Hydrological Snowmelt Modelling in Snow Covered River Basins By Means of Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Case Study -- Latyan Catchment in Iran Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer.nat.) vorgelegt dem Rat der Chemisch-Geowissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena von Master-Geographer Houshang Behrawan geboren am 20. März 1972 in Mahabad, Iran 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Wolfgang-Albert Flügel, Jena 2. Gutachter: Univ. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Volker Hochschild, Tübingen Tag der öffentlichen Verteidigung: 08.07.2010 To my dears, Snoor and Chawan and to those who are always in my mind. Contents LISTS OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ V LISTS OF TABLES ................................................................................................................VII ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................................... VIII Abstract ....................................................................................................................................XI 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 OBJECTIVE............................................................................................................... 3 2. Research Review................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Snow in the hydrological cycle.................................................................................. 6 2.1.1 Defintion of Snow.............................................................................................. 8 2.1.2 Snow density...................................................................................................... 8 2.1.3 Snow depth....................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Snow water equivalent (SWE)................................................................................. 10 2.3 Snowmelt.................................................................................................................. 12 2.3.1 Effect of rainfall, topography and landcover on snowmelt.............................. 14 2.4 Implications of snow-hydrological process dynamics ............................................. 15 2.5 Snow modelling........................................................................................................ 17 2.5.1 Snow-hydrological modelling approaches....................................................... 20 2.5.1.1 Conceptual outlines of snow-hydrologic modelling approaches ..................... 21 2.5.1.2 Spatial differentiation in the snow- hydrological modelling............................ 23 2.5.1.3 Model-technical coverage of the snow accumulation...................................... 24 2.6 Snow modelling and water resources....................................................................... 25 2.7 Previous Researches in the Latyan catchment ......................................................... 27 3. METHODICAL APPROACH ......................................................................................... 30 3.1 Hydrological System Analysis and Delineation of Hydrological Response Units .. 31 3.1.1 Hydrological System Analysis......................................................................... 31 3.1.1.1 Data Analysis of Hydro-Climatological Time Series ...................................... 31 3.1.1.2 Spatial Data Modelling..................................................................................... 32 3.1.2 Delineation of Hydrological Response Units................................................... 33 3.1.2.1 Concept Approach of Hydrological Response Units ....................................... 34 3.2 Water Balance and snowmelt-Runoff Modelling with J2000g Model .................... 35 3.2.1 The Structure of Modelling System of the J2000G Model .............................. 35 3.2.1.1 The Snow Module of the J2000g ..................................................................... 38 3.2.2 Preparation of Input Data................................................................................. 39 3.2.3 Parameterization and Calibration..................................................................... 41 3.2.3.1 Automatic Parameter Estimation using Sensitivity Analysis........................... 42 4. STUDY AREA AND DATA BASE................................................................................ 46 4.1 Study Area................................................................................................................ 49 4.1.1 Climatic Condition........................................................................................... 49 4.1.2 Geomorphology................................................................................................ 52 4.1.2.1 Slope................................................................................................................. 52 4.1.2.2 Aspect............................................................................................................... 53 4.1.3 Landcover/Landuse.......................................................................................... 54 4.1.4 Geology............................................................................................................ 55 4.1.5 Soil ................................................................................................................... 56 4.2 Data Base.................................................................................................................. 58 4.2.1 Hydro-meteorological datasets......................................................................... 58 4.2.1.1 Precipitation Data............................................................................................. 58 I 4.2.1.2 Temperature Data............................................................................................. 59 4.2.1.3 Additional Climatic Parameters ....................................................................... 60 4.2.1.4 Runoff Data...................................................................................................... 62 4.2.2 Spatial Datasets (GIS-Data) ............................................................................. 62 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................................................... 64 5.1 System Analysis and Delineation of Hydrological Response Units ........................ 65 5.1.1 Data Analysis and System Analysis................................................................. 65 5.1.1.1 Precipitation Data Analysis.............................................................................. 65 5.1.1.2 Discharge Data Analysis .................................................................................. 66 5.1.1.3 Temporal Relationship between Precipitation and Discharge in the Latyan Catchment......................................................................................................................... 67 5.1.2 Spatial Dataset.................................................................................................. 69 5.1.3 Delineation of Hydrological Response Units................................................... 70 5.1.3.1 Data Preparation and Reclassification.............................................................. 70 5.1.3.2 Overlay Analysis and Reclassification ................................................... 74 5.1.3.3 Generalization and Delineation........................................................................ 74 5.2 Snowmelt–Runoff Modelling using J2000g model ................................................. 74 5.2.1 Model Parameterization ................................................................................... 74 5.2.1.1 Landuse-Land Cover Information.................................................................... 75 5.2.1.2 Information on Soil Data.................................................................................. 75 5.2.1.3 Information on Geology Data .......................................................................... 76 5.2.2 Model application, calibration and evaluation ................................................. 77 5.2.2.1 Model application............................................................................................. 77 5.2.2.2 Validation......................................................................................................... 78 5.2.2.3 Verification of the Modeling Results............................................................... 83 6. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH.............................................................. 90 6.1 Conclusions and Future Research ............................................................................ 91 REFERENCES......................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................ 110 II Acknowledgment At this point, I want to take the chance to thank all those people who have directly or indirectly contributed to the successful fulfilment of