Snow as a contributor to spring flooding in Belarus
2021
Meshyk, Aleh | Barushka, Maryna | Marozava, Viktoryia
There are some peculiarities in instrumental observation over snow cover characteristics in Belarus and those of neighboring countries. Maximum snow water equivalent varies around Belarus from 107 mm in Brest to 207 mm in Novogrudok. It differs significantly in terms of years, which is proved by high values of variation coefficients (Cᵥ). Maximums are observed in the south and south-west of Belarus. Minimum values are typical for central and north-eastern parts of Belarus with a stable snow cover. There is a distinct correlation between snow water equivalent and the stations’ altitude. We observe a space-time variability of SWE in Belarus’ river catchments. Changes in SWE are of cyclic nature. They correlate with current climate fluctuations. In certain parts of Belarus, there is a trend in reduction of SWE up to 8–10 mm in 10 years. This research determines the amount of water that forms spring flood runoff in the catchments of Belarus’ big rivers. Possible daily snow melting is calculated in the research as well. It reaches 26 mm in its maximum and 5–6 mm on average. The amount of river runoff water, which is formed within Belarus, is 58 km³. The amount of melt water is 11 km³, which accounts for 19%. In particularly extreme years, melt water reaches 29 km³, which is over a half of all annual river runoff.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by National Agricultural Library
