Capitalizing on the daily time step of snow telemetry data to model the snowmelt components of the hydrograph for small watersheds

Daily time step data from National Resources Conservation Service snow telemetry (SNOTEL) stations were used to estimate components of the snowmelt-dominated hydrograph for three small watersheds in Colorado and Wyoming. Thirty-three years of SNOTEL data was paired with streamflow data to estimate the annual run-off volume (Q(100)) and peak streamflow (Q(peak)), as well as the timing of 20, 50, and 80% (t(Q20), t(Q50), and t(Q80)) of the annual streamflow. Multivariate regression models were derived from snow water equivalent (SWE) data for one basin (Joe Wright Creek), and the model components were then retained and applied to the other two watersheds. The basin-specific coefficients developed for the Joe Wright model were also applied to the other two basins to evaluate direct transferability. Peak SWE, date of peak SWE, and number of consecutive days with snow on the ground up to the date of peak SWE had the strongest correlation to streamflow and formed the basis of the models. The optimal model configuration performed well for the t(Q20), t(Q50), and Q(100), with poorer performance for Q(peak) and t(Q80). Applying the Joe Wright Creek coefficients directly to the other watersheds yielded reasonable results. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.