Study of Snow Depletion Characteristics at Two Mountainous Watersheds Using NOAA AVHRR Time Series Data

Abstract

Spatial information of snow cover and depth distribution is a key component for snowmelt runoff modeling. Wide snow cover areas can be extracted from NOAA AVHRR or Terra MODIS satellite images. In this study eight sets of annual snow cover data (1997-2006) in two mountainous watersheds (A: Chungju-Dam and B: Soyanggang-Dam) were extracted using NOAA AVHRR images. The distribution of snow depth within the Snow Cover Area (SCA) was generated using snowfall data from ground meteorological observation stations. Snow depletion characteristics for the two watersheds were analyzed snow distribution time series data. The decreased pattern of SCA can be expressed as a logarithmic function; the determination coefficients were 0.62 and 0.68 for the A and B watersheds, respectively. The SCA decreased over 70% within 10 days from the time of maximum SCA.