Hydrological Sciences Journal

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/thsj20

Snow and climate trends and their impact on

seasonal runoff and hydrological drought types in
selected mountain catchments in Central Europe

Andrea Blahušiaková, Milada Matoušková, Michal Jenicek, Ondřej Ledvinka,

Zdeněk Kliment, Jana Podolinská & Zora Snopková

To cite this article: Andrea Blahušiaková, Milada Matoušková, Michal Jenicek, Ondřej
Ledvinka, Zdeněk Kliment, Jana Podolinská & Zora Snopková (2020) Snow and climate trends
and their impact on seasonal runoff and hydrological drought types in selected mountain
catchments in Central Europe, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 65:12, 2083-2096, DOI:
10.1080/02626667.2020.1784900

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2020.1784900

Published online: 16 Jul 2020. Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 696 View related articles

View Crossmark data Citing articles: 12 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=thsj20
HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL
2020, VOL. 65, NO. 12, 2083–2096
https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2020.1784900

Snow and climate trends and their impact on seasonal runoff and hydrological
drought types in selected mountain catchments in Central Europe
Andrea Blahušiaková a, Milada Matoušková a
, Michal Jenicek a
, Ondřej Ledvinka b
, Zdeněk Kliment a
,
Jana Podolinskác and Zora Snopkovád
a
Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia; bHydrology Database and Water Budget
Department, Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, Czechia; cDepartment of Hydrological Service, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute,
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia; dDepartment of Climatological Service, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This study investigates changes in seasonal runoff and low flows related to changes in snow and climate Received 28 May 2019
variables in mountainous catchments in Central Europe. The period 1966–2012 was used to assess trends Accepted 1 May 2020
in climate and streamflow characteristics using a modified Mann–Kendall test. Droughts were classified EDITOR
into nine classes according to key snow and climate drivers. The results showed an increase in air A. Castellarin
temperature, decrease in snowfall fraction and snow depth, and changes in precipitation. This resulted
in increased winter runoff and decreased late spring runoff due to earlier snowmelt, especially at ASSOCIATE EDITOR
elevations from 1000 to 1500 m a.s.l. Most of the hydrological droughts were connected to either low O. Makarieva
air temperatures and precipitation during winter or high winter air temperatures which caused below- KEYWORDS
average snow storages. Our findings show that, besides precipitation and air temperature, snow plays an snow variability; snow cover
important role in summer streamflow and drought occurrence in selected mountainous catchments. trends; climate variability;
low flows; drought types

1 Introduction
Central Europe, located in the temperate zone, typically
experiences seasonal changes in hydroclimatic variables. In
the cold season, low air temperatures and snow accumulation
occur in mountainous areas. These factors are very important
for water storage in catchments not only during winter but also
throughout the rest of the year, because snowmelt in mountain
catchments feeds rivers in lowlands in spring and summer,
which is important during periods with little precipitation
(Van Loon 2015, Staudinger et al. 2017). However, a decrease
in seasonal snowpack has been observed in mountainous areas
of Europe and North America in the past several decades
(Pellicciotti et al. 2010, Blahusiakova and Matouskova 2015,
Knowles 2015, Jenicek et al. 2016, 2018, Marke et al. 2018).
Changes in snowfall fraction, a ratio of snowfall to annual
precipitation, influence the timing of spring runoff, river ice
jams, and late winter snow density (Huntington et al. 2004).
According to Knowles (2015), air temperature, especially in
combination with precipitation amounts and their trends, has
the largest effect on snow cover trends. In areas where the air
temperature is often close to the melting point, little changes in
air temperature might result in a large loss of snowpack. With
an increase in air temperature by 1°C, the snowline rises by
about 150 m in temperate mountain regions (Beniston 2003).
Several studies have assessed the influence of snowfall frac­
tion on snow storages and total runoff (Huntington et al. 2004,
Feng and Hu 2007, Sawicz et al. 2011, Jenicek et al. 2016).
Future decrease in snowfall fraction could render catchments
at middle and high elevations more susceptible to the
occurrence of hydrological drought (Jenicek et al. 2016),
which is often defined as a period of streamflow deficit below
selected threshold. Elevation plays a major role in snow accu­
mulation and snowmelt in large catchments (Kucerova and
Jenicek 2014). Vojtek et al. (2003) have demonstrated more
pronounced decreasing trends in snow cover duration and
solid precipitation at elevations from 1000 to 1500 m a.s.l.
compared to other elevations, due to increasing mixed and
liquid precipitation at the expense of snowfall. Similar findings
have also been made by Martin and Durand (1998). At high
elevations, only slight or even no changes in snow cover have
been observed, because air temperature remains below the
freezing point despite ongoing warming (Giorgi et al. 1997,
Vojtek et al. 2003, Knowles et al. 2006). Snow cover is expected
to dramatically decrease in the future at elevations of
1500–2000 m (Gobiet et al. 2014).
Changes in snowpack significantly affect runoff, as
Berghuijs et al. (2014) have observed in the United States. In
catchments with high snowfall fraction, the runoff is generally
higher compared to catchments with the same amount of
precipitation, but with lower snowfall fraction. The results by
Jenicek et al. (2016) indicated that snow water equivalent
(SWE) influenced summer low flow mostly at elevations
above 2000 m a.s.l. A reduction in SWE resulted in earlier low-
flow occurrence in some cases in years with below-average
SWE. Changes in air temperature and precipitation affect low-
flow trends (Dierauer et al. 2018). In climates with seasonally
below-zero air temperatures and snow accumulation in winter,
snow-related processes play a role in drought occurrence and

