Estimating the snow water equivalent from snow depth measurements in the Swiss Alps

摘要: The snow water equivalent (SWE) characterizes the hydrological significance of cover. However, measuring SWE is time-consuming, thus alternative methods determining may be useful. can calculated from depth if bulk density known. Thus, a reliable estimation method densities could (a) potentially save lot effort by, at least partly, sampling instead SWE, and would (b) allow evaluations, when only data are available. To generate useful parameterization large dataset was analyzed covering depths measured biweekly over five decades 37 sites throughout Swiss Alps. Four factors were identified to affect density: season, depth, site altitude, location. These constitute convenient set input variables for model developed in this study. accuracy estimating using our shown variability repeated measurements one site. technique therefore more efficient but indirect without necessarily affecting quality.