A Study on a Method for How to Utilize Snow Cover Information Extracted from Satellite Images for Dam Operation During the Snowmelt Period

Abstract

This paper presents a simple method for how to utilize satellite images for dam operation during the snowmelt period. Satellite images taken by multiple satellites during four snowmelt periods (2015-2018) were used to track the progress of both the pattern and the area of snow cover during the snowmelt period in the Jozankei Dam basin in Hokkaido, Japan. The relationship between that progress and dam inflow was analyzed and the specific progress of both the pattern and the area of snow cover in that basin during the snowmelt period was determined. Our findings suggest that it may be possible to use satellite images to estimate when the peak snowmelt season starts and ends in the Jozankei Dam basin.