Simulation of snowpack and discharge in an alpine karst basin (original) (raw)
Many conceptual runoff models are well able to simulate daily discharge based on a rather modest data input (e.g. daily values of air temperature and precipitation) provided that calibration via discharge is possible. The underlying assumption is that no considerable losses or gains of water take place via subterranean pathways. This study reports on the application of an operationally used conceptual runoff model in a 96 km 2 Swiss alpine watershed known to exhibit a complex karst-related hydrological behaviour. Three additional model parameters are introduced, one taking into account aspect-dependent snow melt, and two parameters controlling karst-related water losses. The values of these additional parameters are derived externally, and optimal values of the remaining parameters are achieved by a manual calibration procedure on the basis of discharge. A plausible complete water balance and satisfactory snow storage simulations are achieved by means of this extended model. It can be concluded that a rather simple conceptual model can be applied in karst basins under the assumption that certain intermediate model results can be optimized and verified with the aid of additional measurements apart from the standard hydrometeorological network.