Evaluation of snow parameters at weather stations in small catchments in the south of Western Siberia

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed the accuracy of snow observations at weather stations compared to the data of snow measurements in the vicinity of these stations. Also, the variations of measurement errors were estimated considering the inter-annual snowpack variability and landscape heterogeneity of the river basins. The studies were conducted in three catchments in the south of Western Siberia: forest-steppe the Kasmala River (2011–2020), low mountain the Mayma River (2015–2020), and steppe the Kuchuk River (2019–2020). The results showed that the accuracy of snow measurements at the weather stations was higher in the low mountain catchment than in the plain basins. Interannual differences in precipitation combined with wind transport influenced the most significant errors in the Kasmala catchment (relative error of snow depth on the snow gauge – 46,3%, and SWE on the permanent course – 17,3%). However, in the Mayma catchment, the snow depth measurements on the snow gauge agreed well with the catchment means in all years (mean relative error 7,7%). The relative error of snow depth measurements on the snow gauge in the Kuchuk catchment was 7,5%, and of SWE on the permanent snow course was 19,1%. The small snow depth error occurred due to the composition of the error distribution and large differences between open and forested areas.