Çelik et al. (2026) Snowmelt‐Associated Inundation Dynamics in a Semi‐Arid Floodplain: Evidence From Multi‐Temporal Sentinel‐1 Observations in the Aras Basin, Eastern Türkiye

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Identification

• Journal: Hydrological Processes
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-01
• Authors: Mehmet Ali Çelik, Mehmet Ali Aycan
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.70679

Research Groups

• Department of Hydrology, Istanbul Technical University
• Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

Short Summary

This study investigates the relative contributions of snowmelt and rainfall to flood generation in semi-arid basins surrounded by seasonally snow-covered mountains in eastern Anatolia. The results show that inundation is more closely associated with seasonal snow accumulation and melting than with rainfall.

Objective

• Investigate the role of snowmelt and rainfall in flood generation in semi-arid basins surrounded by seasonally snow-covered mountains

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale, focusing on the Iğdır-Aralık sector of eastern Türkiye
• Temporal Scale: Annual cycle, with observations from 2017 to 2025

Methodology and Data

• Models used: HydroSAR surface-water mapping workflow
• Data sources:
  • Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) scenes
  • ERA5-Land hydro-climatic variables
  • Terrain data

Main Results

• Inundation is more closely associated with seasonal snow accumulation and melting than with rainfall
• Snowmelt shows a moderate positive association with detected extent (r = 0.54, p < 0.001)
• Surface water detected on at least 50 observation dates covered approximately 1.2 km^2

Contributions

• Provides new insights into the relative contributions of snowmelt and rainfall to flood generation in semi-arid basins surrounded by seasonally snow-covered mountains
• Highlights the importance of considering seasonal snow accumulation and melting when interpreting satellite-derived surface-water inventories as flood records

Funding

• This research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under grant agreement number 101001701

Citation

@article{Çelik2026SnowmeltAssociated,
  author = {Çelik, Mehmet Ali and Aycan, Mehmet Ali},
  title = {Snowmelt‐Associated Inundation Dynamics in a Semi‐Arid Floodplain: Evidence From Multi‐Temporal Sentinel‐1 Observations in the Aras Basin, Eastern Türkiye},
  journal = {Hydrological Processes},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/hyp.70679},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70679}
}