Abstract
Snowfall is the dominant form of precipitation in high mountainous areas and its driving melt water has an indispensable role in the hydrological cycle and groundwater recharge, particularly in karstic landscapes with high infiltration capacity. Monitoring snow cover area (SCA) and its melting process is essential for the investigation of climatic variables, hydrology, hydrogeology, and water resource management. Prodigious advances of satellite imaginary technology in the past decades made it possible to monitor spatiotemporal distribution of snow and its melting process. In this research, SCA was investigated using cloud-free images of Landsat-8 from December 2014 to June 2016 and Sentinel-2 from November 2015 to June 2016 at Lasem area (north of Iran) by normalized difference snow index. Simultaneously, the discharges of the main karstic springs were monitored over May 2015 to June 2016. The catchment subdivided into three sub-zones based on the hydrogeological characteristics and snow melting time. Fractional SCA time series within each subdomain used to develop snow melting curve in each subzone. Comparison of melting peaks between the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 water years shows that melting shifted in average 20 days later in 2016 at north-facing subdomains. North-facing slopes show quite fast transmitting time (20–35 days) of the peak snowmelt to the springs, while the south-facing springs are more silent to the recharge pulses (70–80 days), indicating a higher degree of karstification in north-facing domains. More concentrated snowmelt in 2016 led to increasing peak flow by an average of 15% in the springs fed by north-facing domains.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bakalowicz M (2005) Karst groundwater: a challenge for new resources. Hydrogeol J 13(1):148–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-004-0402-9
Barnett TP, Adam JC, Lettenmaier DP (2005) Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions. Nature 438(7066):303–309. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04141
Berberian M, Yeats RS (1999) Patterns of historical earthquake rupture in the Iranian Plateau. Bull Seismol Soc Am 89(1):120–139
Bonacci O (1993) Karst springs hydrographs as indicators of karst aquifers. Hydrol Sci J 38(1–2):51–62
Bonacci O, Andrić I (2015) Karst spring catchment: an example from Dinaric karst. Environ Earth Sci 74(7):6211–6223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4644-8
Bormann KJ, McCabe MH, Evans JP (2012) Satellite based observations for seasonal snow cover detection and characterization in Australia. Remote Sens Environ 123:57–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2012.03.003
Brown ME, Racoviteanu AE, Tarboton DG, Gupta AS, Nigro J, Policelli F, Tokar S (2014) An integrated modeling system for estimating glacier and snow melt driven stream flow from remote sensing and earth system data products in the Himalayas. J Hydrol 519:1859–1869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.050
Crawford CJ, Manson SM, Bauer ME, Hall DK (2013) Multi-temporal snow cover mapping in mountainous terrain for Landsat climate data record development. Remote Sens Environ 135:224–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2013.04.004
Deng Y, Flerchinger GN, Cooley KR (1994) Impacts of spatially and temporally varying snowmelt on subsurface flow in a mountainous watershed: 2. Subsurf Process Hydrol Sci J 39(5):521–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626669409492772
Dietz AJ, KuenzerC GessnerU, Dech S (2012) Remote sensing of snow—a review of available methods. Int J Remote Sens 33(13):4094–4134. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2011.640964
Dietz A, Conrad C, Kuenzer C, Gesell G, Dech S (2014) Identifying changing snow cover characteristics in Central Asia between 1986 and 2014 from remote sensing data. Remote Sens 6(12):12752–12775. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs61212752
Dozier J (1989) Spectral signature of alpine snow cover from the landsat thematic mapper. Remote Sens Environ 28:9–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-4257(89)90101-6
Egbers R (2016) Sentinel-2 data processing and identifying glacial features in Sentinel-2 imagery. BSc Thesis, TU Delft, University of Technology, Netherlands
Emami MH, Babakhani A (1997) Geological map of Damavand. Geological Survey of Iran, scale 1:100,000
European Space Agency (ESA) (2016) https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/sentinel-dataaccess. Accessed Sept 2016
Earth Explorer (2016) https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Accessed Sept 2016
Fassnacht SR, Sexstone GA, Kashipazha AH, López-Moreno JI, Jasinski MF, Kampf SK, Von Thaden BC (2016) Deriving snow-cover depletion curves for different spatial scales from remote sensing and snow telemetry data. Hydrol Process 30(11):1708–1717. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10730
Fassnacht SR, López-Moreno JI, Ma C, Weber AN, Pfohl AKD, Kampf SK, Kappas M (2017) Spatio-temporal snowmelt variability across the headwaters of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Front Earth Sci 11(3):505–514. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-017-0641-4
Fiorillo F, Guadagno FM (2012) Long karst spring discharge time series and droughts occurrence in southern Italy. Environ Earth Sci 65:2273–2283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1495-9
Flerchinger GN, Cooley KR, Ralston DR (1992) Groundwater response to snowmelt in a mountainous watershed. J Hydrol 133:293–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(92)90260-3
Gusev YM, Nasonova ON (2014) Application of a technique for scenario prediction of climate change impact on the water balance components of northern river basins. J Hydrol Hydromech 62:1–12. https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2014-0025
