Comparison of measured and simulated snow cover occurrence using two versions of the TUW hydrological model

Recent rapid developments in the hydrological sciences are markedly related to the development of mathematical modeling and its application in engineering practice, e.g., for the purposes of hydrological forecasting, the extrapolation of hydrological data over time and in space, as well as the estimation of hydrological extremes. Simulation of the water balance is also important for the effective management of water resources. Snow accumulation and melting fundamentally affect the water balance and belong among the most important components of the hydrological cycle. Snowmelt is a significant source of runoff, especially in mountainous regions. The basic snow cover characteristics are the bulk density of the snow, the snow water equivalent, and the height of the snow. This paper is focused on a comparison of snow cover occurrences as simulated by the TUW lumped and semi-distributed conceptual models, with measured values of the snow depths for two selected Austrian river basins. For the comparison, two types of catchments with flat and hilly characters were selected. The results show that the semi-distributed version of the TUW model simulates the occurrence of snow cover more accurately on both flat and hilly catchments. The spatially differentiated model inputs allow for a more representative representation of snow accumulation and melting than using lumped model inputs.