Item: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NETWORK OF AUTOMATIC SNOW STATIONS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC IN RELATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND OTHER FACTORS
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Title: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NETWORK OF AUTOMATIC SNOW STATIONS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC IN RELATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND OTHER FACTORS
Proceedings: Proceedings, International Snow Science Workshop, Whistler, BC, Canada, 2026
Authors:
- Jan Jirak [ Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Applied Hydrology Department Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic ]
- Simon Bercha [ Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Applied Hydrology Department Prague, Czech Republic ]
Date: 2026-09-28
Abstract: Over the past two decades, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) has gradually expanded its manual snow monitoring network with automatic snow-measuring stations. Since 2006, several technologies have been evaluated, particularly snow pillows for measuring snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE). The resulting network now covers major mountain and highland regions beyond the primary climatological stations and has been further complemented by automatic snow depth sensors. Network development has been driven by the need to maintain reliable long-term datasets for water management, compensate for the declining number of observers in mountain regions, and adapt to climate change, which is shifting suitable monitoring sites to higher elevations. Station locations were selected according to representativeness, wind exposure, vegetation, terrain, and accessibility. CHMI currently operates 60 standalone automatic snow stations, and this network is supplemented by 46 additional lasers and ultrasonic snow depth sensors located at meteorological stations. Long operational experience demonstrate that representative site selection is more important for obtaining reliable SWE observations than the choice of measurement technology itself. Future work will focus on integrating historical and automated observations to ensure consistent long-term SWE datasets.
Object ID: ISSW2026_P3.16.pdf
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15788/1790099106
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Jan Jirak
Keywords: Automatic snow station, snow water equivalent, meteorological data supplementation, climate change, station site selection
Page Number(s): 793 - 801
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