Title
Contribution Of Snow-Melt Water To The Streamflow Over The Three-River Headwater Region, China
Abstract
Snowmelt water is essential to the water resources management over the Three-River Headwater Region (TRHR), where hydrological processes are influenced by snowmelt runoff and sensitive to climate change. The objectives of this study were to analyse the contribution of snowmelt water to the total streamflow (f(Q,snow)) in the TRHR by applying a snowmelt tracking algorithm and Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. The ratio of snowfall to precipitation, and the variation of the April 1 snow water equivalent (SWE) associated with f(Q,snow), were identified to analyse the role of snowpack in the hydrological cycle. Prior to the simulation, the VIC model was validated based on the observed streamflow data to recognize its adequacy in the region. In order to improve the VIC model in snow hydrology simulation, Advanced Scanning Microwave Radiometer E (ASMR-E) SWE product data was used to compare with VIC output SWE to adjust the snow parameters. From 1971 to 2007, the averaged f(Q,snow) was 19.9% with a significant decreasing trend over entire TRHR (p < 0.05).The influence factor resulted in the rate of change in f(Q,snow) which were different for each sub-basin TRHR. The decreasing rate of f(Q,snow) was highest of 0.24%/year for S_Lantsang, which should be due to the increasing streamflow and the decreasing snowmelt water. For the S_Yangtze, the increasing streamflow contributed more than the stable change of snowmelt water to the decreasing f(Q,snow) with a rate of 0.1%/year. The April 1 SWE with the minimum value appearing after 2000 and the decreased ratio of snowfall to precipitation during the study period, suggested the snow solid water resource over the TRHR was shrinking. Our results imply that the role of snow in the snow-hydrological regime is weakening in the TRHR in terms of water supplement and runoff regulation due to the decreased f(Q,snow) and snowfall.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.3390/rs13081585
REMOTE SENSING
Keywords
DocType
Volume
snowmelt, VIC model, streamflow, SWE, Three-River Headwater Region
Journal
13
Issue
Citations 
PageRank 
8
0
0.34
References 
Authors
0
8
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Sisi Li100.34
Mingliang Liu200.34
Jennifer C. Adam300.34
Huawei Pi400.34
Fengge Su500.34
Dongyue Li621.91
Zhaofei Liu701.01
Zhijun Yao801.01