CONTACT Andrea Blahušiaková ablahusiak@gmail.com Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague,
Czechia
© 2020 IAHS
2084 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
intensity (Van Loon 2015). Therefore, it is important to sepa­
rate winter and summer low flows and droughts since both
types are controlled by a different mechanism (Floriancic et al.
2019). Winter low flows occur because most of the water is
stored in the snowpack and thus the runoff is low. In contrast,
summer low flows emerge during long-term persistent dry
periods when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation. This
leads to a slow depletion of the soil reservoir, which results in
low streamflow values (Laaha 2002).
The above studies show that there is still limited knowl­
edge of how changes in different snow-related signatures
interplay with summer low flows and how sensitive catch­
ments are in different regions at different elevations.
Therefore, the aim of this study was 1) to analyse inter-
annual variations and trends in selected snow, climate, and
low streamflow characteristics in the last 50 years, 2) to
relate the runoff changes to trends in climatic variables
including changes in snow depth and 3) to explore the low-
flow sensitivity of study catchments with respect to their
different elevation and climate regime.
As Kreibich et al. (2019) pointed out, there is a lack of
reliable, consistent drought impact and vulnerability data,
and our current knowledge of drivers relative to drought
impacts and causes of drought vulnerability is still very limited.
Our study adds to earlier studies by focusing on the combined
effect of winter snow storages and precipitation in warm sea­
son and its varying importance for low streamflow values in
individual catchments. Exploring this combined effect is par­
ticularly important in humid regions where annual precipita­
tion is almost uniformly distributed over the year. In our
study, we benefit from long-term daily data which represent
a variety of climate conditions across Central Europe, such as
Figure 1. Location of the study catchments. Catchment number 1 is used for the highest catchment (mean catchment elevation) and 7 refers to the lowest catchment.
relatively warmer and wet winters in the west compared to
relatively colder and dry winters in the east of our study area.
2 Study areas
Seven catchments in Central Europe were selected for this
study. Three of them (Allenbach, Dischma, and Sitter catch­
ments) are located in the Swiss Alps, two catchments (Blanice
and Vydra catchments) are located in the Šumava Mountains
(Bohemian Forest, Czechia), one (Mumlava catchment) is
located in the Krkonoše Mountains (Giant Mountains,
Czechia) and the last one (Hron catchment) is situated in the
Nízke Tatry (Low Tatras, Slovakia) (Fig. 1; Table 1). Two
criteria were important for catchment selection: 1) near-
natural conditions with no major human impact on runoff
and 2) availability of long-term hydroclimatic data series.
Since changes in snow storages are apparently closely related
to elevation, the selected climate stations were divided into
three elevation classes: lower elevations below 1000 m a.s.l.
(Harrachov and Husinec stations), middle elevations from
1000 to 1500 m a.s.l. (Adelboden, Davos, Churáňov, and
Telgárt stations), and higher elevations above 1500 m a.s.l.
(Säntis and Weissfluhjoch stations).
3 Data and methods
3.1 Data
Data were obtained from the Slovak Hydrometeorological
Institute (SHMI), from the Czech Hydrometeorological
Institute (CHMI), the Federal Office of Meteorology and
Climatology (MeteoSwiss) and from the Federal Office for
 HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2085

the Environment (FOEN). The data included mean daily dis­

Qa: mean annual discharge (1966–2012); Rda: mean annual runoff depth (1966–2012); Ta: mean annual air temperature (1966–2012); Pa: mean annual precipitation at the climate station (1966–2012); Sdmaxa: maximum mean annual
Sdmaxa
(cm)
85
222
54
481
69
36
73
8
charge, mean daily air temperature, daily precipitation, and
daily snow depth (Table 2). Although gridded air temperature

Pa (mm)
and precipitation products are available for Switzerland, we

1050
1331
1345
2535
1112
855
1315
652
used only station data since gridded products are not available
for study areas located in Czechia and Slovakia. Data were
Ta (°C)

3.4
−2.1
5.8
−1.3
4.6
5.1
5.6
7.5
controlled for quality and homogeneity.
Data from 1966 to 2012 from each station were analysed in
Elevation of climate

this study. To analyse temporal changes, the period was split

station (m a.s.l.)

into two time series of nearly equal length, 1966–1988 and

1594
2691
1320
2502
1118
901
675
536
1989–2012. The found changes were analysed using three
different timescales: annual, seasonal and monthly. The analy­
sis using different timescales enabled to explore potential
trends in different temporal resolutions. For example, a trend
Weissfluhjoch

of a specific variable was not detected at an annual level,

Climate

Adelboden
station

Harrachov

although some change occurred only in a specific month.

Churáňov

Husinec
Telgárt
Davos

Säntis

The annual timescale was defined for a hydrological year, start­

ing on 1 November and ending on 31 October. The seasonal
timescale covered the November to April season
Glacier

(1 November – 30 April, hereafter referred also to as XI–IV).

(%)
0.7

0
0
0
0
0
0

For all three timescales, discharge (m3 s−1), air temperature

(°C), precipitation (mm), and snow cover depth (cm) were
Rda (mm)

calculated as mean values (sums for precipitation).

1241

1314
1492
1204
494
1219
343

Additionally, long-term (1966–2012) mean annual discharge,

air temperature, precipitation amount, and snow cover depth
(m3 s−1)

were calculated.
1.70

1.21
3.51
3.44
1.32
1.98
0.93
Qa

3.2 Methods
Elevation of gauging
station (m a.s.l.)

3.2.1 Snow-related variables

1668

1297
769
973
733
581
743

The mean snow depth (Sd) was calculated for days with snow
cover higher than or equal to 1 cm which was not interrupted
for more than five consecutive days. The snow cover duration
(Sddur) was defined as a duration between the first and the
slope (°)

last day with snow cover. Depending on the elevation of the

Mean

5.9

6.7
26.2

24.6

15.3
11.8
22

individual meteorological station, the snow cover lasted from

November to April at the Husinec, Telgárt, and Harrachov
range (m a.s.l.)

stations, from October to May at Adelboden, Davos, and

1668–3145

1297–2762
769–2502
973–1370
733–1946
581–1435
743–1236
Elevation

Churáňov, and from September to August at Weissfluhjoch

Table 1. Selected characteristics of the study catchments and climate stations.

and Säntis. The maximum depth of snow cover (Sdmax) for

each month and year and the day of the year of its occurrence
(Sdmaxd) were also evaluated (Table 2). In case of more days
elevation (m a.s.l.)
Mean catchment

with the same value of Sdmax occurred in 1 year, we used the

2372

1847
1254
1147
1060
972
898

latest one to capture the late winter maximum before spring

snowmelt.
Two different variables describing the proportion of solid
and liquid precipitation were used in this study. The first
Area (km2)

variable, the snowfall fraction (Sf), is the ratio of snowfall to

89.8
83.7
51.3
85.5
43

29
74

total precipitation (annual, seasonal, monthly). Snowfall frac­

tion values close to 1 indicate a larger amount of precipitation
Davos, Kriegsmatte

snow cover depth (1966–2012).

falling as snow (Jenicek et al. 2016). The second variable, the

Gauging station

Janov-Harrachov

snowfall day fraction (Rsd), was defined as the number of days

Blanický Mlýn
Adelboden

with snowfall divided by the total number of days with pre­

Appenzell
Modrava

cipitation (wet days).

