Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Current streamflow timing metrics, such as the center of volume, or COV, use flow days, which are days at which a specific total streamflow volume, such as 50% for COV, has passed a given point. These metrics have been used as indicators for changes in the timings of snowmelt contributions to streamflow, but they may not be indicating changes to snowmelt timings as they have a fixed volume. Using manually extracted start and end days for high-elevation, mountainous watersheds, which are regarded as true values, we developed a new method to estimate when snowmelt is entering streams. Based on RMSE and NSE values, this new method is a better model for snowmelt-driven streamflow than using flow days or the COV. In general, the trend analysis results from the different timing metrics indicate an earlier timing in the year. This method was suitable for 40 different-sized watersheds in Colorado, USA; these are all snow-dominated watersheds in a semi-arid climate. This method could be used to assess watersheds in different climates, including those that are not as snow-dominated.

Details

Title
Evaluating Methods of Streamflow Timing to Approximate Snowmelt Contribution in High-Elevation Mountain Watersheds
Author
Pfohl, Anna K D 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Fassnacht, Steven R 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 ESS-Watershed Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1476, USA 
 ESS-Watershed Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1476, USA; Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, CSU, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1375, USA; Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1499, USA 
First page
75
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
23065338
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2806524083
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.