The snow map service introduced by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate in 2004 is evaluated at eleven meteorological stations situated in three regions in Norway. The focus is on the start and end of the snow season and the total number of snow days. In addition, accumulated snow depth throughout the winter season, along with snow depth on four selected dates, is examined. In the evaluation, simulations by a precipitation/degree-day snow model are compared to observations. The approach used to calculate snow depth tends to compact the snow too much, resulting in an underestimation of snow depth at most stations. In Region 1 the snow model simulates a shorter snow season than what is observed. In Region 2 the results are ambiguous and correlations between simulations and observations are low. In Region 3, however, the snow model performs very well, and there are no significant differences between simulated and observed snow season. The results confirm that the use of snow simulations in areas outside the observational network is valuable, but there is room for improvement.

This content is only available as a PDF.