Journal of Natural Disaster Science

SIMULATION OF TIME VARIATION IN SEASONAL SNOWCOVER BASED ON ROUTINELY AVAILABLE DATA

Yasuyuki UJIHASHI
Research Associate, Department of Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University
and
Nobutada TAKASE
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University

(Received 30 September 1991 and in revised form 16 January 1992)

Abstract

A novel method is presented that considers the four main physical processes that occur during snow season; snowfall, densification of snow, snowmelt and percolation of meltwater. It simulates both snowmelt runoff and the time variation in seasonal snowcover in days. A viscous compression theory and heat balance method respectively are used to simulate the densification process and snowmelt process. The snowfall and percolation of meltwater processes are handled in simplified form.

The only data required are those that are routinely available. Moreover the model parameters can be specified from field observations, reports in the literature, or both. The time variation in snow depth, water equivalent of snow, average snow density, snow density profile, snowmelt and runoff at Kanazawa, were simulated with this new model and the results compared with observed values.

Key words

snowmelt runoff, seasonal snowcover, bottom melt, snowmelt, heat balance, snow densification