DINÁMICA ANUAL E INTERANUAL DE LA COBERTURA DE NIEVE EN LA CUENCA ALTA DEL RÍO COLORADO (ARGENTINA) Y SU RELACIÓN CON EL CAUDAL

Abstract

Studying the temporal and spatial variations of snow cover is extremely important for the planning and management of snow basins. The MOD10A2 product was used to evaluate the area covered by snow and its temporal variation in the upper Colorado river basin from 2000 to 2018. Snow covered area and snow accumulation attributes (average and most frequent dates of beginning, end and relative range) were calculated and analyzed during the 19 years of analysis. In addition, temporal evolutions were classified by years with: i) fusion slower than accumulation; ii) double point of maximum accumulation; and iii) accumulation slower than fusion. The maximum snow covered area was 13.316 km in June 2018, representing almost 96% of total basin area, followed by July 2017 (13.281 km) and the minimum of 15 km in February 2011. On average, snow accumulation begins on the week of March 15 and the maximum occurs on the week of July 23. This analysis represents the longest set of snowfall information estimated using satellite information for the Colorado basin. In context of climatic variability, the use of this information constitutes a valuable tool for monitoring snow periodically, in real time and in large areas of low accessibility.