Zlatno

Since the precipitation time series do not usually include

the information on whether the precipitation falls as snow or
Catchment

Allenbach

Mumlava

rain, we used a threshold air temperature 1°C to separate

Dischma

Blanice
Vydra
Sitter

Hron

between snow and rain. The selected threshold air temperature

is widely used by other studies (Dai 2008, Berghuijs et al. 2014,
2086 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
Table 2. Climate and hydrological variables.
Climate variable Description
Ta Long-term mean annual air temperature (°C)
Pa Long-term annual precipitation at the climate station (mm)
Sd Snow cover depth (cm)
Sda Long-term mean snow cover depth (cm)
Sddur Snow cover duration from the first to the last day with snow cover (d)
Sdmax Maximum snow cover depth (cm)
Sdmaxa Maximum long-term mean annual snow cover depth (cm)
Sdmaxd Average day of year of the Sdmax (d)
Sf Snowfall fraction, a ratio of snowfall to total precipitation (-)
Rsd Snowfall day fraction, a ratio of the number of snowfall days to the
number of days with precipitation (-)
Jenicek et al. 2016). We tested thresholds of 0°C and 0.5°C next
to 1°C and analysed their impact on resulting trends.
The use of one air temperature threshold is an acceptable
simplification to distinguish between snow and rain which
provides comparable results in more complex approaches,
such as the application of two threshold air temperatures
together with using some transition function for snow and
rain between these two thresholds (Dai 2008).
3.2.2 Streamflow variables
Several variables were selected to describe streamflow condi­
tions in our study areas. The minimum monthly and annual
discharges (Qmin) represent an extreme low flow. The level at
which the streamflow is exceeded 90% of the time (Q90, which
was derived from the flow duration curve) represents general
low flow (Table 2).
A hydrological drought was defined as a streamflow deficit
event during which discharges are below a given threshold,
which was Q90 in this analysis. By using this threshold, the
following parameters were calculated: 1) the duration of the
drought event in days, 2) the deficit volume of the drought
event in m3, 3) days below threshold, 4) minimum discharge,
and 5) the date of minimum discharge. The “find_droughts”
function implemented in the R package “lfstat” (Koffler et al.
2016) was used when deriving the drought variables from the
monitored time series (see also Gustard and Demuth 2009).
Dry periods below the selected threshold (Q90) that lasted for
more than 40 days were then selected. This 40-day threshold
was selected to capture a variety of drought situations covering
both those caused by high air temperatures and low precipita­
tion in summer and those caused by lack of snow storages due
to high air temperatures and/or low precipitation during
winter.
The observed drought periods were divided into nine types
with respect to air temperature and precipitation (based on
Van Loon 2015; here a slightly modified version of this classi­
fication was adopted). Nine periods with the greatest deficit
volume were selected. We determined mainly 1) elevations at
which most of these hydrological droughts occurred and 2) the
extent to which snow affected drought deficit. We determined
the correlation between climatic and hydrological parameters
on a sample of 10 dry periods for each drought type.
Hydrological parameters of the Swiss catchments (Allenbach,
Dischma, and Sitter catchments) were assessed for the V–VIII
(1 May to 31 August) period, and the parameters of the Czech
Hydrological variable Description
Qmin Minimum discharge (m3 s−1)
Q90 Discharge with 90% exceedance probability
(derived from flow duration curve) (m3 s−1)
and Slovak catchments (Blanice, Mumlava, Vydra, and Hron
catchments) were assessed for the III–V (1 March to 31 May)
period. The reasons for different periods were mainly different
catchment elevations and thus different seasonalities of spring
runoff caused by snowmelt.
3.2.3 Statistical analysis
The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the
correlation between hydrological and climate characteristics
and between Sf and Rsd. A modified Mann–Kendall trend test
(MK test) was used to analyse the data for the presence of
consistently increasing or decreasing trends (Mann 1945,
Kendall and Gibbons 1990, Yue et al. 2002a). Specifically,
monotonic trends were searched using the trend-free pre-
whitening technique which employs Sen’s slope estimator
determines the strength of autocorrelation (AR(1) process)
and applies the Kendall test for significance to the pre-
whitened series (Yue et al. 2002b). A trend significance level
of 0.05 was set for all statistical analyses. In this study, the
modified MK test p value was calculated based on the 47-year
-long time series (1966–2012) to determine the statistical
significance of trends. The magnitude of changes in hydro­
climatic parameters and snowfall fraction was expressed by
Sen’s slope over the whole period. Two sub-periods (i.e.
1966–1988 and 1989–2012) were selected to determine dif­
ferences in individual indicators calculated for these two sub-
periods.
4 Results
4.1 Changes in snow conditions
4.1.1 Long-term changes in snow cover
Significant declines in Sd occurred mainly at middle elevations
(Fig. 2). Specifically, mean annual Sd significantly decreased at
the Adelboden station, mostly due to the decrease from
January to March and partly in April. January was the month
with the largest decrease for the Telgárt station, April for the
Davos and Churáňov stations and June and July for the
Weissfluhjoch station. At lower elevations (Husinec station),
the snow depth declined mostly in April.
Trends similar to those in Sd were found also for Sdmax,
which decreased mostly at middle elevations (Figs. 2 and 3).
On annual and seasonal timescales, Sdmax declined significantly
at the Adelboden station. This decrease was detected in almost
 HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2087

Figure 2. Annual, seasonal and monthly Mann-Kendall trends for discharge, air temperature, precipitation and selected snow variables for the study period 1966–2012;
monthly, seasonal (XI–IV), and annual values; white used for no significant trends or no snow cover (in case of snow variables). Positive values indicate an increasing
trend and negative values indicate a decreasing trend. Catchments are sorted by elevation from highest to lowest.

