Use of interactive multisensor snow and ice mapping system snow cover maps (IMS) and artificial neural networks for simulating river discharges in Eastern Turkey

Basins located in Eastern Turkey are largely fed by snowmelt runoff during spring and early summer seasons. This study investigates the efficiency of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in snowmelt runoff generation. Although ANNs have been used for streamflow simulating/forecasting in the last two decades, using satellite-based snow-covered area (SCA) maps and meteorological observations as inputs to ANN provides a novel basis for estimating streamflow. The proposed methodology is implemented over Upper Euphrates River Basin in Eastern Turkey. SCA data was acquired from Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) for an 8-year period from February 2004 to September 2011. Meteorological observations including daily cumulative precipitation and daily average air temperatures were obtained from Turkish State Meteorological Services. The simulation results are promising with coefficient of correlation varying from 0.67 to 0.98 among proposed models. Past days discharge was found to substantially improve the forecast accuracy. The paper presents the expected basin discharge for 2011 water year based on meteorological observations and SCA input.