Drivers of Dust-Enhanced Snowpack Melt-Out and Streamflow Timing
2022
Steven R. Fassnacht | Caroline R. Duncan | Anna K. D. Pfohl | Ryan W. Webb | Jeffrey E. Derry | William E. Sanford | Danielle C. Reimanis | Lenka G. Doskocil
The presence of dust on the snowpack accelerates snowmelt. This has been observed through snowpack and hydrometeorological measurements at a small study watershed in southwestern Colorado. For a 13-year period, we quantified the annual dust-enhanced energy absorption (DEAE) and used this information to model the snowpack melt-out under observed (with dust present) and clean conditions (no dust). We determine the difference in snow cover duration between actual (dust present) and simulated ideal (clean) snowpack (&Delta:SAG) to characterize the shifts in melt timing for each year. We compute the center of mass of runoff (tQ50) as a characteristic of snowmelt. DEAE, &Delta:SAG and tQ50 vary from year to year, and are dictated by the quantity of snow accumulation, and to a lesser extent the number of dust events, the annual dust loading, and springtime snowfall.
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