all winter and spring months (January to May). At the Telgárt
station, the largest decrease in Sdmax was detected in January
and at the Churáňov and Davos stations in April and May. At
the Davos and Adelboden stations, the trends in Sdmax were
also detected in November. For Weissfluhjoch, Sdmax
decreased mostly from May to August.
The shortening of the Sddur is also an important factor
affecting Sd trends (Fig. 4). At middle and higher elevations
(Adelboden, Davos, Säntis, and Weissfluhjoch stations), con­
tinuous snow cover was shortened by 1 month during our
study period. At the Davos station, the onset of continuous
snow cover has shifted forward by a month. We did not detect
any significant changes at lower elevations. Sdmaxd occurred
earlier in most of the stations in the period 1989–2012 com­
pared to the period 1966–1988. The shift was largest at the
Husinec (20 days) and Adelboden (19 days) stations, and
2088 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
Figure 3. Relationship between air temperature, T, precipitation amount, P, and maximum snow cover depth, Sdmax, in the periods 1966–88 and 1989–2012.
smallest at the Weissfluhjoch (4 days) and Churáňov (7 days)
stations. In contrast, Sdmaxd occurred a few days later at the
Telgárt, Harrachov, and Säntis stations (up to 9 days in Säntis).
The reason for this later maximum was not investigated in this
study. For Säntis, it might be connected to an increase in
precipitation in February (as indicated in Fig. 2).
4.1.2 Changes in snowfall fraction and snowfall day
fraction
The trend analysis confirmed decreases in S f and R sd at
all stations (Fig. 2). These trends are comparable and do
not differ significantly. Notable decreases occurred on
both annual and seasonal timescales at all stations with
the exception of Husinec. On a seasonal timescale, the
largest decrease in S f (from 12% to 26%) was detected at
middle elevations (mostly at Adelboden), whereas at
lower elevations the decrease in S f was less evident
(from 11% to 20%). At the highest elevations, no trends
were detected for the cold period (decrease by 0.4–1%),
although the decreasing trend was detected for the late
spring and summer months due to the shifting snowmelt
times.
The Sf and Rsd also declined on monthly timescales. At
middle elevations, the snowfall fraction was highest in
February followed by January (not shown). Sf and Rsd
decreased mostly in March and April, especially at Telgárt
and Adelboden (Fig. 5). The main reason is increasing air
temperature for the XI–IV season by 0.9°C during the
whole study period. At the Adelboden station, there was
also a significant decrease in precipitation in the XI–IV
season. At stations located at higher elevations, Sf and Rsd
values were the highest in January, February, and
December. Decreases began to occur in May, with the
greatest ones at the Säntis station (Fig. 5). At these eleva­
tions, air temperature had the smallest impact on the
decline in Sf and Rsd, even though it rose substantially
here (by 1.2°C in the XI–IV season). At lower stations,
the proportion of snow was highest in January and then
 HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2089

Figure 4. Shifts in the beginning and end of snow cover (Sddur) in the periods 1966–1988 and 1989–2012. Climate stations are sorted by elevation from highest to
lowest.

Figure 5. Comparison of snowfall fraction Sf and snowfall days fraction Rsd for air temperature thresholds 1°C, 0.5°C, and 0°C in 1966–2012 in April for Telgárt, in March
for Adelboden, and in May for Säntis.

February. The largest significant decreases in Sf and Rsd
occurred in April and March. This was caused by increas­
ing air temperature (by 0.9°C in the XI–IV season) and at
Harrachov by significantly decreasing precipitation in
April. The correlation between Sf on one hand and climatic
parameters on the other is shown in Fig. 6.
To make the results more robust, several threshold
values differentiating between snow and rain were tested.
The change in the threshold value from 0°C to 1°C resulted
in more frequent and stronger decreasing Sf and Rsd trends,
especially at middle and lower elevations (Fig. 5). At higher
elevations, the situation was reversed; the strength and
2090 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
Figure 6. Correlation of snowfall fraction, Sf, with hydroclimatic parameters (air temperature, T; precipitation amount, P; snow cover depth, Sd; maximum snow cover
depth, Sdmax; discharge, Q; minimum discharge, Qmin; and discharge with 90% exceedance probability, Q90) for months, the XI–IV season and years. Climate stations are
sorted by elevation from highest to lowest.
frequency of decreasing trends often increased with
decreasing threshold air temperature, especially at the
Säntis station. Different threshold values resulted in some­
what larger differences in Rsd. Interestingly, the differences
in threshold values have been negligible at the Telgárt
station since roughly the mid-1990s.
4.2 Impacts of changes in snow cover on runoff and
hydrological drought occurrence
4.2.1 Assessing runoff trends
On an annual timescale, no significant runoff trends were
detected. On seasonal timescales, discharges increased signifi­
cantly, especially in the Allenbach and Mumlava catchments
(by 20–37%, Fig. 2). Correlation was examined between dis­
charge and precipitation and between Sf (Rsd) values and air
temperature (Fig. 6). As shown in Section 4.1, changes in
precipitation and snowfall fraction were most significant at
the Adelboden station. Higher seasonal air temperature (XI–
IV) caused more frequent and earlier snowmelt, which
resulted in the discharge increase. This is most clearly mani­
fested at middle and lower elevations. The situation changes,
however, in late spring, when snow at middle and higher
elevations melts during March and April and Sf and Rsd
decrease significantly. There is a significant correlation
between these snow characteristics and discharge. Increasing
air temperature, and at some stations (Adelboden, Churáňov,
Harrachov) decreasing precipitation as well, contribute to the
significant decrease in discharge from May onward.
Figure 2 depicts a similar trend in minimum discharge
values (Qmin and Q90). On an annual timescale, Qmin increased
at most stations, but significantly only in the Dischma and
Mumlava catchments for Qmin, and the Dischma, Mumlava,
and Allenbach catchments for Q90. Similar trends were
detected on seasonal timescales. In the winter period (XII–
II), minimum discharges increased mostly at middle and lower
elevations (with the largest increase in the Allenbach and
Mumlava catchments). Higher air temperatures and snow

