HR: 0830h
AN: C41B-0972    [PDF]
TI: Snow Cover Depletion and Soil Moisture Recharge at Three Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) Meteorological Sites
AU: * Holcombe, J D
EM: blizzyj@holly.colostate.edu
AF: Julie Holcombe, Colorado State University Department of Earth Resources College of Natural Resources, Fort Collins, CO 80523 United States
AU: Elder, K
EM: kelder@fs.fed.us
AF: Kelly Elder, Rocky Mountain Research Station USDA-Forest Service 240 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526 United States
AU: Davis, R E
EM: bert@crrel.usace.army.mil
AF: Robert E. Davis, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 United States
AB: With increasing concern regarding water supply in arid and semiarid regions, knowledge of water resources in the Earth's cold regions is critical. Snow-cover depletion and soil moisture recharge are elements used in hydrologic modeling and climate modeling, as well as remote sensing applications. Modeled snow-cover depletion and soil moisture recharge are important parameters in hydrologic forecasting. We evaluate the ability of a one-dimensional mass and energy balance model (SNTHERM.89) to predict snow-cover depletion and to test the accuracy of Fast All season Soil STrength (FASST) in modeling the evolution of soil moisture recharge based on data from three NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) sites. The objective is to evaluate the model's ability to predict observations at three CLPX sites: Buffalo Pass (near Steamboat Springs, CO); St. Louis Creek (in the Fraser Experimental Forest, CO); and Illinois River (located in North Park, CO). The three sites were chosen for their diverse climatic and physiographic differences. The Buffalo Pass site has a deep snowpack with discontinuous forest cover dominated by Englemann spruce (Picea englemannii) and alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). The St. Louis site has a moderate snowpack depth and forest cover dominated by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). The Illinois River site is irrigated grassland with no forest cover.
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting