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MEASUREMENT OF FROST‐INDUCED SNOWMELT RUNOFF IN A FOREST SOIL
Author(s) -
STADLER DANIEL,
WUNDERLI HANS,
AUCKENTHALER ADRIAN,
FLÜHLER HANNES,
BRÜNDL MICHAEL
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(199610)10:10<1293::aid-hyp461>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - snowmelt , surface runoff , environmental science , snow , hydrology (agriculture) , frost (temperature) , infiltration (hvac) , interception , canopy interception , soil water , water content , soil science , geology , geomorphology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology , physics , throughfall , thermodynamics
Snow interception in a coniferous stand leads to considerable short‐range variability in snowcover depth, which in turn affects the water and heat regime of the soil. To study the coupling between snow accumulation, frost penetration, and hydrological response, plot‐scale experiments were conducted in a subalpine spruce forest. The stony, sandy–loamy Spodosol was highly permeable and had an organic layer of 5–15 cm thickness. Within two plots, one underneath a tree crown and one in a canopy gap, we measured near‐surface runoff, soil temperature, and liquid water content. Snow and frost depths varied more in space than between two winter periods at given locations. Frost penetration was greater near the trunk, where a higher portion of snowmelt water drained downslope close to the surface than in the gap due to frost‐induced reduction of infiltration. In both years, the spring snowmelt occurred over two distinct periods. During the first snowmelt, the water percolated primarily through the frozen layer and part of it probably refroze within the frozen layer, thereby raising the total water and ice content. During the second event, near‐surface runoff was more pronounced.