Estimate Average Annual Maximum Snow Depth with the Temperature and the Amount of Precipitation of the Mesh Normal Climatic Data in Toyama Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

The information of snow environment is very important for a study of forest or making a judgment of forest management method. “Mesh normal climatic data 2010” shows the distribution of average annual maximum snow depth. But then, the estimate values of maximum snow depth are underestimation compared to the observation values of that in high elevation area. On the other hand, at low temperatures, the amount of precipitation in the form of snowfall increases, and the melting of snow is less likely to occur. Thus, the maximum snow depth is observed increase further. Therefore, we developed a model for estimating the average annual maximum snow depth based on the estimated distribution of the mean temperature and precipitation values of “Mesh normal climatic data 2010”. We further demonstrated that the proposed model is accurate enough for reproducing the observed values.