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Garden with Insight v1.0 Help: Hydrology - Snowmelt


If snow is present, it may be melted on days when the second soil layer temperature exceeds 0 degrees C. Snow is melted as a function of the snow pack temperature using the equation [Equation 88] where SML is the snowmelt rate in mm/day, SNO is the snow present in mm of water, T is the mean daily air temperature in degrees C, and SPT is the snow pack temperature in degrees C.

Equation 88:

SML = T * (1.52 + 0.54 * SPT), 0 <= SML <= SNO
Code:
same
Variables:
SML = Snowmelt_mm
T = meanTempForDay_degC
SPT = snowPackTemp_degC
SNO = snowWaterContent_mm

The snow pack temperature is estimated with the equation [Equation 89] where T(s) is the temperature at the top of the snow pack and T(2) is the temperature at the center of soil layer 2. The equations for estimating T(s) and T(2) are presented in the soil temperature section. Melted snow is treated the same as rainfall for estimating runoff volume and percolation, but rainfall energy is set to 0.0 and peak runoff rate is estimated by assuming uniformly distributed rainfall for a 24-hr duration.

Equation 89:

SPT = min(T(s), T(2))
Code:
SPT = (2.0 * T(surf) + T) / 3.0
Variables:
SPT = SnowPackTemp_degC
T(s) = tempAtTopOfSnowPack_degC
T(2) = tempAtCenterOfSoilLayerTwo_degC
T(surf) = soilSurfaceTemp_degC
T = meanTempForDay_degC

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Updated: May 4, 1998. Questions/comments on site to webmaster@kurtz-fernhout.com.
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