Evaluation of snow water equivalent estimations as early indicator for streamflow-droughts

Advisor: Stefanie Jörg-Hess and Massimiliano Zappa (WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Supervision: to be determined according to the curriculum of the candidate

Begin: by arrangement Language: German or English

Background

Abundance and deficit of snow resources in late winter might have predictive skill for early recognition of streamflow-droughts of alpine river basins. SLF and WSL developed tools for estimating snow water equivalent (SWE) at any time of the winter. A time series for the period 1961-2009 with spatial resolution of 1x1 km is available and can be used as predictor of discharge for the snowmelt-season. A preliminary analysis for the Alpine Rhine River Basin demonstrated that SWE on April 15th is valid predictor for minimal discharge in the months of May, June and July. We want to explore if the established methodology can be improved and used for river basins with different area and hydrological regime and if it can be applied for other dates of the winter..

Tasks

Goal of this master thesis is evaluation of a methodology for early prediction of streamflow-droughts. The candidate should learn the proposed method and apply it to different Swiss basins. Literature review should lead to different options for refining the methodology and establishing adequate instruments for communicating the results. It is expected that different verification metrics are implemented to obtain insight on the quality and uncertainties of the methods. The thesis should be written in the style of a scientific paper.

Literature

Jonas, T., Marty, C., Magnusson, J., 2009: Estimating the snow water equivalent from snow depth measurements in the Swiss Alps. Journal of Hydrology, 378(1-2), 161-167

Profile of the candidate

The candidate has to be motivated in completing a successful Master Thesis. He/she should be able to work independently. He/she brings sound knowledge on climatology, snow hydrology and catchment hydrology. Basic knowledge in Statistics (e.g. R) is welcome. Candidates with knowledge of a programming language (C, FORTRAN and IDL) or the motivation to learning a scripting language are particularly adequate.

The Research Group

http://www.wsl.ch/fe/gebirgshydrologie/HEX/index_EN

Contact

• Dr. Massimiliano Zappa, Gruppenleiter/in

  Organisationseinheit	Gebirgshydrologie & Massenbewegung Hydrologische Vorhersagen
  Tel:	+41 44 7392 433
  Fax:	+41 44 7392 215
  Raum:	Bi LG D 03
  E-Mail:
  Web:	http://www.wsl.ch/info/mitarbeitende/zappa