Figure 7. Dry periods and their typology in study catchments in 1966–2012 (based on methodology published in Van Loon 2015).
changes (decreases in Sf and Rsd) played a role here. In spring
(III–V), especially in April and May, Qmin decreased at most
stations. In summer (VI–VIII), Qmin decreased in all catch­
ments, but significantly only at middle and higher elevations.
These trends continued to autumn (IX–XI).
4.2.2 Hydrological drought occurrence and drought types
Focusing on the trends in air temperature and precipitation,
we evaluated a total of 65 dry periods lasting more than 40 days
that occurred in our study catchments (Fig. 7). Seasonal water
deficits occur in the Allenbach and Hron catchments mainly
during winter time (December to February); in the Vydra
catchment from January to March; in the Dischma, Sitter,
and Mumlava catchments from late winter to early spring
(February to March); in the Mumlava catchment also in
August; and in the Blanice catchment in August and
September. The highest number of dry periods occurred at
middle and higher elevations (Hron, Allenbach, and Dischma).
From a regional perspective, similar behaviour in hydrological
drought trends was detected in the Hron, Vydra, Dischma, and
Sitter catchments (first group) and in the Mumlava, Blanice, and
Allenbach catchments (second group). In the first group of the
catchments, the hydrological droughts were most frequently
caused by low air temperatures in the cold season (winter
droughts). Therefore, the precipitation did not reach streams for
an extended period of time because precipitation occurred in the
form of snow (cold snow season drought A). This type of hydro­
logical drought occurred most frequently in the Vydra (Fig. 8)
and Sitter catchments. When low winter air temperatures were
HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2091
combined with a precipitation deficit (cold snow season drought
B), runoff from spring snowmelt was reduced. This type of
hydrological drought was observed in the Hron, Dischma, and
Sitter catchments. When there are insufficient precipitation and
higher air temperatures in early winter, a delay in the formation of
continuous snow cover can be expected (warm snow season
drought A). This type of hydrological drought also has
a negative impact on water supplies in the catchment, and it
was detected in the Hron (Fig. 8) and Sitter catchments. The
negative effects of higher air temperatures and insufficient pre­
cipitation resulted in earlier snowmelt in spring (warm snow
season drought B), which could be a potential signal of future
water deficits in the catchment. This was most clearly visible in
the Dischma catchment. For example, the winter season of 2000/
2001 was characterized by high air temperatures and low preci­
pitation. These conditions resulted in a water deficit exceeding
one million m3 and the dry period lasted 140 days (Fig. 8).
Water deficits in the second group of catchments are also
associated with increasing air temperatures and insufficient
precipitation, but often in summer and autumn. Insufficient
precipitation has a negative impact on water supplies mainly
at lower elevations, specifically in the Blanice and Mumlava
catchments. Dry periods occurred most often in summer in
those catchments (typical rainfall drought) and in autumn,
when insufficient precipitation and higher air temperatures
had an impact on the situation in early winter (rainfall and
snowfall drought). The Allenbach catchment was strongly
affected by several melting periods during winter that sub­
sequently affected Sd. When these factors are combined with
2092 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
Figure 8. Typical evolution of dry periods for individual drought types. Solid lines represent the time series of each variable (mean monthly air temperature,
precipitation, snowfall fraction, snow cover depth, and discharge); and dotted lines represent long-term means (1966–2012). The red line indicates the duration of the
dry period.
insufficient precipitation (warm & cold snow season drought
A), a long-lasting water deficit occurs. Of all the studied
catchments, the Allenbach catchment experienced the long­
est average dry periods, which often followed each other in
quick succession. One example is the hydrological drought
of winter 2004/2005 that lasted 125 days (Fig. 8). Of the
nine largest water deficits observed, only this one was caused
by an insufficient snowpack during the previous winter. The
insufficient snowpack combined with below-average precipi­
tation from autumn to spring and higher autumn air tem­
peratures caused a water deficit of 1 152 403 m3, which
represents 40 mm of runoff depth. The Allenbach catchment
is highly influenced by declining Sd. Here, the continuous
snow cover melted a month earlier; Sdmax has occurred
19 days earlier and Sf and Rsd values have declined signifi­
cantly. Insufficient snowfall in recent decades has had
a negative effect on parameters in summer, as confirmed
by the significant decrease in Qmin.
The left side of Fig. 9 demonstrates that the highest signifi­
cant correlation between the snowpack in the previous winter
season and discharge trends occurs in the following hydrolo­
gical drought types: warm snow season drought A, cold snow
season drought A and B, and warm & cold snow season
drought A. Warm & cold snow season drought A and rainfall
and snowfall drought types have the greatest impact on Qmin
and Q90. It was already confirmed in the findings from the
Allenbach catchment that the greatest correlation between the
snowpack in the previous winter season and subsequent dis­
charge trends occurs during drought type warm & cold snow
season drought A. Air temperature had the most significant
effect on low flows in the XI–IV and V–X seasons during this
type of hydrological drought.
The right side of Fig. 9 shows the significant correlation
between discharge and precipitation immediately before and
during dry periods as well as in the subsequent V–X warm
period. The direct influence of Sd and Sdmax on discharge was
found in the following hydrological drought types: rainfall and
snowfall drought, warm snow season drought A, and cold
snow season drought A and B. Less snowpack or a delay in
the formation of snow cover is significantly affected by both
precipitation and air temperature. Qmin and Q90 have the
greatest significant correlation with climatic parameters dur­
ing drought type warm & cold snow season drought A.
5 Discussion
5.1 Changes in snow conditions
5.1.1 Long-term changes in snow cover
Our results showing changes in Sd at eight climate stations
in Central Europe confirmed the earlier findings from other
mountainous areas in the Northern Hemisphere which con­
cluded that the amount and duration of snow cover are
decreasing (Vojtek et al. 2003, Pellicciotti et al. 2010,
Knowles 2015). More specifically we found that the largest
decreases in Sd and Sdmax occurred mostly at middle eleva­
tions, which is in accordance with the findings of other
studies from Slovakia, France, and Switzerland (Martin and
Durand 1998, Vojtek et al. 2003, Pellicciotti et al. 2010).
Vojtek et al. (2003) have discovered less snowfall and

