Importance of ice layers on liquid water storage within a snowpack

Knowledge of the effect of the physical characteristics of the snowpack on the onset of snowmelt runoff is needed for the modelling of snowmelt runoff . In the present study, the importance of ice layers in the snowpack to the release of meltwater has been investigated. Artificial rain was simulated over a snow plot of known dimensions prepared in the Glatzbach Basin in the Austrian Alps. The experiment was performed at an altitude of 2640 m just before the onset of snowmelt runoff from the snowpack at that altitude. Str atigraphic studies were made before and after the experiment. The snowpack contained five ice layers and the thickness of these layers varied from abo ut 2 to 8 mm. The average liquid water content of the snowpack was about 4% by volume before the rain simulation. The results indicate a substantial i ncrease in the storage capacity of the snowpack due to the presence of ice layers in the snowpack when it met saturated conditions because of rain wat er input. An amount equivalent to 100 mm, which is about 9.25% by volume, w as absorbed by the snow block before the appearance of runoff from the snow plot. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.