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( ) 3.3
Where: Q = average daily discharge [m3s-1]
c = runoff coefficient expressing the losses as a ratio (runoff/precipitation), with
cs referring to snowmelt and cr to rain
a = degree-day factor [cm per C per day] indicating the snowmelt depth
resulting from 1 degree-day
T = number of degree-days [C d]
T = the adjustment by temperature lapse rate when extrapolating the
temperature from the station to the average hypsometric elevation of the basin or
zone [C d]
S = ratio of the snow covered area to the total area
P = precipitation contributing to runoff [cm]. A pre-selected threshold
temperature, T
CRIT
, determines whether this contribution is rainfall or snow. If
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
18
precipitation is determined by T
CRIT
to be new snow, it is kept on storage over
the hitherto snow free area until melting conditions occur.
A = area of the basin or zone [km
2
]
k = recession coefficient indicating the decline of discharge in a period
without snowmelt or rainfall:
k = Q
m
/Q
m+1
(m, m + 1) are the sequence of days during a true recession flow
period).
n = sequence of days during the discharge computation period. Equation (3.3) is
written for a time lag between the daily temperature cycle and the resulting
discharge cycle of 18 hours. In this case, the number of degree-days measured on
the nth day corresponds to the discharge on the n + 1 day. Various lag times can
be introduced by a subroutine.
10000/86400= conversion from cmkm
2
d
-1
to m
3
s
-1
T, S and P are variables to be measured or determined each day, whereas, c
s
, c
r
, lapse rate, T
CRIT
,
k and the lag time are parameters which are characteristic for a given basin. If the elevation range
of the basin exceeds 500 m, it is recommended that the basin should be subdivided into elevation
zones of about 500 m each (Figure 3.2). To date the model has been applied by various agencies,
institutes and universities in over 100 basins, situated in 29 different countries. Almost 50% of
these studies have been done in USA, Spain and Switzerland (Graph 3.1).
Graph 3.1: Countries name against the frequency of SRM applications
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
19
3.2 Data Requirement
Actually there are three input tables required for running the model.
1. The characteristics of the basin with inputs area of each elevation zone and hypsometric
mean elevation of that zone, which can be obtained from area elevation curve of the
study area.
2. The snow cover, precipitation, and temperature data as input variables.
3. The parameters for the basin, which are; runoff coefficient for snow, critical temperature,
runoff coefficient for rain, rainfall contributing area, degree day factor, recession
coefficient, temperature lapse rate and time lag. These parameters are used to calibrate
the model.
3.3 Basin characteristics
3.3.1. Basin and zone areas
The basin boundary is defined by the location of the stream gauge (which is Kalam in this study)
and the watershed divide is identified on a topographic map or DEM. In this study SRTM data
was used for getting the basin boundary above Kalam which is the base station as well. This was
done in ILWIS software using DEM-hydro processing tools. The basin boundary is obtained as
polygon map. The polygon map is used for masking only the basin part of SRTM DEM. The
resulted DEM is then re-sampled into different elevation zones of 500m as recommended by the
model developers. The elevation difference in the study for this research is from 1991m a.m.s.l to
5790m a.m.s.l hence it has 8 elevation zones as shown below (Figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2: Kalam basin has been divided into 8 elevation zones of 500 meter interval.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
20
3.3.2. Area elevation curve
The area elevation curve is obtained from digital elevation model. The model needs hypsometric
mean elevation of each zone to extrapolate various variables to it with a known rate. Temperature
and precipitation are variables which are extrapolated from base station to hypsometric mean
elevation of each, as measurement stations are not available in each zone. The zonal hypsometric
mean elevation, h, was determined from the attribute table, by calculating half area for each zone
as well as adding it to total area of zones below it. This area was then compared against the
elevation in the attribute table (Graph 3.2).
Graph 3.2: Cumulative area elevation curve of the study area. There are 8 Small dots on the curve
and they are representing hypsometric mean elevation of each zone starting from zone1 to zone8.
3.4 Snow Area, S
Snow cover is the most important input variable for this study. Its areal extent gradually
decreases during a snowmelt season. Snow cover has been mapped using images of Moderate
Resolution Imaging Radio-spectrometer (MODIS) sensor onboard Aqua and Terra satellites.
Thanks to MODIS Rapid Response Project at NASA/GSFC who are providing subsets of my
study area free of charge on their website. Detail given in section 4.3
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
21
3.5 Input Variables
SRM needs three input variables, namely daily temperature, daily precipitation data and
snow cover as discussed below.
3.5.1. Temperature, T
SRM estimate the daily snow water equivalent by computing the daily snowmelt depth using the
number of degree days. A degree day is a day with an average temperature one degree above 2
C. For example a day with an average temperature of 15 C, gives 13 degree-days. SRM model
calculate degree days itself from daily average temperatures stored in the database for each
simulation. Average daily temperatures for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006 are used for the
current study (Graph 3.3).
Graph 3.3: Daily average temperatures of melting seasons of 2004, 2005, and 2006 are used as input to the
model for the respective years. These are then extrapolated to the hypsometric mean altitudes of all eight
zones.
The program accepts either temperature data from a single station or from several stations, by
zone. In the current case basin wide temperature data from a single station was used. The altitude
of the station is entered and temperature data are extrapolated to the hypsometric mean
elevations of all zones using the temperature lapse rate.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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3.5.2. Precipitation, P
Precipitation is a main component of the hydrological cycle, and as such is of primary
importance in hydrology. Mapping of areal precipitation is generally difficult in mountainous
basins, because it shows large and spatial variations and usually exhibits rapid temporal
variations. WinSRM accepts either a single, basin-wide precipitation input from one station
(which is Kalam in this study) or different precipitation inputs zone by zone. Graph 3.4 shows
the daily rainfall in Kalam catchment (2004-2005).
