Snowmelt Modeling at Small Alaskan Arctic Watershed

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Abstract
The snowpack in the Alaskan Arctic can be described as light with the average annual snowpack varying between 5 cm and 20 cm of water in nonmountainous areas, and exposed to considerable wind redistribution during the winter. Melting of this snowpack occurs over a relatively short period of time (7 to 10 days) from early May to early June. Ablation has been monitored since 1985 in a small headwater drainage of the Kuparuk River. The results of the following three different models to predict snowmelt are presented: energy balance, degree day, and combined degree day-radiation. Performance of all of the models was very good, with the energy balance model predicting ablation the best. The models, particularly the temperature and temperature/radiation index models, had some difficulty in predicting what happens when cold spells interrupt the melt. There is also some discrepancy at the end of the snowmelt period when large areas become snow-free.