Figure 9. Correlation of hydrological (discharge, Q; minimum discharge, Qmin; and discharge with 90% exceedance probability, Q90) and climatic (snow cover depth, Sd;
maximum snow cover depth, Sdmax; precipitation amount, P; and air temperature, T) variables in the cold (XI–IV) and warm (V–X) half-year that preceded the dry period
(left) and the cold (XI–IV) and warm (V–X) half-year during and after the dry period (right).
changes in the snow cover duration at elevations below
1000–1500 m a.s.l. in Slovakia due to higher air tempera­
tures. The critical impact of air temperature on the changes
in Sd was also observed at the middle elevation catchments
in our study. Higher air temperatures had a negative influ­
ence on Sf and Rsd. Furthermore, there is generally less
precipitation in the XI–IV period, which was most notice­
able at the Adelboden station, where, over the last 50 years,
the largest significant declines in Sd occurred (Figs. 2 and 3).
Knowles (2015) made similar findings in the central parts of
the United States.
Labudova et al. (2015) discussed the acceleration of
warming at higher elevations of Slovakia (above 2000 m
a.s.l.) in comparison with low elevations in the 21st cen­
tury. In Central Europe, the largest air temperature
increase occurred at highest elevations (Weissfluhjoch and
Säntis in our study), as also shown by Giorgi et al. (1997)
in the Alps and by Knowles et al. (2006) in the western
United States. However, this air temperature increase at
high elevations did not affect snow storages as dramatically
as it occurred at middle elevations, due to the fact that the
air temperature at highest elevations is still below the
freezing point during winter despite warming.
5.1.2 Changes in snowfall fraction and snowfall day
fraction
To assess the proportion of solid and liquid precipitation, we
used two different variables, the snowfall fraction Sf and the
snowfall day fraction Rsd. Sf is frequently used variable
which reflects the amount of precipitation (Huntington
et al. 2004, Feng and Hu 2007, Jenicek et al. 2016).
HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2093
Therefore, any potential changes in snowfall during extreme
precipitation events (both high and low) would be reflected
by this parameter (Lute et al. 2015). In contrast, Rsd does
not account for absolute amounts of precipitation as it
reflects only changes in the number of wet days and the
proportion of days with solid or days with liquid precipita­
tion (Sawicz et al. 2011, Serquet et al. 2011). Therefore, it is
reasonable to use both variables for the assessment, although
we did not detect any significant differences in trends for
these two variables. In general, it is very important to test
several snow-related indicators for trend detection rather
than one selected indicator since the interplay of individual
climate inputs (snow, air temperature) might result in
a large variety of outputs (runoff).
Our findings related to the decrease in annual Sf and Rsd
(Fig. 2) in Central Europe correspond to the findings of
other studies in Slovakia, the United States, Czechia, and
Switzerland (Vojtek et al. 2003, Huntington et al. 2004,
Feng and Hu 2007, Brazdil et al. 2009, Jenicek et al.
2016). On annual and seasonal timescales, air temperature
has the greatest impact on the Sf and Rsd decrease. Higher
air temperature significantly influences snowmelt (Ledvinka
2015), which occurs earlier, especially at middle and higher
elevations (Adelboden, Davos, Säntis, and Weissfluhjoch;
Fig. 4). Berghuijs et al. (2014) reported from the contigu­
ous United States that in catchments with high snowfall
fraction, with an increase in air temperature by 2.4°C in
1948–2001, the average annual snowfall fraction decreases
by 40%. In the same set of catchments, an increase in air
temperature by 4°C resulted in a decrease in snowfall frac­
tion by 60%. Comparing the results from the United States
2094 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
with our results from Central European catchments reveals
that especially since the late 1980s the rising average annual
air temperature has had the greatest negative impact on Sf
at middle elevations (Telgárt, Churáňov, Adelboden, and
Davos; Fig. 5). An increase in air temperature by 0.8°C
caused a decrease in Sf on average by 22%. At elevations
from 1000 to 1500 m a.s.l, the decline in Sf in the XI–IV
season was even more dramatic (Fig. 2); an air temperature
increase by 0.9°C caused a decrease in Sf on average
by 38%.
When studying the impact of snowfall fraction, choosing an
appropriate threshold air temperature is important. For
Europe, the frequently used value is 1°C which we used in
our study as well. This threshold air temperature was applied
by Dai (2008), Berghuijs et al. (2014), and Jenicek et al. (2016).
We tested values of 0°C, 0.5°C, and 1°C to compare the
impacts of different threshold air temperatures on snowfall
fraction at different elevations (see Fig. 5).
5.2 Impacts of changes in snow cover on runoff and
hydrological drought occurrence
5.2.1 Assessing runoff trends
Precipitation totals and precipitation phase are two deter­
mining factors influencing runoff (Berghuijs et al. 2014,
Dierauer et al. 2018). Snowfall fraction is mostly affected
by air temperature. Higher air temperature in the XI–IV
season caused more frequent and earlier snowmelt, which
resulted in increased discharge in our study catchments,
especially during winter. This was clearly manifested at mid­
dle and lower elevation catchments in our study. Similar
findings have been made by Birsan et al. (2005) and
Pellicciotti et al. (2010) in Switzerland, by Fiala (2008),
Kliment et al. (2011) and Langhammer et al. (2015) in
Czechia, and Hlavcova and Cunderlik (1998) and Roncak
et al. (2019) in Slovakia. In spring, snow at middle and
higher elevations melted during March and April in our
study period, and Sf and Rsd decreased significantly (Fig.
2). Higher air temperatures and snow changes (decreases in
Sf and Rsd) affected the spring flows, which was confirmed by
a significant correlation between the decrease in Sf and Rsd
and the increase in discharge in this season. Fiala et al.
(2010), Kliment et al. (2011) and Berghuijs et al. (2014)
came to a similar conclusion. During late spring, mean
monthly discharges and minimum discharges declined,
which continued throughout summer until autumn. Spring
and summer minimum discharges have also decreased in
other regions as reported, e.g., by Birsan et al. (2005),
Kliment et al. (2011), Kormann et al. (2015), Langhammer
et al. (2015), Jenicek et al. (2016), Dierauer et al. (2018),
Piniewski et al. (2018).
Most of the results in this study related to catchment runoff
were assessed using elevation classes as defined in Section 2.
The study catchments were distributed into the classes accord­
ing to the mean catchment elevation. However, the mean
catchment elevation cannot fully describe the hypsography of
individual catchments and thus the response of snow storages
to changes in air temperature at different elevation zones of
a specific catchment. Therefore, the results interpretation
based on elevation classes is rather limited in our study. For
example, in a catchment with a relatively low mean catchment
elevation, but with a large elevation range covering the eleva­
tions above 2000 m a.s.l, the late snowmelt in these highest
parts (June, July) affects low flows in the low elevation parts of
the catchment for a longer period than in a catchment with the
same mean elevation but with a smaller elevation range.
Potential uncertainties in results interpretation also stem
from the fact that changes in snow and meteorological vari­
ables were assessed based on station data rather than catch­
ment means. Therefore, the linkage between trends in snow
and streamflow variables might be affected by the fact that the
individual climate station does not represent the respective
catchment well enough.
5.2.2 Hydrological drought occurrence and drought types
As previous studies have demonstrated, insufficient snowmelt
in spring may result in hydrological drought in the following
season (Feng and Hu 2007, Van Loon 2015, Jenicek et al.
2016). Based on our results, the Allenbach catchment was
affected by frequently occurring melting periods during winter
which caused the largest Sd decrease among all study catch­
ments. The warm & cold snow season drought A and B are the
most frequent types in this catchment. The former is the only
one of the nine evaluated types of hydrological drought which
was caused by an insufficient snowpack during the previous
winter (Figs. 8 and 9). Dierauer et al. (2018) also found
a similar correlation between climatic conditions in winter
and summer low flows. They also found that warm and dry
winters correspond to significantly lower runoff and signifi­
cantly longer, more severe summer low flows than cool and
dry winters. Mountainous regions, where this drought type
predominates (e.g. in the Allenbach catchment), seem to be
the most affected by regional warming. For the future, it
implies that water deficits might not occur in cold months
only, but they will become more frequent in warmer months as
well, as indicated by respective decreasing trends in our study.
6 Conclusion
This study analysed inter-annual variations and trends in
selected snow, climate, and low streamflow characteristics in
selected mountain catchments in Central Europe from 1966 to
2012. Specifically, we were focused on how changes in snow
cover affected changes in summer runoff, and we explored the
runoff sensitivity of the study catchments regarding their dif­
ferent elevations and climate regimes. The main conclusions
are the following:
The results from the study catchments showed a significant
increase in air temperature by 0.7–1.3°C, decrease in snowfall
fraction by 0.4% at highest elevations, by 26% at middle eleva­
tions and by 20% at lowest elevations and decrease in snow
depth by 1% (highest elevations) to 63% (lowest elevations). In
some cases, changes in precipitation in the cold season were
detected as well; the largest increase by 33% at the Säntis
station and the largest decrease by 16% at the Adelboden
station.

