Modelling coupled transport of mass and energy into the snowpack—model development, validation and sensitivity analysis

Abstract

A numerical simulation model entitled UCGVDSM is proposed for modelling coupled transport of mass and energy into the snowpack. The model is tested on point snowmelt data for station Kühtai located in the Austrian Alps. Model performance is .assessed on the basis of model reproduction of three state variables—snow water equivalent, melt water flux and depth of snowpack. The model also provides information on internal processes of the snowpack. The range of all the parameters used in the model is extensively examined through a sensitivity analysis. The search for optimum values of the parameters is combined with sensitivity analysis.