Depending on altitude, water storage by the snowpack can remain effective well into spring or early summer. Snow is also of great importance for alpine ecology. On the one hand, the snowpack separates the underlying soil and vegetation from energy exchange with the atmosphere, and on the other hand, it can provide a steady and long-lasting supply of water to the soil through snowmelt. Changes in the snowpack and snow hydrology are therefore of multifaceted interest. At the Stoderzinken research station, the influence of the snowpack on the water balance was investigated at an alpine pasture site at an altitude of 1830 m as part of a research project.
The results of the modeling and measurements show a clear year-to-year fluctuation in the maximum snow depth (between approximately 80 and 180 cm) and the maximum snow water content (between approximately 200 and 600 mm), clearly demonstrating the special status of the snowy winter of 2018/19.
Such data are of great interest beyond the study area as a basis for model simulations, as they improve the spatially distributed modeling of water balance components.
More information about the research project “WaBiStoder” can be found at www.dafne.at.
