Abstract:
The capability to predict the possible discharge from a predominently snow cover watershed goes a long way in helping in proper management of various water resources related
projects. The discharge is in turn largely depended upon numerous variable parameters viz the spatial extent of snow cover areas, the meteorological parameters and the topographical details. These variable parameters interact & are in turn depended upon each other. The present paper attempts to integrat these principal components to arrive at a meaningful snow coverrunoff model. This has been attempted in Alaknanda & Dhauliganga river watersheds upstream of Vishnuprayag in Chamoli district of Uttar Pradesh.
Multidate data from space borne platforms provide a synoptic& repetative coverage of the study area. This has been the helping tool in understanding and monitoring the spatial extent of snow covered areas. Conventional field surveys have helped in collecting the numerous meteorological and hydrological parameters. These have been suplemented to a great extent by data received from IMD & CWC. Survey of India topographical sheets have helped in retriving the topographical details.
A distinctive interplay of the numerous parameters eloborated above has been noted. In the ultimate analysis the preemptive approach at integration of remotely sensed data meteorological parameters and topographical details seems paramount in snowmelt runoff modelling.