The precipitation can be treated as snow if the temperature values are less than a critical
temperature (section: critical temperature). The new snow that falls over the previously snow-
covered area is assumed to become part of the seasonal snowpack. This precipitation is stored by
SRM and then melted as soon as a sufficient number of degree-days have occurred. Rainfall data
of 2004, 2005, and 2006 have been stored in the database for Kalam station.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
R
a
i
n
(
m
m
)
1
/
1
/
2
0
0
4
3
/
1
/
2
0
0
4
5
/
1
/
2
0
0
4
7
/
1
/
2
0
0
4
9
/
1
/
2
0
0
4
1
1
/
1
/
2
0
0
4
1
/
1
/
2
0
0
5
3
/
1
/
2
0
0
5
5
/
1
/
2
0
0
5
7
/
1
/
2
0
0
5
9
/
1
/
2
0
0
5
1
1
/
1
/
2
0
0
5
1
/
1
/
2
0
0
6
3
/
1
/
2
0
0
6
5
/
1
/
2
0
0
6
Day of year
Daily Rainfall (mm) Recorded at Kalam Station (2004 and 2005)
Graph 3.4: Daily rainfall recorded at base station Kalam in 2004 and 2005
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
23
3.5.3. Snow Depletion Curve
A depletion curve of the snow coverage is the curve showing how the snow cover in each zone is
depleted temporally. It can be interpolated from periodical snow cover mapping so that the daily
values can be read off as an important input variable to SRM. Together with temperature and
precipitation data, such depletion curves enable SRM to simulate runoff in a past year. The
depletion curves in zone7 and zone8 refer to the glaciers and permanently snow-covered areas, so
that is why the values do not change by time.
Graph 3.5: Depletion curves of the snow coverage for 8 elevation zones of the basin Kalam,
derived from the MODIS imagery Zone1: 1991 - 2490 m a.s.l., Zone2: 2491 - 2990 m a.s.l.,
Zone3: 2991 - 3490 m a.s.l., Zone4: 3491 - 3990 m a.s.l., Zone5: 3991-4490 m a.s.l, Zone6: 4491
- 4990 m a.s.l, Zone7: 4991-5490 m a.s.l, Zone5: 5491-5990 m a.s.l.
3.6 Input Parameters
Input parameters are used for the calibration of SRM model. These parameters include
runoff coefficient for snow, and rain, temperature lapse rate, degree day factor, lag time,
rainfall contributing area (RCA), and recession coefficients.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
24
3.6.1. Runoff Coefficient, C
The difference between the available water volume (snowmelt + rainfall) and the outflow from
the basin are the losses due to evaporation, Evapo-transpiration, interception and infiltration.
Runoff coefficient takes care of such losses. Comparison of historical precipitation and runoff
ratios provide a starting point for the runoff coefficient. Daily precipitation values recorded by a
station inside the basin multiplied by the total area of the basin and then dividing the recorded
daily discharge at the outlet of the basin by the results gives the runoff coefficient. Of the SRM
parameters, the runoff coefficient appears to be the primary candidate for adjustment if a runoff
simulation is not at once successful. The river discharge and meteorological data were provided
by the Pakistan Meteorological Department and Pakistan Water and Power Development
Authority (WAPDA). No recorded information about runoff coefficients is available about the
study area.
In the study area losses are supposed to be high in the start of the melting season because out of 8
elevation zones 7 zones are still covered with snow, which may capture most of the precipitation
on it. In the middle of the melting season the losses are dependent on weather conditions, which
mean both low and high losses are possible. Towards the end of the snowmelt season, direct
channel flow from the remaining snowfields and glaciers may prevail in some basins which lead
to a decrease of losses and to an increase of the runoff coefficient. Moreover, c is usually
different for snowmelt c
S
, and for rainfall c
R
.
Graph 3.6: Runoff coefficients for rain and snow used for the model calibration for the melting season
(April-August) 2004.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
25
3.6.2. Degree Day Factor:
The degree day factor is used to compute the snowmelt depths. It increases as the snow becomes
older because of the reduction in albedo of the snow. The degree day factor for snow can be
determined using snow density measurements since they are good indicators for the albedo
(Rango 1995). No data about the snow density in the area are available.
The degree factor was considered for the study area as low in the start of the melting season and
high at the end (Graph 3.7). Because the start of the melting season (April-May) receives most of
the precipitation, and the temperatures extrapolated from base station to altitudes higher than
4000m a.m.s.l are below critical temperature (2 C), which increases the chances of summer
snow fall and hence low snow densities.
Degree Day Factor Values, Kalam Basin
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
26-Mar 15-Apr 5-May 25-May 14-Jun 4-Jul 24-Jul 13-Aug 2-Sep
Dat e
Zones 1-4 (2004,2006)
Zones 5-8 (2004, 2006)
All Zones 2005
Graph 3.7: Degree day factor values against the months of the melting season 2004, 2005 and
2006 for Kalam basin, Pakistan.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
26
3.6.3. Temperature Lapse Rate:
Temperature decreases with the increase in altitude above mean sea level with a certain rate
called temperature lapse rate. It can be predetermined from historical data if temperature stations
at different altitudes are available. Otherwise one has to go to field for some duration to install
temperature sensors at different altitudes and record the temperature data to get the lapse rate.
The same was done for the current study as no permanent stations at different altitudes are
available in the study area or in the neighbourhoods.
3.6.3.1. Fieldwork
During the fieldwork, eight temperature sensors were installed at an altitude difference of 100
meters. The data was collected for four weeks, but due to unskilled manpower only last 8 days
temperature recorded data was reliable. The sensors were installed in different villages inside the
houses. Care was taken in installing the sensors under a shadow but due to winds and other
reason few were exposed to direct sun light. This resulted in high temperatures recorded by the
sensors. Therefore only minimum temperatures were used for lapse rate calculations (Table 3.1).
After analyzing the data, the average temperature lapse rate was determined as 0.63 per 100 m
change in altitude which is close to 0.65 proposed by the developers of the SRM model. This
figure (0.63) is used for extrapolating the temperature values of the base station to higher
altitudes.
