Abstract
This artical analyzes the influence of physical-geographical factors on spatial distribution of snow water equivalent, and its evolution. In this work, emphasis is placed on describing the influence of vegetation, aspect and elevation.
Measurement was carried out in experimental catchments Zlatý Brook and Bystřice River in western part of the Ore Mountains in winters 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012. To evaluate the influence of these factors on value of snow water equivalent there was used one of the methods of multivariate statistical analysis - cluster analysis and the regression equation and the coefficient of determination.
The research shows that the greatest influence on the distribution and evolution of snow water equivalent in the experimental basins has vegetation and some dependency was proved also between the points of southern exposure. The measurement results demonstrate the suitability of cluster analysis for analyzing the data of point values of snow water equivalent.
On the other hand the results showed the main limits of this method, especially the need for a large number of points with different characteristics. The results of measurements and statistical analysis are compared with results published in technical literature.