Influence of the relief and vegetation on the distribution of the snow cover in the pools of small rivers

The snow covering in the cold time of the year almost the fourth part of our planet, exerts the great influence on the variety of processes, including the vital activity of organisms: temperature regime, depth of freezing and the degree of soil moisture; the formation of spring runoff of rivers, the activity of geomorphological processes and so on. Besides, in modern conditions of the changing climate the snow cover is one of the most sensitive indicators of the cold season. Characteristics of the snow cover depend on the climate changes and also in many respects define these changes. The majority of research works, analyzing the spatial variability of quantitative indicators of the snow cover, are based on the observation data for the hydrometeorological networks and enclose watershed territories with areas of hundreds and thousands square kilometers. The investigation of local influences on peculiarities of the snow cover formation remains actual in new aspects: modeling of the forest water intake runoff, regulation of snow storings and snowmelt runoffs with the use of forestry events, the authentic interpretation of the results of the aerospace survey and others. The article considers the influence of the relief and vegetation on the snow cover distribution in small river basins of the subtaiga zone of the south-east of the West-Siberian plain (within Tomck region). The comparative analysis of the basic characteristics of the snow cover was accomplished with the use of materials of the landscape-route snow survey in the cedar forest and arable land in the basin of the Basandayka river over a 30-year period. The results of the analyses permit the following conclusions to be made: 1) the thickness of snowcover in the cedar forest varies between 27 and 72 cm averaging 58 cm, and on the arable land from 0 to 240 cm with 53 cm in average; 2) the snow cover density in the cedar forest varies from 0.19 to 0.24 g/cm³ on the average 0.21 g/cm³; and from 0.21 to 0.32 g/cm³ on the arable land with 0.27 g/cm³ in average; 3) the snow storage changes from 58 to 220 mm, in the average from 142 to 157 mm. The considerable irregularity in the snow cover distribution, depending on the snowdrift transport, microrelief and vegetation on the investigated territory, influences on processes of forming snowmelt runoff, water erosion development and deflation soils. Consequently, in the course of the long-term researth the date are obtained, concerning the snow cover density, thickness, and snow storage on the inter-streams, in the basins of small rivers, and so the significant contributions are made as to the investigation of the snow accumulation during winters in the interstreams, in the basins of small rivers.

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