Baba M. W. auteur aut IRD Gascoin S. auteur aut IRD Jarlan Lionel auteur aut IRD Simonneaux Vincent auteur aut IRD Hanich L. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access The Ourika River is an important tributary of the Tensift River in the water-stressed region of Marrakesh (Morocco). The Ourika river flow is dominated by the snow melt contribution from the High Atlas mountains. Despite its importance in terms of water resources, the snow water equivalent (SWE) is poorly monitored in the Ourika catchment. Here, we used MERRA-2 data to run a distributed energy-balance snowpack model (SnowModel) over 2000-2018. MERRA-2 data were downscaled to 250-m spatial resolution using a digital elevation model. The model outputs were compared to in situ measurements of snow depth, precipitation, river flow and remote sensing observations of the snow cover area from MODIS. The results indicate that the model provides an overall acceptable representation of the snow cover dynamics given the coarse resolution of the MERRA-2 forcing. Then, we used the model output to analyze the spatio-temporal variations of the SWE in the Ourika catchment for the first time. We suggest that MERRA-2 data, which are routinely available with a delay of a few weeks, can provide valuable information to monitor the snow resource in high mountain areas without in situ measurements. specialized snow water equivalent semi-arid climate MODIS MERRA-2 MAROC ZONE SEMIARIDE 062 126 10 9 1120 [18 ] 2018 2073-4441 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010074367 10.3390/w10091120 2073-4441 [F B010074367] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010074367 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers18-11/010074367.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2018-12-06 2023-07-11 fdi:010074367 fre