The Importance of Refreezing on the Diurnal Snowmelt Cycle with Application to a Northern Swedish Catchment

Abstract

A method for including night-time refreezing of the top layer of a snowpack in the degree-day method for computing daily snowmelt rates is presented. It is found that during days of large diurnal temperature variations the daily melt is more determined by the day-time conditions than by the daily mean conditions. Applications are made to an open area and a forested area. The refreezing-degree-day method is found to describe the snowmelt process very well, whereas the simple degree-day method shows a too fast snowmelt rate.