Table 3.1: Temperature data recorded during fieldwork
Lower
Liakot
(1830m)
Kass
Aryanai
(1910m)
Bishmal
Port
(1960m)
Kalam
Tehsil
(2016m)
Gaheel
(2100m)
Utror
(2229m)
Gibrall
(2300m)
Chorat
(2340m)
Date T
min
(C) T
min
(C) T
min
(C) T
min
(C) T
min
(C) T
min
(C) T
min
(C) T
min
(C)
9/18/2007 13.6 14 15.3 12.5 13.6 9.2 12.9 11.5
9/19/2007 13.1 13.3 14.4 12 13.1 9.1 13.1 10.9
9/20/2007 12.9 12.7 14.2 11.5 12.3 13.4 10.9 10.6
9/21/2007 12.8 12.5 12.8 11 11.5 12.7 12.6 10
9/22/2007 11.3 10.6 11.2 9 9.7 9.2 9.2 7
9/23/2007 10.4 8.7 9.9 8.5 8.7 10.5 8.1 6.9
9/24/2007 10.4 12.3 9.5 8.3 8.1 11.7 7.5 7.1
9/25/2007 10.4 7.5 9 7.7 7.7 14.1 6.4 7.1
9/26/2007 9.7 8.3 9.9 8.1 7 14 7.1 6.5
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
27
3.6.4. Critical temperature, T
CRIT
The critical temperature determines whether the measured or forecasted precipitation is rain or
snow. SRM needs the critical temperature only in the snowmelt season (unless a year round
computer run is made) in order to decide whether precipitation immediately contributes to runoff
(rain), or if T < T
CRIT
, whether snowfall took place.
Unfortunately event (snow or rain) dependent temperature data is not available in Kalam basin;
however, a nearby station in the west of the study area, namely Drosh has historical records of
hourly temperature values against the events of snow or rain. The data reveals that snow event
has mostly occurred at temperatures below or equal to 2 C in the winter season i.e. from
October to March. No snowfall has been recorded by the station in the melting season, making it
difficult to know the critical temperature for the melting season. Hence compromise on
considering 2 C (April-June) and 0.75 C (July, August) as critical temperature has been made.
3.6.5. Rainfall contributing area, RCA
When precipitation is determined to be rain, it can be treated in two ways. In the initial situation
(option 0), it is assumed that rain falling on the snowpack early in the snowmelt season is
retained by the snow which is usually dry and deep. Rainfall runoff is added to snowmelt runoff
only from the snow-free area, that is to say the rainfall depth is reduced by the ratio snow-free
area/zone area. At some later stage, the snow cover becomes ripe (the user must decide on which
date) and the computer program should be switched to option 1, this was done for the current
study on 1
st
June and thereafter. Now, if rain falls on this snow cover, it is assumed that the same
amount of water is released from the snowpack so that rain from the entire zone area is added to
snowmelt. For this study 0 was selected from April to May, and 1 from June-August.
3.6.6. Recession coefficient, k
The recession coefficient is an important feature of SRM because (1-k) is the proportion of the
daily meltwater production which immediately appears in the runoff. Analysis of historical
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
28
discharge data is usually a good way to determine k. Values of Q
n
and Q
n+1
are plotted against
each other and the lower envelope line of all points is considered to indicate the k-values as
shown in the figure below (Graph 3.6).
Graph 3.8: Recession flow plot Qn Vs Qn+1 for Kalam basin in Pakistan. Either the solid lower
envelope line or the dashed medium line is used to determine k-values for computing the
constants x and y.
Based on the relation
1 n
n
Q
k
Q
+
= (3.4)
In the study area
1
k
= 0.85 for
n
Q
= 200 m3s-1 and
2
k
= 0.90 for
n
Q
= 30 m3s-1. This means
that
k
is not constant, but increases with the decreasing river discharge according to the
equation:
1
y
n n
k x Q
+
=
(3.5)
Where the constants x and y must be determined for a given basin by solving the equations:
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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1 1
y
k x Q
=
(3.6)
2 2
y
k x Q
=
(3.7)
1 1
log log (log ) k x y Q =
(3.8)
2 2
log log (log ) k x y Q =
(3.9)
Putting values of
1
k
,
2
k
and
1
Q
,
2
Q
in equations (3.8) and (3.9)
log(0.85) log( ) log(200) x y =
(3.10)
log(0.90) log( ) log(30) x y =
(3.11)
x
= 0.997
y
= 0.030
Care should be taken in finding the recession flow. It was experienced in this study that when
recession coefficients were calculated considering the discharge data from the middle of the
recession period, the resulted recession coefficients were giving completely strange runoffs.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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4. GIS AND REMOTE SENSING
4.1 Software Used
The SRM model needs daily snow cover as input variable. Daily remote sensing data from
MODIS on board Terra and Aqua satellites were processed using ERDAS and Arc GIS. Exact
and accurate boundary of the catchment is very important as this is used for the masking of
satellite image of the study area. Also the SRM recommend dividing the study area into different
elevation zones if the difference in the base station and the highest altitude is greater than 500
meters. Furthermore, measurements of snow cover in different elevation zones require a DEM as
input. Extraction of catchment/basin of the study area was done using SRTM DEM data with the
help of Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS).
4.2 Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) obtained elevation data on a near-global scale
to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth. Elevation
data of the area from SRTM was used for the extraction of catchment boundaries above Kalam
river discharge measurement station on river Swat (Figure 4.1).
DEM hydro-processing operations are a set of tools which can lead to the extraction of
catchment as well as its boundary using digital elevation data. Those tools which were used in
this study are fill sink, flow direction, flow accumulation, drainage network extraction, drainage
network ordering, catchment extraction and catchment merge. Detail discussion on each of these
tools and their out put results has been given below.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
31
Figure 4.1: DEM of the study area obtained from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
4.2.1. Fill Sink
Before using the Flow Direction operation, clean up of local depressions from DEM data is of
utmost importance. This is done by the Fill Sink operation which performs the following on a
Digital Elevation Model (DEM):
Any pixel with a smaller height value than all of its 8 neighbouring pixels, will be
increased in height to the smallest value of its 8 neighbour pixels
Any group of adjacent pixels where the pixels that have smaller height values than all
pixels that surround a depression will be increased to the smallest value of a pixel that is
both adjacent to the outlet for the depression, and that would discharge into the initial
depression.
The resulting output map of the Fill Sink operation is a so-called sink-free or depression-free
DEM. This means that for every pixel in the DEM, a flow direction will be found towards the
edges of the map.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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4.2.2. Flow Direction
In a (sink-free) Digital Elevation Model (DEM), the Flow Direction operation determines into
which neighbouring pixel any water in a central pixel will flow naturally.
Flow Direction is calculated for every central pixel of input blocks of 3 by 3 pixels, each time
comparing the value of the central pixel with the value of its 8 neighbours. The output map
contains flow direction as N (to the North), NE (to the North East), etc.
