Articles | Volume 23, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2983-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2983-2019
Research article
 | 
15 Jul 2019
Research article |  | 15 Jul 2019

Monitoring snowpack outflow volumes and their isotopic composition to better understand streamflow generation during rain-on-snow events

Andrea Rücker, Stefan Boss, James W. Kirchner, and Jana von Freyberg

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Cited articles

Ala-aho, P., Tetzlaff, D., McNamara, J. P., Laudon, H., Kormos, P., and Soulsby, C.: Modeling the Isotopic Evolution of Snowpack and Snowmelt: Testing a spatially distributed parsimonious approach, Water Resour. Res., 53, 5813–5830, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR020650, 2017. 
Bales, R. C., Davis, R. E., and Williams, M. W.: Tracer release in melting snow: diurnal and seasonal patterns, Hydrol. Process., 7, 389–401, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.3360070405, 1993. 
Barnett, T. P., Adam, J. C., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions, Nature, 438, 303–309, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04141, 2005. 
Beaulieu, M., Schreier, H., and Jost, G.: A shifting hydrological regime: A field investigation of snowmelt runoff processes and their connection to summer base flow, Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Hydrol. Process., 26, 2672–2682, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9404, 2012. 
Beniston, M. and Stoffel, M.: Rain-on-snow events, floods and climate change in the Alps: Events may increase with warming up to 4 C and decrease thereafter, Sci. Total Environ., 571, 228–236, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.146, 2016. 
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Short summary
To better understand how rain-on-snow (ROS) events affect snowpack outflow volumes and streamflow generation, we measured snowpack outflow volumes and isotopic composition during 10 ROS events with automated snowmelt lysimeters at three locations in a pre-Alpine catchment. We quantified the spatio-temporal variability of snowpack outflow and its relative contribution to streamflow, and identified rainfall characteristics and initial snow depth as major controls on snow hydrological processes.