The Use of Satellite Information for Precomputing the Snowmelt Runoff Hydrograph

L. S. Kuchment, A. N. Gel’fan, V. N. Demidov, and P. Yu. Romanov

A technique is proposed of precomputing the snowmelt runoff hydrograph on the basis of physical and mathematical models of river runoff formation, available standard data of surface hydrometeorological measurements, and satellite measurements of Earth’s surface conditions. The computations were carried out for two regions including the basins of the Vyatka and Don rivers. It is demonstrated that, in spite of the possible errors and gaps depending on meteorological conditions, the satellite snow cover measurements can be an important addition to the surface measurements for simulating a spatial picture of the runoff formation. The use of physical and mathematical models of the runoff formation enables to reduce the errors of satellite snow cover data and to ensure the spatiotemporal continuity of its monitoring.

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