4.2.3. Flow Accumulation
The Flow accumulation operation performs a cumulative count of the number of pixels that
naturally drain into outlets. The operation can be used to find the drainage pattern of a terrain.
As input the operation uses the output map of the flow direction operation.
The output map contains cumulative hydrologic flow values that represent the number of
input pixels which contribute any water to any outlets; the outlets of the largest streams,
rivers etc. will have the largest values.
4.2.4. Drainage Network Extraction
The Drainage Network Extraction operation extracts a basic drainage network (Boolean raster
map). The output raster map will show the basic drainage as pixels with value True, while other
pixels have value False.
The output raster map of the Flow Accumulation which is required as input map. This map
contains a cumulative drainage count for each pixel.
4.2.5. Drainage Network Ordering
The Drainage network ordering operation:
Examines all drainage lines in the drainage network map
Finds the nodes where two or more streams meet
Assigns a unique ID to each stream in between these nodes, as well as to the streams that
only have a single node
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
33
The output of this operation is a raster map, a segment map and an attribute table that all use a
newly created ID domain.
The output maps and the attribute table of the Drainage network ordering operation are used as
input in many other DEM-hydro processing operations, among others:
The Catchment extraction operation
The Catchment merge operation
4.2.6. Catchment Extraction
The Catchment Extraction operation constructs catchments; a catchment will be calculated for
each stream found in the output map of the Drainage Network Ordering operation.
As input is required:
The output raster map of the Drainage Network Ordering operation
The output raster map of the Flow Direction operation.
As output a raster map, a polygon map and an attribute table are produced which all use the ID
domain of the input Drainage Network Ordering (Figure 4.2).
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Figure 4.2: Catchment extraction using Drainage network ordering and Flow direction as inputs.
4.2.7. Catchment Merge
The Catchment Merge operation is able to merge adjacent catchments, as found by the
Catchment Extraction operation. In fact, new catchments will be created on the basis of the
Drainage Network Ordering map and its attribute table.
As input is required:
The output map and attribute table of the Drainage Network Ordering operation
The output map of the Flow Direction operation
The output map of the Flow Accumulation operation
Merge catchments can be done by specifying a point map that contains locations of stream
outlets within a catchment; all adjacent catchments that drain into such outlets will be merged.
As output a new catchment raster map, polygon map and attribute table are produced. These all
use a new ID domain. A point map containing one point (catchment outlet) taken at Kalam river
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
35
discharge measurement station was selected to merge all catchments of the drainages that drain
into this discharge measurement station into a bigger catchment (Figure 4.3).
Figure 4.3: Extracted catchment above Kalam station.
4.3 Remote Sensing of Snow Cover
Snow cover is an important variable for climate and hydrologic models due to its effects on
energy and moisture budget (Najafi Eigdir 2003). Remote sensing is a valuable tool for snow
cover mapping which can be used for predicting snowmelt runoff. From a remote sensing
perspective, snow cover is one of the most readily identifiable measures of water resources from
aerial photography or satellite imagery (Engman 1991).
4.4 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
With the launch of MODIS in December 1999, a new era in hyperspectral satellite remote
sensing began. MODIS makes it possible to monitor the environment by measuring atmospheric
trace gases and aerosol density, and mapping the surface of clouds, land and sea in a variety of
spectral ranges from the blue to the thermal infra-red.
The first MODIS sensor went into orbit with the launch of the TERRA satellite on December 18,
1999. With the successful launch of AQUA from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, on May 4,
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
36
2002, a second MODIS sensor was put into orbit for studying the Earth's water cycle and our
environment. TERRA and AQUA (both with a 705km orbit) have a sun-synchronous, near polar,
circular orbit. AQUA will cross the equator daily at 1:30 p.m. as it heads north (ascending mode)
in contrast to TERRA, which crosses the equator at 10:30 a.m. daily (descending mode). With
this formation it is expected that AQUA's afternoon observations combined with TERRA's
morning observations will provide important insights into the daily cycling of global
precipitation and ocean circulation.
MODIS is a 36 band spectrometer providing a global data set every 1-2 days with a 16-day repeat
cycle. The spatial resolution of MODIS (pixel size at nadir) is 250m for channel 1 and 2 (0.6m -
0.9m), 500m for channel 3 to 7 (0.4m - 2.1m) and 1000m for channel 8 to 36 (0.4m -
14.4m), respectively.
Satellite images are made by combining the reflected light detected by the sensor at various
wavelengths (spectral bands) and making them into a single image. The MODIS Rapid Response
System makes use of MODIS broad range of spectral observations by creating both true-color
and false-color images, each tailored to highlight different land surface, atmospheric, and oceanic
features. One such band combination is 721. In this composite, MODIS Bands 7, 2, and 1, are
assigned to the red, green, and blue portions of the digital image. Vegetation appears bright green
and bare soil red, and water appears dark black in this combination leaving snow light blue very
prominent and hence making it easy to distinguish snow from all three classes i.e. vegetation,
bare soil, and water.
MODIS Rapid Response System provides on its website a number of image subsets (Figure 4.4)
that are automatically generated in near-real-time for various applications users.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
37
Figure 4.4: MODIS subset of Afghanistan covering parts of Pakistan including the study area of
Kalam. Grey white color is showing snow and ice.
The archive imagery is available online; images of the area for 2004, 2005, and 2006 have been
downloaded from MODIS rapid response system web site (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets).
Georeferencing information is available on the same web site, and those have been used to for
georeferencing. Projection: Plate Carree and ellipsoid: WGS84. Georeferencing has been done
using ERDAS image processing software. To see the snow cover the images should be cloud
free. Normally one can get around 140-150 cloud free images throughout the year, and for four
years the total number of images to be processed for snow extraction was up to 600.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Figure 4.5: Subset of Afghanistan has been geo-referenced and re-projected to UTM co-ordinates.
Extraction of daily snow cover in the study area has been done in a number of steps using both
ERDAS and ArcGIS image processing softwares.
The MODIS jpeg format images were selected for this study inspite of their limitation due to the
following reasons;
1. MODIS snow cover products were available but with 500m pixel resolution, which is
poor as compared to 250m jpeg images.
2. There was a possibility of getting HDF file format by ordering to MODIS Science Data
Support Team, but the file size was too large, and so were the number of images required
for the study. Secondly they have removed all 250m resolution HDF files from their data
base and they were recreating each file, which needed a lot of time to wait.
