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19<br />
63 rd EASTERN SNOW CONFERENCE<br />
Newark, Delaware USA 2006<br />
Potential of a Water Bal<strong>an</strong>ce Model with High Temporal<br />
Resolution for <strong>the</strong> Distributed Modelling of Ice- <strong>an</strong>d <strong>Snow</strong>melt<br />
Processes at High Elevated Sites<br />
ABSTRACT<br />
GERNOT KOBOLTSCHNIG 1 , HUBERT HOLZMANN 1 ,<br />
WOLFGANG SCHOENER 2 , AND MASSIMILIANO ZAPPA 3<br />
The potential of <strong>the</strong> distributed hydrological water bal<strong>an</strong>ce model PREVAH at <strong>the</strong> small, highly<br />
glacierized catchment area of Goldbergkees in <strong>the</strong> Austri<strong>an</strong> Alps h<strong>as</strong> been investigated. The model<br />
is driven by meteorological data from <strong>the</strong> observatory at Hoher Sonnblick, situated at <strong>the</strong> highest<br />
point of <strong>the</strong> catchment area. A dense network of field observations <strong>as</strong> additional input <strong>an</strong>d<br />
validation data h<strong>as</strong> been applied. In <strong>the</strong> final setting PREVAH h<strong>as</strong> been run in <strong>an</strong> hourly time step<br />
b<strong>as</strong>ed on 722 hydrological response units covering <strong>the</strong> catchment area. Both snow- <strong>an</strong>d icemelt<br />
have been simulated by me<strong>an</strong>s of <strong>an</strong> adv<strong>an</strong>ced air temperature-index b<strong>as</strong>ed approach taking<br />
potential direct solar radiation into account. A multi-validation approach using discharge<br />
hydrographs, me<strong>as</strong>ured snow water equivalent data (SWE), snow cover patterns derived from<br />
satellite data, <strong>an</strong>d glacier m<strong>as</strong>s bal<strong>an</strong>ce investigations have been applied to validate <strong>the</strong> water<br />
bal<strong>an</strong>ce of <strong>the</strong> hydrological year of 2004/2005. The comparison of modelled SWE with spatially<br />
dense SWE me<strong>as</strong>urements at four different dates within <strong>the</strong> period May to July 2005 shows quite<br />
good accord<strong>an</strong>ce for both individual elevation b<strong>an</strong>ds <strong>an</strong>d <strong>the</strong> <strong>entire</strong> catchment. The period of<br />
2003/2004 h<strong>as</strong> been used for cross-validating <strong>the</strong> model for discharge-hydrograph <strong>an</strong>d ice melt.<br />
Icemelt <strong>an</strong>d maximum snow accumulation have been validated against glacier m<strong>as</strong>s bal<strong>an</strong>ce<br />
me<strong>as</strong>urements. The individual components contributing to runoff such <strong>as</strong> rainfall, snow- <strong>an</strong>d<br />
icemelt have been separated for <strong>the</strong> hydrological year 2004/05 to estimate <strong>the</strong>ir fraction to total<br />
discharge which is 3.8% for rain, 86.8% for snow, <strong>an</strong>d 9.4% for ice respectively. Finally<br />
recommendations are given for a possible improvement of hydrologic models considering snow-<br />
<strong>an</strong>d icemelt at high elevated sites.<br />
Keywords: glacier melt; snowmelt; alpine hydrology; water bal<strong>an</strong>ce of high elevated sites; SWE<br />
investigation<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
According to <strong>the</strong> location, elevation <strong>an</strong>d topography <strong>the</strong> contribution to runoff from glacier melt,<br />
snowmelt <strong>an</strong>d rainfall at glacierized, alpine watersheds varies strongly depending on climate<br />
1<br />
University of Natural Resources <strong>an</strong>d Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), Muthg<strong>as</strong>se 18, A-1190<br />
Vienna, Austria. E-mail: gernot.koboltschnig@boku.ac.at<br />
2<br />
Central Institute of Meteorology <strong>an</strong>d Geodynamics (ZAMG), Hohewarte 38, A-1190 Vienna,<br />
Austria<br />
3<br />
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, <strong>Snow</strong> <strong>an</strong>d L<strong>an</strong>dscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstr<strong>as</strong>se 111,<br />
CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerl<strong>an</strong>d