings of the 76th Annual Western Snow Conference |
Date Published | April 2008 |
Publisher | Western Snow Conference |
Conference Location | Hood River, OR |
Keywords | Subalpine meadows, Yosemite, Tuolumne River, DHSVM, runoff timing, topographic shading |
Abstract | Discharge in small, tributary streams affects water table heights, riparian vegetation, and habitat in subalpine meadows. This project investigates how topographic shading affects the advance of snowmelt onset and the date snow disappears as temperatures warm in Yosemite National Park, California. Observations show that in years where the temperature warms earlier in the season, south-facing sub-basins start melting over a week earlier than north-facing basins. Thus, meadow areas fed by sub-basins with southern aspects are expected to be much more sensitive to warming temperatures than areas fed by sub-basins with northern aspects. Traditionally, most future hydrologic simulations are run for large basins, and these effects would not be captured. The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) is used to test if high-resolution (150m) modeling containing a topographic shading component can represent these observed differences in various sub-basins and meadow regions. The findings help define the model complexity needed to properly represent the effects of shading in mountainous terrain. |
URL | sites/westernsnowconference.org/PDFs/2008Lott.pdf |