3. Georeferencing were available with jpeg images and therefore, it was relatively easy to
carry out the georeferencing.
4.5 Extraction of Study Area Subset
It is clear to see that the subset Afghanistan is covering a large area, but our study area is too
small. This means that subset of study area should be extracted from the whole subset before
going to snow cover mapping. A lot of time on image processing is saved this way. The merged
catchment polygon is used for masking only the image of the study area (Figure 4.6). Extract by
Mask toll in ArcGIS extracts the cells of a raster that correspond with the areas defined by a
mask, which in the present case is the polygon in the form of merged catchment.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
39
Figure 4.6: Satellite image of study area on the right after masking it from Afghanistan subset.
4.6 Classification of images for extraction of snow
After all the subsets of the study area, they are classified into snow and snow free classes (Figure
4.7). Both supervised and unsupervised methods have been applied. Classification has been done
in ERDAS.
Figure 4.7: Classified image of the study area. Blue color is showing snow whereas dark brown is
snow free.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
40
4.7 Extraction of Snow for Each Elevation Zone
Snow cover mapping is the most laborious job in this research, because daily satellite images are
downloaded and if the study area is cloud free then it is processed for the extraction of snow
cover. This leads to processing of almost 400 satellite images for 3 years i.e. 2004-2006. MODIS
images are available in jpeg format as subsets of different regions of the world. The following
steps are involved in getting snow cover from an image.
1. Downloading MODIS subsets (Afghanistan) from the rapid fire website.
2. Rectification of the satellite image using the available corner coordinates from info file
with the image.
3. Classification of each image into snow and snow free classes.
4. Converting the classified image into polygons.
5. Extraction of DEM by masking the snow class.
6. Extraction of snow covers for each elevation zone, using DEM which is classified into
different elevation zones.
Figure 4.8: Main steps for getting snow cover using ERDAS and Arc GIS tools
These have been discussed in detail one by one.
4.7.1. Extract by Attribute
After classification of the image of the catchment into snow and snow-free classes, only snow
class is extracted from the image using the option extract by attribute tool. Extract by attribute
extracts the cells of a raster based on a logical query e.g. where Class_name = Snow.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
41
Figure 4.9: Extract by attribute tool and its result. Grey color is showing snow whereas white is
snow-free area.
4.7.2. Resample
The extracted snow class map has a 250 m spatial resolution, whereas the DEM is in 90 m spatial
resolution. It is important to extract DEM covered only with snow on a particular day, because
the extracted DEM then can be used to extract snow for each elevation zone. That is why
resample tool is used. Resample tool alters the proportions of a raster dataset by changing the cell
size. The cell size will be changed but the extent of the raster will remain the same.
4.7.3. Extract by Mask
Now the resampled image can be used to extract DEM covered only with snow. Extract by Mask
tool in ArcGIS extracts the cells of a raster that correspond with the areas defined by a mask,
which in this case is the resample image after extraction of snow. This way DEM where snow
exists is extracted and which will be used for extracting snow in each elevation zone.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Figure 4.10: Extract by mask tool and the resulted DEM of the area covered with snow. White
color is no-data (snow-free).
4.7.4. Reclassify
It is recommended in the SRM model to divide the catchment into a number of zones if the
elevation range is more than 500 meters between the streamgauge and the highest elevation in the
catchment. Elevation zones should be delineated in intervals of about 500 meters. The present
study area has the elevation range 1991-5790 m.a.s.l. Therefore the whole catchment has been
divided into 8 elevation zones with 500 meters interval.
Figure 4.11: Snow class in each elevation zone in raster format. Lowest height starts from Zone1
and ends at Zone8. Zone1 has no snow in the month of May.
This step is followed by conversion of the above raster format into polygons to make the area
calculation easy. Each polygon has a unique ID based on the elevation zones. Area calculator is
used to quantify the area of snow in each elevation zone. This process is repeated for all the
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
43
images available for the study. The snow cover area is converted into fraction of snow cover in a
particular zone before feeding it to the model. Snow depletion curves have been obtained for the
snowmelt season in 2004, 2005, and 2006 (Graph 4.1, 4.2, 4.3).
Graph 4.1: Snow Deletion Curves of Snowmelt Seasons from April to August in the year 2004.
Graph 4.2: Snow Deletion Curves of Snowmelt Seasons from April to August in the year 2005.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Graph 4.3: Snow Deletion Curves of Snowmelt Seasons from April to August in the year 2006.
Figure 4.12: Sequence of snow cover maps from MODIS, Upper Swat River at Kalam, 3032 km2
, 1991- 5790 m a.s.l. Blue is snow covered area.
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5. Model Results
5.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE MODEL ACCURACY
5.1.1. Accuracy criteria
The SRM computer program includes a graphical display of the computed hydrograph and of the
measured runoff. A visual inspection shows at the first glance whether the simulation is
successful or not. SRM additionally uses two well established accuracy criteria, namely, the
coefficient of determination, R
2
, and the percent volume difference, Dv.
The coefficient of determination is computed as follows:
( )
( )
2
'
2
1
2
1
1
n
i i
i
n
i
i
Q Q
R
Q Q
=
=
(5.1)
Where:
i
Q
is the measured daily discharge
'
i
Q
is the computed daily discharge
Q
is the average measured discharge of the given melting season
n
is the number of daily discharge values
The deviation of the runoff volumes,
v
D
, is computed as follows:
[ ]
( )
'
% 100
R R
v
R
V V
D
V
=
(5.2)
Where:
R
V
is the measured melting season runoff volume
'
R
V
is the computed melting season runoff volume
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
46
5.2 Simulations of SRM
Daily runoff simulations for the snow melting season of 2004, 2005, and 2006 were carried out
after calibrating the SRM model for the year 2004. The model requires seven parameters, three
input variables and catchment / basin characteristics for its snowmelt runoff simulation. The
catchment receives heavy snowfall in winter (Dec to March) which melts in the summer.
However not all the snow is melted in the region as the catchment has permanent snow cover and
glaciers as well.
5.3 Model Calibration
The model results were calibrated using 2004 discharge data at Kalam station. The following
parameters were used in the calibration procedure. The best fit with measured discharge was
obtained using the following values. The simulations show over shouting as well under shooting
through out the melting season. Since the lapse rate considered constant through out the melting
season this may have caused, variations with changing weather conditions are possible. Also it is
not possible to check whether the average temperature represented the actual temperatures or
not? The runoff coefficients can also cause these discrepancies keeping in view their spatial and
as well as temporal variability nature.
