| Title: | Comparison of temperature-index snowmelt models for use within an operational water quality model |
| Authors: | Watson, B.M. and G. Putz |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Journal: | Journal of Environmental Quality |
| Volume (Issue): | 43(1) |
| Pages: | 199-207 |
| Article ID: | |
| DOI: | 10.2134/jeq2011.0369 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWATBF |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | comparison of snowmelt algorithms |
| Secondary Application Category: | calibration, sensitivity, and/or uncertainty analysis |
| Watershed Description: | 3.0 km^2 Mosquito Creek, 5.2 km^2 1A Creek, 9.5 km^2 Thistle Creek, 15.0 km^2 Willow Creek and 133 km^2 Groat Creek, located in the Swan Hills region about 200 km northwest of the City of Edmonton in central Alberta, Canada. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | This article is part of the JEQ special SWAT section. |
| Abstract: | The accurate prediction of snowmelt runoff is a critical component
of integrated hydrological and water quality models in regions where
snowfall constitutes a significant portion of the annual precipitation.
In cold regions, the accumulation of a snowpack and the subsequent
spring snowmelt generally constitutes a major proportion of the
annual water yield. Furthermore, the snowmelt runoff transports
significant quantities of sediment and nutrients to receiving streams
and strongly influences downstream water quality. Temperature-index
models are commonly used in operational hydrological and
water quality models to predict snowmelt runoff. Due to their
simplicity, computational efficiency, low data requirements, and
ability to consistently achieve good results, numerous temperature-index
models of varying complexity have been developed in the
past few decades. The objective of this study was to determine
how temperature-index models of varying complexity would affect
the performance of the water quality model SWATBF (a modified
version of SWAT that was developed for watersheds dominated by
boreal forest) for predicting runoff. Temperature-index models used
by several operational hydrological models were incorporated into
SWATBF. Model performance was tested on five watersheds on the
Canadian Boreal Plain whose hydrologic response is dominated
by snowmelt runoff. The results of this study indicate that simpler
temperature-index models can perform as well as more complex
temperature-index models for predicting runoff from the study
watersheds. The outcome of this study has important implications
because the incorporation of simpler temperature-index snowmelt
models into hydrological and water quality models can lead to a
reduction in the number of parameters that need to be optimized
without sacrificing predictive accuracy. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | |