The Influence of Snow Cover on Runoff Regime and Its Change

The seasonal snow cover has a special significance in shaping the local runoff regime in the Upper Danube basin, since over 8 % of the area is located at elevations above 2,000 m a.s.l., where the snow cover remains until early summer. It temporarily retains the solid portion of precipitation and successively releases it with snow melt. A causal allocation of total discharge into rain, snow melt and ice melt is needed to quantitatively analyse the influence of snow storage in subsections of the drainage network. The contribution of snow melt to discharge can only be approximated by defining an indicator variable.