Use of soil thaw/freeze depth data to verify hydrological modelling at poor gauged basins in permafrost regions = Verwendung von Tau- und Gefrierdaten des Bodens zur Überprüfung eines hydrologischen Modells in schlecht beobachteten Permafrostgebieten

Abstract

The distributed process-based runoff formation model Hydrograph was applied and tested against soil thaw/freeze depth and runoff data in different permafrost landscapes of the Kolyma Water-Balance station (KWBS). The parameterization describing different permafrost conditions was elaborated. Soil thaw/freeze depths were simulated for three sites comprising rocky talus, mountainous tundra and larch forest landscapes. The runoff model was applied and calibrated for the Kontaktovy Creek watershed (21.2 km2), which is covered by these respective land cover types. Runoff simulations were carried out for three poorly-gauged river basins (areas ranging from 1820 to 9560 km2) using the same soil and vegetation parameters of the calibrated model. The results have shown that the Hydrograph model can be reliably applied in the conditions of data limitation considering permafrost-related hydrological processes