Abstract
Intense snow sampling was carried out during 2003 and 2004 in two meso-scale catchments (Dreisam catchment, 257 km2, and Bergsee catchment, 11 km2) located in the southern Black Forest Mountains in Germany. The objective of the study was to describe the spatial variability of snow cover, snow water equivalent and isotope concentrations of deuterium (2H) and oxygen-18 (18O) in ‰ vs. VSMOW. Snow samples were collected with integral augers and characterized by geographical location, altitude, snow depths and snow characteristics. The results indicate a clear correlation of snow depth and water equivalent with altitude and a rather weak correlation of isotope concentrations to altitude. The isotope concentrations of 65 snow samples collected in 2003 varied between -10.2‰ and -14.9‰ for