SIMULATION OF TERRAIN AND FOREST SHELTER EFFECTS ON PATTERNS OF SNOW DEPOSITION, SNOWMELT AND RUNOFF OVER A SEMI-ARID MOUNTAIN CATCHMENT

A topographically distributed snow accumulation and melt model was coupled to a wind field and snow redistribution model to simulate the development and ablation of the seasonal snow cover over a small mountainous catchment(0.38km2) in southwest Idaho(USA). The model was driven by hourly terrain and canopy. Corrected data grids derived from two stations located within catchment for four years. The meltout of the wind-sheltered drift and canopy-enclosed regions occured in conjonction with the springtime increase in solar radiation generating the bulk of sringtime runoff.