An operational G.I.S. integrating snowcover and glacier R.S. and F.D. for hydroelectric management purposes

The proposed system integrates remote sensing and field data in a Geographic Information System (GIS). As a first step, the system has been applied to two case studies, using an ARC/INFO System working on a workstation platform. In the first case, concerning a nival basin (Piave River Basin), LANDSAT MSS images have been used to extract the snowline all over the basin area. Standard classification methods have been employed, taking into account different solar incidence on soil. The resulting classification has been georeferenced using interpolation algorithms, with pointwise and linewise features as control points. In the operational procedure the snowcover evolution model makes daily estimates of the water equivalent distribution and snowcover extent, starting from previous estimates, using meteorological inputs. The second case concerns an application to a glacierized basin (Cereser Glacier Basin); different Digital Terrain Models have been produced by stereophotogrammetric survey in order to evaluate the glacier volume variations