Graph 5.1: Runoff simulations for the melting season 2004 of Kalam basin. The dashed line is
the measured discharge at Kalam station whereas the solid line is simulated runoff.
The statistics of this simulation show that the simulation is good enough both for daily as well as
for the whole melting season. Accuracy criteria (discussed in section-5.1) used in the model
gives volume difference D
v
= -0.7% and the coefficient of determination R
2
is 0.74 (Figure 5.1).
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
47
Figure 5.1: Statistics of the daily simulations for the melting season (April-August) 2004.
5.4 SRM Verification for 2005 and 2006
Once the model is calibrated it should be applicable to another year only changing the
precipitation (rain), snow cover, and temperature values for that year without changing the
parameters used in the calibrated year. This was done for the years 2005 and 2006 snowmelt
season with the same parameters used in 2004 simulations. For 2005 the results for Q are given
in Figure 5.2. For 2005 Volume Difference D
v
= -16.1% whereas the coefficient of determination
R
2
= 0.54 (Figure 5.2). It is important to mention that there was one drawback in the hydrological
data of the year 2006, as not all the daily discharge values were recorded on the measuring
station on the river. Only data of 4 to 7 days in a month was provided. Therefore, the computed
runoff values were compared only with the measured runoff values and calculations were done
for R
2
and D
v
, with R
2
= 0.83 and D
v
= 0.05% (Graph 5.3).
Graph 5.2: Runoff simulations for the melting season 2005 of Kalam basin. The dashed line is
the measured discharge at Kalam station whereas the solid line is simulated runoff.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
48
Figure 5.2: Statistics of 2005 melting season simulations following accuracy criteria
Model Computed Discharge Against the Measured Discharge
Melting Season (April-August), 2006
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 May-06 Jun-06 Jul-06 Jul-06 Aug-06
Date
R
i
v
e
r
D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
(
c
u
b
i
c
m
e
t
e
r
p
e
r
s
e
c
o
n
d
)
Measured
Computed
Graph 5.3: Daily runoff simulations for melting season, 2006. The triangular points measured
discharge values whereas the gray circular points are computed values.
Year 2006 was more similar to year 2004 than 2005. Snowfall in the winter season of 2006
remained slightly below the snowfall during winter season 2004, which means far below 2005
(30 years record snowfall). Temperatures on the average during the melting season were closer to
2004 as compared to 2005; although at the end of the melting season they become closer to 2005
temperature values. Hence year 2004 parameters were used for 2006 melting season simulations,
and the results were better than 2004 simulations, and hence the model was verified for 2006.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
49
5.5 Discussion on model simulations
In SRM simulations of 2005, the accuracy criteria show worse results with R
2
= 0.54. Therefore,
the runoff coefficients and the degree day factor had to be changed, keeping the lower and upper
limits of these parameters well within the extreme values used during the calibration year 2004,
which means that runoff coefficients and degree day factor do not remain constant temporally i.e.
from year to year. Year 2005 received 30 years record snowfall in the winter (Pakistan
Meteorological Department) and that was followed by a heat wave in summer (NASAs Earth
Observatory Report, Southern Asia Heat Wave). Heavy snow fall means more snow available for
the melting season and for a much longer time. In fact snow that remains for a longer time is
denser and hence a higher degree day factor is needed as discussed earlier. Similarly if in a
particular year there are below average rains or above average high temperatures then the
catchment will be dry and vegetation will be stressed. MODIS land surface temperature (LST)
data and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data both confirms the above argument
for 2005 (Figure 5.3).
Figure 5.3: MODIS Land surface temperatures and NDVI data showing high temperatures and
stressed vegetation in 2005 in comparison to 2004 where temperatures are low and vegetation is
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
50
healthy. Red color in upper half of the figure is showing high temperatures and dark green in
lower half is showing healthy vegetation.
Air temperature data recorded at Kalam station also confirms that temperatures on the average in
June-July for year 2005 were higher by 2.7 C as compared to year 2004 (Graph 5.5). At the
same time precipitation data revealed that there were longer dry spills in 2005 in comparison to
2004. As a result whenever the runoff occurred, there were more losses due to infiltration as well
as water utilization by plants to recover the deficiency caused during the dry period. These were
included in the model by adjusting the runoff coefficients and degree day factor.
Graph 5.4: Same period temperatures comparison between 2004 and 2005
After adjusting these parameters the simulations were fitting better, than the previous simulations
where the parameters of 2004 were used (Graph 5.6, and Figure 5.4).
Graph 5.5: Runoff simulations for the melting season 2005. R
2
=0.90 and D
v
=3.2%
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
51
Figure 5.4: Statistics of the daily simulations for the melting season 2005
5.6 Forecasts using WinSRM
SRM can be used for short term (for example weekly) forecasts of daily flows as well as for
longer time period forecasts such as monthly runoff volumes or seasonal runoff volumes. For
short term forecasts, temperature, precipitation and snow covered area must be forecasted or
predetermined for the coming days and substituted into the model. Temperature and even
precipitation forecasts are becoming increasingly available from meteorological services, but the
snow covered areas must be extrapolated by the model user.
New simulation was added to the model of 7 days duration from 09/01/2005 to 09/07/2005. This
simulation was used for weekly forecast (1st week of September 2005). Instead of forecasted
values for temperature and rainfall recorded data was used for the same duration. Also snow
cover data of august 2005 was extrapolated for next 7 days. The model was run for weekly
forecast in the melting season. The forecasts of runoff have been found quite satisfactory with
volume difference D
v
= 2.1% and Coefficient of Determination R
2
=0.80 (Graph 5.7).
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
52
Graph 5.6: Weekly forecast of runoff in the Kalam catchment, 1st week of Aug, 2005
In the above forecast, recorded data of temperature and precipitation have been used just to
emphasize the importance of accurate forecasts of temperature and precipitation, because the
forecast of input variables is still an important challenge for all snowmelt runoff models.
The model can be used for monthly and seasonal forecast as well, but the sensitive part will be
how to get the modified snow depletion curves for those periods. If there are proper historical
records of yearly snow accumulation and depletion, these can be averaged and then used for
runoff forecasts. However careful study about similar / different years is needed in this approach.
