Significance and issues of automatic snow cover measurement – case study for the Šumava Mountains region

Abstract

The study evaluates the contribution of automatic snow measuring stations for snow monitoring in the Šumava region. Using climatological maps, the results of spatial analysis of the maximum depth of the snow cover for six winter seasons were compared, namely first from the measured data of the basic CHMI stations and second from the data of all stations. The biggest differences occurred in the comparison at the highest locations on the windward side of the Šumava (>1 200 m a.s.l.), where there is no corresponding network of basic meteorological stations. In the case of the snow-poor winter season 2020/21, these differences were relatively higher than in the 2018/19 season, with more extensive snow cover in all positions. The evaluation of the entire period (2017/18–2022/23) produced similar results, as snow-poor winter seasons prevailed here. We can therefore assume that the differences in snow characteristics will continue to be rather significant in the Šumava region. Accordingly, the importance of automatic snow measurement will also increase, especially in higher altitudes of the windward border area. In addition to the expansion of the measuring network and the significant refinement of information about the snow cover, especially in the mountains, the main benefit of data on the depth of snow from automatic stations is their operability and immediate use for other applications.