Calibration of a distributed SWE model using MODIS snow cover maps and in situ measurements

In this letter, we propose the calibration procedure for a Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) forecasting model, using Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) multi-temporal snow cover maps and in situ measurements. The presented study refers to one of the largest artificial lakes in the Western Europe – the Serre-Poncon reservoir, on the Durance river, in the region of the French Alps. The SWE model, an integral part of the MORDOR (MOdele a Reservoirs de Determination Objective du Ruissellement) hydrological model, provides SWE as a function of local precipitation and temperature, as well as of accumulation and melting correction coefficients. The principal motivation for the proposed calibration method comes from the significant model sensitivity with respect to these two coefficients, which, given that they account for the influences of topology and mountain winds, ought to vary spatially. Three different optimization procedures are compared using the set of in situ measurements acquired by the ...