Paper de nieve para ejemplo de captura de datos en terreno

TITULO

AUTOR(ES)

AO

1
Estimating the spatial
distribution of snow water
equivalence in a montane
watershed

Kelly Elder, Walter Rosenthal

and Robert E. Davis

1998

2
Snow Accumulation and
Distribution in an Alpine
Watershed

KELLY ELDER, JEFF

DOZIER, AND JOEL
MICHAELSEN

1991

ADAM WINSTRAL, KELLY

2002

RESUMEN

An approach to model distributed snow water equivalence (SWE) that merges field measurements of depth
and density with remotely sensed snow-covered area (SCA) is described. In 1993, two teams conducted an
intensive snow survey in the 92.8 km2 Blackcap Basin of the Kings River. Snow depth was measured at 709
points and density in five snow pits and along five transects using a Federal Sampler. Sample locations were
chosen to be representative of the range of elevation, slope and aspect of the basin. Regression tree models
showed that net radiation, elevation and slope angle account for 6070% of the variance in the depth
measurements. Density was distributed over the basin on a 30 m grid with a multiple linear regression model
that explained 70% of the observed variance as a function of the same three variables. The gridded depth
estimates, combined with modelled density, produced spatially distributed estimates of SWE. An
unsupervised spectral unmixing algorithm estimated snow cover fractions from Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper
data acquired at the time as the snow survey. This method provides a snow cover fraction estimate for every
pixel. This subpixel map was used as the best estimate for SCA and, combining it with the SWE map,
allowed computation of the SWE volume.
The estimated volume using the subpixel SCA map was compared with several SCA maps produced with
simulations of binary SCA mapping techniques. Thresholds of 40, 50 and 60% fractional cover were used to
map binary cases of full snow cover or no snow cover. The difference in basin SWE volume was up to
13% depending on the threshold used to classify snow-covered versus snow-free areas. The percentage
differences in volumes show a significant correlation to the percentage differences in SCA between the
methods.
Distribution of snow water equivalence (SWE) was measured in the Emerald Lake watershed located in
Sequoia National Park, California, by taking hundreds of depth measurement sand density profiles at six
locations during the 1986, 1987 and 1988 water years. A stratified sampling scheme was evaluated by
identifying and mapping zones of similar snow properties on the basis of topographic parameters that
account fur variations in both accumulation and ablation. Elevation, slope, and radiation values calculated
from a digital elevation model were used to determine the zones. Of the variables studied, net radiation was
of primary importance. Field measurements of SWE were combined with the physical attributes of the
watershed and clustered to identify similar classes of SWE. The entire basin was then partitioned into zones
for each survey date. Statistical analysis showed that partitioning the watershed on the basis of topographic
and radiation variables does produce superior results over a simple random sample
Wind is widely recognized as one of the dominant controls of snow accumulation and distribution in

Spatial Snow Modeling of

Wind-Redistributed Snow
Using Terrain-Based
Parameters

4
Combining binary decision
tree and geostatistical
methods
to estimate snow distribution
in a mountain watershed

exposed alpine regions. Complex and highly variable wind fields in rugged terrain lead to similarly complex
snow distribution fields with areas of no snow adjacent to areas of deep accumulation. Unfortunately, these
complexities have limited inclusion of wind redistribution effects in spatial snow distribution models. In this
study the difficulties associated with physically exhaustive wind field modeling are avoided and terrainbased parameters are developed to characterize wind effects. One parameter, Sx, was based on maximum
upwind slopes relative to seasonally averaged winds to characterize the wind scalar at each pixel location in
an alpine basin. A second parameter, Sb, measured upwind breaks in slope from a given location and was
combined with an upwind
application of to create a drift delineator parameter, D0Sx , which was used to delineate sites of intense
redeposition on lee slopes. Based on 504 snow depth samples from a May 1999 survey of the upper Green
Lakes Valley, Colorado, the correlation of the developed parameters to the observed snow distribution and
the effect of their inclusion in a spatial snow distribution model were quantified. The parameter Sx was
found to be a significant predictor, accounting for more of the variance in the observed snow depth than
could be explained by elevation, solar radiation, or slope. Samples located in D0-delineated drift zones were
shown to have significantly greater depths than samples located in nondrift zones. A regression tree model
of snow distribution based on a predictor variable set of , D0Sx , elevation, solar radiation, and slope
explained 8%23% more variance in the observed snow distribution, and performed noticeably better in
unsampled areas of the basin, compared to a regression tree model based on only the latter three predictors.