Suppose there is a record of 10 years of snow accumulation and snow depletion about a
particular catchment. Some of these may have had heavy snowfall while some may have had
below average snowfall during these 10 years. Similarly in some years there may be more runoff
(both in volume and frequency) while some may had the opposite. Thus different categories can
be formed and used for matching with any coming years to get forecast for runoff. Forecast the
melting season 2005 gives promising result with volume difference D
v
= -1.2% and coefficient of
determination R
2
= 0.95 (Graph 5.8).
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
53
Graph 5.7: Melting season runoff forecast for the year 2005
5.7 Sensitivity Analysis
The SRM model was tested for the sensitivity of its parameters. Almost every parameter was
increased or decreased by 10% of its original value used in the calibration, and results of
simulation were noted down. There was a considerable change noted in the values of R
2
and D
v
,
when temperature lapse rate was decreased or increased by 10%. Apart from lapse rate the
degree day factor and runoff coefficient for snow (C
s
) were having the same effect on both R
2
and D
v
. It is therefore concluded SRM is more sensitive to temperature lapse rate. However
degree day factor and runoff coefficient for snow should not be ignored for best results. Original
run results are with R
2
=0.90 & D
v
=2.6%.
Table 5.1: Sensitivity analysis results
S.No Parameter Name R
2
D
v
Lapse Rate + 10% of Lapse Rate 0.76 24.1%
1
Lapse Rate + 10% of Lapse Rate 0.67 -21.9%
Critical Temperature + 10% of Tcrit 0.90 2.6%
2 Critical Temperature - 10% of Tcrit 0.89 2.6%
Degree Day Factor (a) + 10% of a 0.84 -6.38%
3 Degree Day Factor (a) - 10% of a 0.89 11.6%
Cs + 10% of Cs 0.84 -6.4%
4 Cs - 10% of Cs 0.89 11.7%
Cr + 10% of Cr 0.90 2%
5 Cr - 10% of Cr 0.90 3.3%
Lag time 16 hrs 0.90 2.5%
6 Lag time 20 hrs 0.90 2.6%
RCA = 1 0.91 1.1%
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
54
7 RCA = 0 0.90 3.9%
5.8 Effect of Distorted Depletion Curve
Depletion curves derived for the melting season 2005 were used for this analysis. Some times a
long period of cloud cover brings occasional summer snowfall. Due to this when a satellite image
of the following day is used for snow extraction it distorts the snow depletion curve. Snow
depletion curves were distorted intentionally by adding large values in it. When the model was
run on distorted depletion curve as input, it was noted that when the distortion is at the end of the
snowmelt season it causes much more excessive meltwater than in the start or the middle of the
melting season (Figures 5.5, and 5.6). Especially when the depletion curve of a certain zone was
ending (all the snow was near to melt), the effect was more significant (Figure 5.6).
Figure 5.5: Depletion was distorted in the middle of the melting season
Figure 5.6: Depletion curve was distorted at the end of the depleted curve.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
55
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusion
River Swat is snow fed river, starting with tributaries Ushu, and Utror, meeting in Kalam. Hence
assessment of snowmelt in Kalam basin is very important to understand the behaviour of River
Swat. Although snow in the basin is an important water resource, it causes flooding in the lower
reaches of river Swat. When it is melted abruptly Flooding due to over flow in the melting season
is not only the problem in Swat district but also in Charsada, Peshawar and Noshehra districts
where river Swat meets the River Kabul and onwards. Very few studies have been found in
Pakistan on this topic. The River Kabul catchment has been studied in 1975 (section 2.3), but so
far there is no study about river Swat.
Most of the precipitation in Kalam basin is in the form of snow in the winter season (Dec to
March), followed by a bit more rainy season from April to May. The snow cover has been
mapped using data from the MODIS sensor onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. Different band
combinations are available free of charge for scientific purposes. So far studies on snow cover
mapping for running SRM model has been done mostly using NOAA-AVHRR satellite images
with spatial resolution of 1km. This research has the upper edge in the snow cover mapping on
the previous studies because MODIS 250m spatial resolution data has been used for snow cover
mapping instead of 1km NOAA images.
Snowmelt runoff model (SRM) by Martinec 1975 has been used for this study. The model needs
snow extent, precipitation in the form of rain and temperature data as input variables, and some
catchment parameters for calibrating the model.
After getting the necessary data for the running the model, several simulations in the snowmelt
season have been carried out for different years i.e. 2004, 2005 and 2006. Graphical display and
statistics can tell about the accuracy of the models simulations. The model seems to be
satisfactory the values of D
v
and R
2
are within the acceptable range. The model has also been
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
56
used in this study for forecasts of runoffs, and if the correct inputs are available the model can
give good results in forecasts and can be used for flood forecasts in the lower reaches.
Results have proved that:
The SRM model can be calibrated for the simulation of long term runoff volume for the
Kalam catchment.
The model is verified for 2006, whereas for 2005 slight adjustment of the runoff
coefficients and the degree day factor was needed before verification.
The values of D
v
and R
2
also prove it to be good for daily runoff simulations.
When tested for runoff forecasts the model was found to give good predictions.
The model results in the snowmelt seasons were very good in term of the volume of
water from the snowmelt in a melting season. Hence the values of D
v
prove the model to
be very good for long term water resource management.
It has been noticed that the model is more sensitive to the temperature lapse rate. The
degree day factor and runoff coefficient are found to be second to the temperature lapse
rate, to which SRM is more sensitive.
The runoff coefficient for rain and snow are important parameters of the basin, as these
tells about how much fraction of available water due to rain or melting of snow reaches
the river discharge station.
To avoid any error in recession coefficients, one should consider the whole recession
period of the year, not a part of recession period. This was experienced during this
research that when the recession coefficients were measured using only part of the
recession period the simulations were very strange. But when the whole recession period
i.e. July to August, was considered for the measurement, the resulted simulations were
quite logical and close to reality.
SRTM has been very useful in getting the catchment boundary and in the snow cover
estimation in different elevation zones of 500m intervals.
It is believed that the parameters used for calibration of the model should remain
constant for the same season in different years, however this study has proved that heat
waves and below average rainfall, or less frequent rainfall can affect the runoff
coefficients from year to year. Heat waves and below average rains can make the
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
57
vegetation stressed and hence can cause much loss of available rain water or snowmelt
water.