Hall DK, Riggs GA, Salomonson VV (1995) Development of methods for mapping global snow cover using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer data. Remote Sens Environ 54:127–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-4257(95)00137-P
Hall DK, Riggs GA, Salomonson VV, DiGirolamo NE, Bayr KJ (2002) MODIS snowcover products. Remote Sens Environ 83(1–2):181–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/S00344257(02)00095-0
Hall DK, Foster JL, DiGirolamo NE, Riggs GA (2012) Snow cover, snowmelt timing and stream power in the Wind River Range. Wyo Geomorphol 137(1):87–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.11.011
Hall DK, Crawford CJ, DiGirolamo NE, Riggs GA, Foster JL (2015) Detection of earlier snowmelt in the Wind River Range, Wyoming, using Landsat imagery, 1972–2013. Remote Sens Environ 162:45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.01.032
Hartmann A, Gleeson T, Wada Y, Wagener T (2017) Enhanced groundwater recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114(11):2842–2847. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1614941114
Kääb A, Winsvold S, Altena B, Nuth C, Nagler T, Wuite J (2016) Glacier remote sensing using Sentinel-2. Part I: radiometric and geometric performance, and application to ice velocity. Remote Sens 8(7):598. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8070598
Kavousi A, Raeisi E (2015) Estimation of groundwater mean residence time in unconfined karst aquifers using recession curves. J Cave Karst Stud 77(2):108–119. https://doi.org/10.4311/2014ES0106
Khalili A (1973) Precipitation patterns of central Elburz. Archiv für Meteorologie, Geophysik und Bioklimatologie, Serie B 21(2–3):215–232
Lo Russo S, Amanzio G, Ghione R, De Maio M (2015) Recession hydrographs and time series analysis of springs monitoring data: application on porous and shallow aquifers in mountain areas (Aosta Valley). Environ Earth Sci 73(11):7415–7434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3916-z
Macander MJ, Swingley CS, Joly K, Raynolds MK (2015) Landsat-based snow persistence map for northwest Alaska. Remote Sens Environ 163:23–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.02.028
MacDonald LH (1987) Forest harvest, snowmelt and stream flow in the central Sierra Nevada. Forest hydrology and watershed management. Vancouver Symp., 9–22 August 1987, Vancouver, B.C. IAHS-AISH, Wallingford, Publ 167:273–283
Malík P, Vojtková S (2012) Use of recession-curve analysis for estimation of karstification degree and its application in assessing overflow/underflow conditions in closely spaced karstic springs. Environ Earth Sci 65(8):2245–2257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1596-0
Miao J, Liu G, Cao B, Hao Y, Chen J, Yeh TCJ (2014) Identification of strong karst groundwater runoff belt by cross wavelet transform. Water Resour Manag 28:2903–2916. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0645-8
Padilla A, Pulido-Bosch A, Mangin A (1994) Relative importance of baseflow and quick flow from hydrographs of karst spring. Groundwater 32(2):267–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.17456584.1994.tb00641.x
Poulain A, Rochez G, Bonniver I, Hallet V (2015) Stalactite drip-water monitoring and tracer tests approach to assess hydrogeologic behavior of karst vadose zone: case study of Han-sur-Lesse (Belgium). Environ Earth Sci Environ Earth Sci 74(12):7685–7697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4696-9
Radulovic M, Stevanovic Z, Radulovic M (2012) A new approach in assessing recharge of highly karstified terrains-Montenegro case studies. Environ Earth Sci 65(8):2221–2230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1378-0
Rango A, Wergin WP, Erbe EF (1996) Snow crystal imaging using scanning electron microscopy: part II—metamorphosed snow. Hydrol Sci J 41(2):235–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626669609491495
Rittger K, Painter TH, Dozier J (2012) Assessment of methods for mapping snow cover from MODIS. Adv Water Resour 51:367–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.03.002
Schmieder J, Hanzer F, Marke T, Garvelmann J, Warscher M, Kunstmann H, Strasser U (2016) The importance of snowmelt spatiotemporal variability for isotope-based hydrograph separation in a high-elevation catchment. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 20(12):5015–5033. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-5015-2016
Shamsi A, Karami GH, Taheri A (2019) Recession curve analysis of major karstic springs at the Lasem area (north of Iran). Carbonates Evaporites 2019:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-019-00501-7
Smith T, Bookhagen B, Rheinwalt A (2017) Spatiotemporal patterns of High Mountain Asia's snowmelt season identified with an automated snowmelt detection algorithm, 1987–2016. Cryosphere 11(5):2329–2343. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2329-2017
Tedesco M, Parrinello T, Webb C, Markus T (2014) Remote sensing missions and the cryosphere. In: Tedesco M (ed) Remote sensing of the cryosphere. Wiley, Chichester, pp 382–392
White WB (2007) A brief history of karst hydrogeology: contributions of the NSS. J Cave Karst Stud 69(1):13–26
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for the constructive, insightful comments and suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shamsi, A., Karami, G.H. & Hunkeler, D. Snow cover monitoring by remote sensing and evaluating melting water effects on karstic springs discharges (a case study from Lasem area). Carbonates Evaporites 35, 53 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-020-00589-2
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-020-00589-2