ELDER, ROBERT E. DAVIS

Benjamin Balk and Kelly Elder

2000

Persistence of topographic
controls on the spatial
distribution of
snow in rugged mountain
terrain, Colorado, United
States

5
Evaluation of spatial
variability in snow water
equivalent
for a high mountain
catchment

6
Mapping Snow Water
Equivalent by Combining a
Spatially Distributed Snow
Hydrology Model

Tyler A. Erickson1 and Mark W.

Williams

S. P. Anderton S. M. White and

B. Alvera

Larry L. Wilson, Leung Tsang,

Fellow, IEEE, Jenq-Neng
Hwang, Senior Member, IEEE,
and Chi-Te Chen,

2005

2003

1999

We model the spatial distribution of snow depth across a wind-dominated alpine basin using a geostatistical
approach with a complex variable mean. Snow depth surveys were conducted at maximum accumulation
from 1997 through 2003 in the 2.3 km2 Green Lakes Valley watershed in Colorado. We model snow depth
as a random function that can be decomposed into a deterministic trend and a stochastic residual. Three
snow depth trends were considered, differing in how they model the effect of terrain parameters on snow
depth. The terrain parameters considered were elevation, slope, potential radiation, an index of wind
sheltering, and an index of wind drifting. When nonlinear interactions between the terrain parameters were
included and a multiyear data set was analyzed, all five terrain parameters were found to be statistically
significant in predicting snow depth, yet only potential radiation and the index of wind sheltering were
found to be statistically significant for all individual years. Of the five terrain parameters considered, the
index of wind sheltering was found to have the greatest effect on predicted snow depth. The methodology
presented in this paper allows for the characterization of the spatial correlation of model residuals for a
variable mean model, incorporates the spatial correlation into the optimization of the deterministic trend,
and produces smooth estimate maps that may extrapolate above and below measured values.
Multivariate statistical analysis was used to explore relationships between catchment topography and spatial
variability in snow accumulation and melt processes in a small headwater catchment in the Spanish
Pyrenees. Manual surveys of snow depth and density provided information on the spatial distribution of
snow water equivalent (SWE) and its depletion over the course of the 1997 and 1998 melt seasons. A
number of indices expressing the topographic control on snow processes were extracted from a detailed
digital elevation model of the catchment. Bivariate screening was used to assess the relative importance of
these topographic indices in controlling snow accumulation at the start of the melt season, average melt rates
and the timing of snow disappearance. This suggested that topographic controls on the redistribution of
snow by wind are the most important influence on snow distribution at the start of the melt season.
Furthermore, it appeared that spatial patterns of snow disappearance were largely determined by the
distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) at the start of the melt season, rather than by spatial variability
in melt rates during the melt season. Binary regression tree models relating snow depth and disappearance
date to terrain indices were then constructed. These explained 7080% of the variance in the observed data.
As well as providing insights into the influence of topography on snow processes, it is suggested that the
techniques presented herein could be used in the parameterization of distributed snowmelt models, or in the
design of efficient stratified snow surveys.
An algorithm to incorporate passive microwave remote-sensing measurements within a spatially distributed
snow hydrology model to provide estimates of the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) as a
function of time is implemented. A priori information provided by the snow hydrology model is used to
provide initial estimates of snow parameters from brightness temperature measurements. The algorithm is
illustrated by applying it to a mountainous region. The passive microwave remote-sensing measurements are

with Passive Microwave

Remote-Sensing Data

7
Gridded North American
Monthly Snow Depth and
Snow
Water Equivalent for GCM
Evaluation

Comparison of spatial
interpolation methods for
estimating snow distribution
in the Colorado Rocky
Mountains