Degree day factor which is dependent on snow density has also been found slightly
different in 2005 from 2004 and 2006. The reason is that there was a record 30 years
heavy snowfall in 2005 which means that snow will remain for much longer time and
hence will be denser. This lead to increased values of degree day factor for 2005, as
compared to 2004 and 2006.
6.2 Recommendations
The SRM model is a degree day model, and is more sensitive to temperature values at different
altitudes. There is only one meteorological station in Kalam basin, which is in the lowest altitude
level. This compelled to extrapolate the base stations temperatures to higher altitudes with a
constant rate.
Moreover critical temperatures need at least half hourly precipitation data both in the form of
rain or snow against recorded temperatures.
Fieldwork is important for lapse rate, with at least one sensor in each elevation zone. This is only
possible if one can install recording sensors to avoid requirement of a number of skilled
manpower. This could make the performance of the model better.
Therefore there should be at least one automatic meteorological station in each elevation zone, if
one would like to carry a proper study and avoid assumptions.
The use of satellite surface temperature and rainfall data in SRM should be investigated.
Incorporation of these data could improve the insight into the spatial distribution and its variation
of the corresponding parameters, and their optimal quantification for the snowmelt runoff
modelling.
Similarly runoff coefficients for snow and rain can also be linked with Land surface temperatures
(LST) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) with some limitations due to cloud
cover and unavailability of continuous coverage of the area through satellite.
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58
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Rango, A. M., J. (1995) "Revisiting the degree-day method for snowmelt computation." Water
Resource Bull. Volume, 657-669 DOI:
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Russell, J. S. (2003). Comparison of watershed models. Perspectives in Civil Engineering,
American Society of Civil Engineers: 347-349.
Shafer, B. A., Jones, E. B. & Frick, D. M. (1981). Snowmelt Runoff Simulations Using the
Martinec-Rango Model on the South Fork Rio Grande and Conejos River in Colorado.,
AgRISTARS, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
Turcan, J. (1981). Empirical-Regressive Forecasting Runoff Model. VUVH, Bratislava.
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Switzerland., WMO.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Average temperatures at Kalam station for the melting season 2004.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Appendix 2: Average temperatures at Kalam station for the melting season 2005.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Appendix 3: Average temperatures at Kalam station for the melting season 2006.
SNOWMELT RUNOFF INVESTIGATION IN RIVER SWAT UPPER BASIN USING SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODEL
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Appendix 4: Measured Vs Computed River Discharge (m
3
s
-1
) 2004 (Melting Season), Kalam Basin
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Appendix 5: Measured Vs Computed River Discharge (m
3
s
-1
) 2005 (Melting Season), Kalam Basin
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Appendix 6: Measured Vs Computed River Discharge (m
3
s
-1
) 2006 (Melting Season), Kalam Basin
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Appendix 7: Precipitation data for 2004, Kalam station
Daily Precipitation (Millimeters) Year - 2004
STATION: KALAM
Province: North West Frontier Province
Country: Pakistan
Date Apr May Jun Jul Aug
1 0 3.8 13 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 1.3
3 19.1 0 0 4.1 0.3
4 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0
7 3.8 0 0 0 0
8 0 17.8 0 0 0
9 11.4 10.2 0 1.5 4.6
10 10.2 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 6.9
12 0 0 0 0 0
13 3.8 0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 2.5 0
15 0 0 3.8 4.1 0
16 0 3.8 0 10.2 0
17 0 0 0 0 0
18 3 0 0 0 0
19 0 0 0 2.5 3
20 29.2 0 0 0 0.3
21 0 0 0 1.3 0
22 10.9 0 0 0 0
23 19.1 0 0 2.5 0
24 0 0 0 0 0
25 0 0 0 0 7.6
26 0 4.1 1.3 0 0
27 34.3 7.6 1.3 0 0
28 0 0 0 0 0
29 21.6 0 0 0 0
30 3.8 0 0 0 1.3
31 0 0 0.5
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Appendix 8: Precipitation data for 2005, Kalam station
Daily Precipitation (Millimeters) Year - 2005
STATION: KALAM
Province: North West Frontier Province
Country: Pakistan
Date Apr May Jun Jul Aug
1 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 3.8
3 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 4.1 0 0 0
5 0.3 3.3 0 1.5 0
6 50.8 0 0 0 0
7 34.3 0 0 0 0
8 9.7 4.1 0 0 4.8
9 2.5 15.2 0 0 5.6
10 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 4.6 1.5 0
12 0 0 10.2 0 0
13 0 0 0 7.9 8.4
14 38.1 0 0 9.9 0
15 0 0 0 0 0
16 0 0 0 0 0
17 0 0 0 0 13.2
18 0 0 0.5 0 0
19 0 1.8 0 0 0
20 0 1.3 0 0 0
21 0 0 0 0 0
22 0 0 0 0 0
23 0 35.8 0 0 0
24 15 8.1 0 0 0
25 43.2 6.9 0 0 0
26 31 25.4 0 0 0
27 5.3 0 0 0 0
28 0 0 0 0 0
29 0 0 0 0 0
30 0 7.6 1 0 0
31 10.7 0 0
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Appendix 9: Precipitation data for 2006, Kalam station
Daily Precipitation (Millimeters) Year - 2006
STATION: KALAM
Province: North West Frontier Province
Country: Pakistan
Date Apr May Jun Jul Aug
1 21 8.0 0 0 0
2 3 0 0 10.0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 3.0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0
9 20 0 3.0 0 0
10 53 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 5.0 7.0 0
13 0 0 0 11.0 0
14 0 0 0 5.5 0
15 20.0 0 0 0 0
16 0 0 0 0 7.0
17 0 0 0 0 0
18 0 0 0 0 0
19 0 6.0 0 0 0
20 0 0 0 0 0
21 8.0 0 0 0 0
22 0 2.5 0 0 2.0
23 0 0 4.0 0 4.6
24 0 0 0 0 2.0
25 0 0 0 0 0
26 0 0 0 0 0
27 0 0 0 0 0
28 0 0 0 0 0
29 0 0 0 0 1.0
30 0.5 0 0 2.0 0
31 0 0.5 0