Tabacaru et al. (2026) Snowmelt Contribution to Streamflow in a Heavy-Snowfall Basin in Japan: A SWAT+ Modeling Study

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-25
• Authors: Alexandru Tabacaru, Yoichi Fujihara
• DOI: 10.3390/w18192391

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study developed a SWAT+ model for the heavy-snowfall Tedori River Basin in Japan to evaluate the impact of precipitation lapse rates on streamflow simulation and the hydrological role of snowmelt, finding that snow processes redistribute streamflow from winter to spring without significantly altering annual runoff volume.

Objective

• To develop and evaluate a SWAT+ model for the Tedori River Basin in a heavy-snowfall mountain region on the Sea of Japan side.
• To assess how the precipitation lapse rate (PLAPS) affects daily streamflow simulation.
• To quantify how the hydrological role of snowmelt varies within the basin.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Tedori River Basin (691 km²), including high-elevation Tedorigawa Dam Basin and lower-elevation Dainichi River Basin.
• Temporal Scale: 2016–2023.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: SWAT+ (Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus).
• Data sources: Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Main Results

• The adopted SWAT+ model achieved a Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.734 and a Percent Bias (PBIAS) of -8.6%.
• Simulated mean annual precipitation was 4178 mm, with 1438 mm (34.4%) occurring as snowfall.
• The snowmelt input ratio (fraction of liquid water input from snowmelt) was 33.8% for the whole basin, 34.2% for the high-elevation Tedorigawa Dam Basin, and 20.4% for the lower-elevation Dainichi River Basin.
• Snow processes had minimal effect on annual runoff volume but significantly redistributed streamflow from winter to spring and beyond.
• The influence of snow processes on streamflow timing ended 61 days later at the Tedori River Basin outlet compared to the Dainichi River Basin outlet.

Contributions

• First application and evaluation of SWAT+ in a heavy-snowfall mountain basin on the Sea of Japan side, addressing a critical knowledge gap.
• Provides a methodology combining snowmelt input ratio and Snow/No-Snow scenario analysis to offer complementary insights into snowmelt quantity and its timing/duration of influence on streamflow.
• Quantifies the spatial variability of snowmelt's hydrological role within a complex mountain basin.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Tabacaru2026Snowmelt,
  author = {Tabacaru, Alexandru and Fujihara, Yoichi},
  title = {Snowmelt Contribution to Streamflow in a Heavy-Snowfall Basin in Japan: A SWAT+ Modeling Study},
  journal = {Water},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/w18192391},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/w18192391}
}