Ross D. Brown1*, Bruce

Brasnett2 and David
Robinson3

Jennifer Erxleben,1* Kelly

Elder2 and Robert Davis3

2002

2002

25-km resolution (grid). However, in mountain regions, the spatial variability of

SWE over a 25-km grid is large due to topographic influences.
On the other hand, the snow hydrology model has built-in topographic information and the capability to
estimate SWE at a 1-km resolution. In our work, the snow hydrology SWE estimates are updated and
corrected using Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) passive microwave remote-sensing
measurements. The method is applied to the Upper Rio Grande River Basin in the mountains of Colorado.
The change in prediction of SWE from hydrology modeling with and without updating is compared with
measurements from two SNOw pack TELemetry (SNOTEL) sites in and near the basin. The results indicate
that the method incorporating the remote-sensing measurements into the hydrology model is able to more
closely estimate the temporal evolution of the measured values of SWE as a function of time.
Evaluation of snow cover in GCMs has been hampered by a lack of reliable gridded estimates of snow water
equivalent (SWE) at continental scales. In order to address this gap, a snow depth analysis scheme
developed
by Brasnett (1999) and employed operationally at the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC), was applied
to generate a 0.3 latitude/longitude grid of monthly mean snow depth and corresponding estimated water
equivalent for North America to evaluate GCM snow cover simulations for the Atmospheric Model
Intercomparison Project II (AMIP II) for the period 197996. Approximately 8000 snow depth observations
per day were obtained from U.S. cooperative stations and Canadian climate stations for input to the analysis.
The first-guess field used a simple snow accumulation, aging and melt model driven by 6-hourly values of
air temperature and precipitation from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting
(ECMWF) ERA-15 Reanalysis with extensions from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA)
operational data archive. The gridded snow depthand estimated SWE results agree well with available
independent in situ and satellite data over mid-latitudinal regions of the continent, and the snow depth
climatology exhibited several improvements over Foster and Davy (1988). The monthly snow depth and
estimated SWE climatologies are available for downloading from the Canadian Cryospheric Information
Network (http://www.ccin.ca).
Our understanding of snow distribution in the mountains is limited as a result of the
complex controls leading to extreme spatial variability. More accurate representations
of snow distribution are greatly needed for improvements to hydrological forecasts,
climate models, and for the future testing and validation of remote-sensing retrieval
algorithms. In this study, the relative performances of four spatial interpolation
methods were evaluated to estimate snow water equivalent for three 1 km 2 study
sites in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Each study site is representative of different
topographic and vegetative characteristics. From 1 to 11 April 2001, 550 snow depth
measurements and approximately 16 snow density profiles were obtained within each

study site. The analytical methods used to estimate snow depth over the 1 km 2 areas
were (1) inverse distance weighting, (2) ordinary kriging, (3) modified residual kriging
and cokriging, and (4) a combined method using binary regression trees and
geostatistical methods. The independent variables used were elevation, slope, aspect,
net solar radiation, and vegetation. Using cross-validation procedures, each method
was assessed for accuracy. The tree-based models provided the most accurate
estimates for all study
sites, explaining 1830% of the observed variability in snow depth. Kriging of the
regression tree residuals did not substantially improve the models. Cokriging of the
residuals resulted in a less accurate model when compared with the tree-based
models alone. Binary regression trees may have generated the most accurate
estimates out of all methods evaluated; however, substantial portions of the
variability in observed snow depth were left unexplained by the models. Though the
data may have simply lacked spatial structure, it is recommended that the
characteristics of the study sites, sampling strategy, and independent variables be
explored further to evaluate the causes for the relatively poor model results.