In years with relatively high air temperatures during the
cold season, there was a lower snow depth and more frequent
and earlier snowmelt which caused the increase in winter
discharges ranging from 1% in the Blanice and Sitter catch­
ments to 36% in the Mumlava catchment. Furthermore, snow­
fall fraction progressively decreased at elevations below 1000 m
a.s.l. during the study period (due to air temperature increase),
which resulted in an increasing trend in winter runoff. Despite
the increase in winter runoff, the runoff in late spring (from
May onward) decreased due to earlier snowmelt. In addition to
the air temperature and snow changes, lack of precipitation
played a significant role, which resulted in a decreasing trend
in minimum discharge for the period from May to August in
Czech and Slovak catchments and for the period from June to
August for Swiss catchments.
The changes were most significant in catchments at elevations
from 1000 to 1500 m a.s.l. The largest impact of changes in climate
variables on hydrological droughts was found in the Allenbach
catchment in Switzerland which experienced the longest hydro­
logical droughts in years with frequent fluctuations in winter air
temperature and lack of precipitation, which caused below-average
seasonal snow storages (warm & cold snow season drought
A type). In general, our findings indicated that catchments at
elevations from 1000 to 1500 m a.s.l. were more sensitive to
increases in air temperature and changes in precipitation com­
pared to catchments at elevations above 1500 m a.s.l.
Our results showed that summer hydrological droughts in
mountainous catchments are closely related not only to air tem­
perature (and thus evapotranspiration) and lack of precipitation
during summer but they are strongly affected by snow conditions
in the previous winter season. Since the snow conditions are very
sensitive to any changes in air temperature, our results indicated
that the future increase in air temperature and thus decrease in
snow storages might significantly affect the future drought season­
ality and severity. This might have a large impact on water manage­
ment applications, such as hydropower production and irrigation,
as well as on the ecology of river systems.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Slovak Hydrometeorological
Institute, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, the Federal Office of
Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss), and the Federal Office for
the Environment (FOEN) for providing data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This study was supported by the Czech Science Foundation [project
number GAČR 18-06217Y] “Influence of seasonal snowpack on summer
low flows: climate change implications on hydrological drought”.
ORCID
Andrea Blahušiaková http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6613-0201
Milada Matoušková http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8024-4368
Michal Jenicek http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1103-0403
HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2095
Ondřej Ledvinka http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0203-7064
Zdeněk Kliment http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8613-0241
References
Beniston, M., 2003. Climatic change in mountain regions: a review of
possible impacts. Climatic Change, 59, 5–31. doi:10.1023/
A:1024458411589
Berghuijs, W.R., Woods, R.A., and Hrachowitz, M., 2014. A precipitation
shift from snow towards rain leads to a decrease in streamflow. Nature
Climate Change, 4, 583–586. doi:10.1038/nclimate2246
Birsan, M.V., et al., 2005. Streamflow trends in Switzerland. Journal of
Hydrology, 314, 312–329. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.06.008
Blahusiakova, A. and Matouskova, M., 2015. Rainfall and runoff regime
trends in mountain catchments (Case study area: the upper Hron River
basin, Slovakia). Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics, 63 (3),
183–192. doi:10.1515/johh-2015-0030
Brazdil, R., et al., 2009. Climate fluctuations in the Czech Republic during
the period 1961–2005. International Journal of Climatology, 29 (2),
223–242. doi:10.1002/joc.1718
Dai, A., 2008. Temperature and pressure dependence of the rain-snow
phase transition over land and ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 35,
L12802. doi:10.1029/2008GL033295
Dierauer, J.R., Whitfield, P.H., and Allen, D.M., 2018. Climate controls on
runoff and low flows in mountain catchments of Western North America.
Water Resources Research, 54, 7495–7510. doi:10.1029/2018WR023087
Feng, S. and Hu, Q., 2007. Changes in winter snowfall/precipitation ratio
in the contiguous United States. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112,
D15109. doi:10.1029/2007JD008397
Fiala, T., 2008. Statistical characteristics and trends of mean discharges of period
1961–2005. Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics, 56 (2), 133–140.
Fiala, T., Ouarda, T.B.M.J., and Hladny, J., 2010. Evolution of low flows in
the Czech Republic. Journal of Hydrology, 393 (3–4), 206–218.
doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.08.018
Floriancic, M.G., et al., 2019. The effects of climatic anomalies on low
flows in Switzerland. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussion,
1–18. doi:10.5194/hess-2019-448
Giorgi, F., et al., 1997. Elevation dependency of the surface climate change
signal: a model study. Journal of Climate, 10, 288–296. doi:10.1175/
1520-0442(1997)010<0288:edotsc>2.0.CO;2
Gobiet, A., et al., 2014. 21st century climate change in the European
Alps – a review. Science of the Total Environment, 493, 1138–1151.
doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.07.050
Gustard, A. and Demuth, S., eds., 2009. Manual on low-flow estimation
and prediction, WMO – Operational Hydrology Report, No. 50,
WMO-No. 1029, Geneva, 136.
Hlavcova, K. and Cunderlik, J., 1998. Impact of climate change on the
