Date of Award:

12-2011

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

David G. Tarboton

Committee

David G. Tarboton

Committee

Jagath J. Kaluarchchi

Committee

Christopher M.U. Neale

Committee

Scott B. Jones

Committee

Charlie Luce

Abstract

Snow melt is an important component of Western US water resources, accounting for about 50-80% of the annual runoff. Water resources management requires prediction of runoff from snowmelt accounting for the variability of vegetation present in heterogeneous watersheds. This dissertation has examined ways to improve snowmelt modeling capability to better account for vegetation canopy effects on snowmelt and has presented enhancements to an energy balance model that include i) an improved representation of the transmission of radiation through the canopy, ii) an improved representation of the atmospheric transport of heat and water vapor between the snow on the ground, in the canopy and the atmosphere above, and iii) an improved representation of the processes of canopy snow interception and unloading. These enhancements were evaluated against four years of field data (2006-2010) collected at the TW Daniels Experimental Forest (TWDEF) located 30 miles N-E of Logan. Observations included continuous automated climate and snow depth measurements supported by periodic field measurements of snow water equivalent and temperature in four different vegetation classes (grass, shrubs, coniferous forest, deciduous forest). The enhanced canopy components were included into the Utah Energy Balance Snowmelt model and provide improved capability to predict the surface water input and runoff from snowmelt in heterogeneous watersheds using a parsimonious approach that can be used with practically available information.

Checksum

5574bcbb0fe7cd266348a914d01f8f72

Comments

Publication made available electronically December 21, 2011.

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