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Study on snowmelt runoff simulation in the Kaidu River basin

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Abstract

Alpine snowmelt is an important generation mode for runoff in the source region of the Tarim River basin, which covers four subbasins characterized by large area, sparse gauge stations, mixed runoff supplied by snowmelt and rainfall, and remarkably spatially heterogeneous precipitation. Taking the Kaidu River basin as a research area, this study analyzes the influence of these characteristics on the variables and parameters of the Snow Runoff Model and discusses the corresponding determination strategy to improve the accuracy of snowmelt simulation and forecast. The results show that: (i) The temperature controls the overall tendency of simulated runoff and is dominant to simulation accuracy, as the measured daily mean temperature cannot represent the average level of the same elevation in the basin and that directly inputting it to model leads to inaccurate simulations. Based on the analysis of remote sensing snow maps and simulation results, it is reasonable to approximate the mean temperature with 0.5 time daily maximum temperature. (ii) For the conflict between the limited gauge station and remarkably spatial heterogeneity of rainfall, it is not realistic to compute rainfall for each elevation zone. After the measured rainfall is multiplied by a proper coefficient and adjusted with runoff coefficient for rainfall, the measured rainfall data can satisfy the model demands. (iii) Adjusting time lag according to the variation of snowmelt and rainfall position can improve the simulation precision of the flood peak process. (iv) Along with temperature, the rainfall increases but cannot be completely monitored by limited gauge stations, which results in precision deterioration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Zhang YiChi, Li BaoLin & Zhou ChengHu

  2. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China

    Bao AnMing & Chen Xi

  3. Xinjiang Tarim River Basin Management Bureau, Korla, 841000, China

    Zhang XueRen

Authors
  1. Zhang YiChi
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  2. Li BaoLin
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  3. Bao AnMing
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  4. Zhou ChengHu
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  5. Chen Xi
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  6. Zhang XueRen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhou ChengHu.

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar, China (Grant No. 40225004), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40571030), and the World Bank and China’s National Key Project (Grant Nos. TTTQ-216 and TTTQ-218)

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Zhang, Y., Li, B., Bao, A. et al. Study on snowmelt runoff simulation in the Kaidu River basin. SCI CHINA SER D 50 (Suppl 1), 26–35 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-5007-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-5007-4

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