seasonal distribution of runoff in mountainous basins in Slovakia.
Hydrology, Water Resources and Ecology in Headwaters. Proceedings
of the HeadWater’98 Conference held at Meran/Merano, April 1998,
Italy. IAHS Publ. no. 248, 39–46.
Huntington, T., et al., 2004. Changes in the proportion of precipitation
occurring as snow in New England. Journal of Climate, 17, 2626–2636.
doi:10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<2626:citpop>2.0.CO;2
Jenicek, M., Seibert, J., and Staundinger, M., 2018. Modeling of future
changes in seasonal snowpack and impacts on summer low flows in
Alpine catchments. Water Resources Research, 54 (1), 538–556.
doi:10.1002/2017WR021648
Jenicek, M., et al., 2016. Importance of maximum snow accumulation for
summer low flows in humid catchments. Hydrology and Earth System
Sciences, 20, 859–874. doi:10.5194/hess-20-859-2016
Kendall, M.G. and Gibbons, J.D., 1990. Rank correlation methods. 5th ed.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Kliment, Z., et al., 2011. Trend analysis of rainfall-runoff regimes in selected
headwater areas of the Czech Republic. Journal of Hydrology and
Hydromechanics, 59 (1), 36–50. doi:10.2478/v10098-011-0003-y
Knowles, N., 2015. Trends in snow cover and related quantities at weather
stations in the conterminous United States. Journal of Climate, 28,
7518–7528. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0051.1
2096 A. BLAHUŠIAKOVÁ ET AL.
Knowles, N., Dettinger, M.D., and Cayan, D.R., 2006. Trends in snowfall
versus rainfall in the Western United States. Journal of Climate, 19,
4545–4559. doi:10.1175/JCLI3850.1
Koffler, D., Gauster, T., and Laaha, G., 2016. Lfstat: calculation of low flow
statistics for daily stream flow data. Available from: https://CRAN.
R-project.org/package=lfstat [Accessed 12 February 2019].
Kormann, C., et al., 2015. Attribution of high resolution streamflow
trends in Western Austria – an approach based on climate and dis­
charge station data. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 19,
1225–1245. doi:10.5194/hess-19-1225-2015
Kreibich, H., et al., 2019. How to improve attribution of changes in
drought and flood impacts. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 64 (1),
1–18. doi:10.1080/02626667.2018.1558367
Kucerova, D. and Jenicek, M., 2014. Comparison of selected methods
used for the calculation of the snowpack spatial distribution,
Bystřice River basin, Czechia. Geografie, 119 (3), 199–217.
doi:10.5167/uzh-101156
Laaha, G., 2002. Modelling summer and winter droughts as a basis
for estimating river low flows. FRIEND 2002: regional Hydrology:
bridging the Gap between Research and Practice. Proceedings of
the Fourth International FRIEND Conference held at Cape Town,
March 2002, South Africa. IAHS Publ. no. 274, 289–295.
Labudova, L., Fasko, P., and Ivanakova, G., 2015. Changes in climate and
changing climate regions in Slovakia. Moravian Geographical Reports,
23 (3), 70–81. doi:10.1515/mgr-2015-0019
Langhammer, J., Su, Y., and Bernsteinova, J., 2015. Runoff response of
climate warming and forest disturbance in a mid-mountain basin.
Water, 7, 3320–3342. doi:10.3390/w7073320
Ledvinka, O., 2015. Evolution of low flows in Czechia revisited.
Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences,
369, 87–95. doi:10.5194/piahs-369-87-2015
Lute, A.C., Abatzoglou, J.T., and Hegewisch, K.C., 2015. Projected
changes in snowfall extremes and interannual variability of snowfall
in the western United States. Water Resources Research, 51 (2),
960–972. doi:10.1002/2014WR016267
Mann, H.B., 1945. Nonparametric tests against trend. Econometrica, 13,
245–259. doi:10.2307/1907187
Marke, T., et al., 2018. Simulation of past changes in the Austrian snow
cover 1948–2009. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 19 (10), 1529–1545.
doi:10.1175/JHM-D-17-0245.1
Martin, E. and Durand, Y., 1998. Precipitation and snow cover variability in
the French Alps. In: M. Beniston and J.L. Innes, eds. The impacts of climate
variability on forests. Heidelberg/New York: Springer-Verlag, 81–92.
doi:10.1007/BFb0009761
Pellicciotti, F., Bauder, A., and Parola, M., 2010. Effect of glaciers
on streamflow trends in the Swiss Alps. Water Resources
Research, 46, W10522. doi:10.1029/2009WR009039
Piniewski, M., Marcinkowski, P., and Kundzewicz, Z.W., 2018. Trend
detection in river flow indices in Poland. Acta Geophysica, 66,
347–360. doi:10.1007/s11600-018-0116-3
Roncak, P., et al., 2019. Impacts of future climate change on runoff in
selected catchments of Slovakia: managing risks and building resilience
to climate change. Climate Change Adaptation in Eastern Europe,
279–292. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03383-5_19
Sawicz, K., et al., 2011. Catchment classification: empirical analysis of hydro­
logic similarity based on catchment function in the eastern USA.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 15, 2895–2911. doi:10.5194/hess-
15-2895-2011
Serquet, G., et al., 2011. Seasonal trends and temperature dependence of the
snowfall/precipitation-day ratio in Switzerland. Geophysical Research
Letters, 38 (7), L07703. doi:10.1029/2011GL046976
Staudinger, M., et al., 2017. Catchment water storage variation with
elevation. Hydrological Processes, 31, 2000–2015. doi:10.1002/hyp.11158
Van Loon, A.F., 2015. Hydrological drought explained. WIREs Water, 2,
359–392. doi:10.1002/wat2.1085
Vojtek, M., Fasko, P., and Stastny, P., 2003. Some selected snow climate
trends in Slovakia with respect to altitude. Acta Mathematica
Universitatis Comenianae, 32, 17–27.
Yue, S., Pilon, P., and Cavadias, G., 2002a. Power of the Mann-Kendall and
Spearman’s rho tests for detecting monotonic trends in hydrological series.
Journal of Hydrology, 259, 254–271. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(01)00594-7
Yue, S., et al., 2002b. The influence of autocorrelation on the ability to
detect trend in hydrological series. Hydrological Processes, 16,
1807–1829. doi:10.1002/hyp.1095