Investigating the ability of artificial impermeable surfaces in harvesting snow water (Case study: East Azarbaijan Province, Tabriz)

Atmospheric precipitation is one of the most important sources providing water for various purposes. Their optimal use, especially snow and rain in arid and semi-arid regions, can play a significant role in meeting water needs in low water seasons, which can be collected and stored before they come into contact with the soil surface and become contaminated so that in times of water shortage, To provide the water needs of industries and factories, green spaces and drinking water for humans and animals. One of the methods of harvesting water from precipitation, including snow and rain, is to make the surface of the earth impermeable and maximize the runoff caused by them. Impermeable surfaces can exist naturally like stone surfaces or by covering the ground surface with materials such as asphalt, concrete, and insulation sheets such as plastic, geomembrane and decamond can be created artificially. In this research, 2 treatments with 3 repetitions were considered, which included the Catchment of geomembrane cover and plastic cover with sand protection, each in a square shape with an area of 4 m2, and were implemented in lands with an average slope of 36%. The total rainfall on the mentioned surfaces during the statistical collection period was 747 mm, of which 430 mm (52 events) was in the form of rain and 317 mm (26 events) was in the form of snow. The results of 26 winter snowfall events during two years of statistics showed that the runoff from normal precipitation in winter for geomembrane and plastic covering with sand protection is equal to 89 and 80% of precipitation, respectively. Therefore, according to the normal rainfall of the winter season (65.4 mm), the volume of runoff collected for the geomembrane cover and the plastic cover with sand protection will be 58.2 and 52.3 lit m-2, respectively in the winter season, if from the short-term statistics. The statistical period should be used, according to the annual rainfall (373.5 mm) and the winter season (158.5 mm), the volume of runoff collected in the winter season for the catchment surfaces covered with geomembrane and plastic cover with sand protection reaches to 141 and 127 lit m-2, respectively.