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Relation between snowdepth and terrain parameters at the 25 m grid scale
Wolf-Dietrich Marchand, SWECO Norge AS, NORWAY ABSTRACT
In this study the relationship between snow depth and various terrain parameters (aspect, X and Y coordinates, curvature, elevation, slope, forest) was analyzed with a Geographic Information System (GIS) at a raster resolution of 25x25 m. The data is based on substantial snow measurements, aided by a ground based georadar (snowradar).One of our previous analyses at the lower 100x100 m resolution showed a weak but significant relationship between snow depth and the various terrain parameters. The aim of this new study was to asses whether this relationship increases at the higher resolution. The snow depth was given as measured point values with coordinates. These point values were converted to 25x25 m pixel values. In average the mean of 63 point values determined the pixel value. Three different measuring campaigns were used, resulting in 2500 to 4271 cells with snow depth values. The terrain parameters were obtained from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and a digital land use map. A correlation analysis resulted in low correlation values ranging from 0.02 to 0.44. The parameters elevation and slope showed the highest and most consistent correlation. Results from a multiple regression analysis for snow depth in open field (no forest) indicated that almost all terrain parameters were significant predictors. The degree of explanation was low (adjusted R2 ranging from 0.11 to 0.22). For snow depth in forests several predictors were not significant. Only the relationship to elevation and Y coordinate were significant for all measuring campaigns. Adjusted R2 values were in the range 0.21 to 0.29.
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