Critical Analysis of the Snow Survey Network According to the Spatial Variability of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) on Eastern Mainland Canada

Abstract

In Eastern Canada, the snow survey network is highly optimized at the operational scale. However, it is commonly accepted that the network is limited when it comes to studying the spatial variability of the snow water equivalent (SWE), which forms different spatial structures that are active at multiple scales—from local to regional. The main objective of this study was to conduct a critical analysis of the existing snow survey network, based on the spatial variability of the existing SWE structures. To do so, we must (1) assess the snow survey network’s capacity to model spatial variability structures of SWE, and (2) study the spatial distribution based on the spatial variability structures of SWE. Initially, the snow survey network’s capacity to model the spatial variability structures of the SWE was evaluated by a variogram analysis. Second, the spatial distribution of the snow survey network’s data was analyzed through the Lorenz index curve and by measuring the spatial distribution using the Gini index. The results showed that, at a regional scale, the snow survey stations were evenly distributed within the spatial structures. However, at the local scale, the snow survey network was inadequate to model the spatial variability of SWE due to the reduced and uneven number of snow survey stations.