scholarly journals Quantifying the contribution of glacier runoff to streamflow in the upper Columbia River Basin, Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 849-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Jost ◽  
R. D. Moore ◽  
B. Menounos ◽  
R. Wheate
Keyword(s):  
Model Calibration ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Columbia River Basin ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Area ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Glacier Melt ◽  
Glacier Ice

Abstract. Glacier melt provides important contributions to streamflow in many mountainous regions. Hydrologic model calibration in glacier-fed catchments is difficult because errors in modelling snow accumulation can be offset by compensating errors in glacier melt. This problem is particularly severe in catchments with modest glacier cover, where goodness-of-fit statistics such as the Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency may not be highly sensitive to the streamflow variance associated with glacier melt. While glacier mass balance measurements can be used to aid model calibration, they are absent for most catchments. We introduce the use of glacier volume change determined from repeated glacier mapping in a guided GLUE (generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation) procedure to calibrate a hydrologic model. This approach is applied to the Mica basin in the Canadian portion of the Columbia River Basin using the HBV-EC hydrologic model. Use of glacier volume change in the calibration procedure effectively reduced parameter uncertainty and helped to ensure that the model was accurately predicting glacier mass balance as well as streamflow. The seasonal and interannual variations in glacier melt contributions were assessed by running the calibrated model with historic glacier cover and also after converting all glacierized areas to alpine land cover in the model setup. Sensitivity of modelled streamflow to historic changes in glacier cover and to projected glacier changes for a climate warming scenario was assessed by comparing simulations using static glacier cover to simulations that accommodated dynamic changes in glacier area. Although glaciers in the Mica basin only cover 5% of the watershed, glacier ice melt contributes up to 25% and 35% of streamflow in August and September, respectively. The mean annual contribution of ice melt to total streamflow varied between 3 and 9% and averaged 6%. Glacier ice melt is particularly important during warm, dry summers following winters with low snow accumulation and early snowpack depletion. Although the sensitivity of streamflow to historic glacier area changes is small and within parameter uncertainties, our results suggest that glacier area changes have to be accounted for in future projections of late summer streamflow. Our approach provides an effective and widely applicable method to calibrate hydrologic models in glacier fed catchments, as well as to quantify the magnitude and timing of glacier melt contributions to streamflow.

scholarly journals Quantifying the contribution of glacier runoff to streamflow in the upper Columbia River basin, Canada

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 4979-5008 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Jost ◽  
R. D. Moore ◽  
B. Menounos ◽  
R. Wheate
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Volume Change ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Columbia River Basin ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Melt

Abstract. Glacier melt provides important contributions to streamflow in many mountainous regions. Hydrologic model calibration in glacier-fed catchments is difficult because errors in modelling snow accumulation can be offset by compensating errors in glacier melt. This problem is particularly severe in catchments with modest glacier cover, where goodness-of-fit statistics such as the Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency may not be highly sensitive to the streamflow variance associated with glacier melt. While glacier mass balance measurements can be used to aid model calibration, they are absent for most catchments. We introduce the use of glacier volume change determined from repeated glacier mapping in a guided GLUE (generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation) procedure to calibrate a hydrologic model. We also explicitly account for changes in glacier area through the calibration and test periods. The approach is applied to the Mica basin in the Canadian portion of the Columbia River basin using the HBV-EC hydrologic model. Use of glacier volume change in the calibration procedure effectively reduced parameter uncertainty and helped to ensure that the model was accurately predicting glacier mass balance as well as streamflow. The seasonal and interannual variations in glacier melt contributions were assessed by running the calibrated model with historic glacier cover and also after converting all glacierized areas to alpine land cover in the model setup. Although glaciers in the Mica basin only cover 5 % of the watershed, glacier ice melt contributes up to 25 % and 35 % of streamflow in August and September, respectively, and is particularly important during periods of warm, dry weather following winters with low accumulation and early snowpack depletion. The approach introduced in this study provides an effective and widely applicable approach for calibrating hydrologic models in glacier fed catchments, as well as for quantifying the magnitude and timing of glacier melt contributions to streamflow.

scholarly journals Integrating point glacier mass balance observations into hydrologic model identification

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1227-1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Schaefli ◽  
M. Huss
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Model Identification ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Lumped Model ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

Abstract. The hydrology of high mountainous catchments is often predicted with conceptual precipitation-discharge models that simulate the snow accumulation and ablation behavior of a very complex environment using as only input temperature and precipitation. It is hereby often assumed that some glacier-wide annual balance estimates, in addition to observed discharge, are sufficient to reliably calibrate such a model. Based on observed data from Rhonegletscher (Switzerland), we show in this paper that information on the seasonal mass balance is a pre-requisite for model calibration. And we present a simple, but promising methodology to include point mass balance observations into a systematic calibration process. The application of this methodology to the Rhonegletscher catchment illustrates that even small samples of point observations do contain extractable information for model calibration. The reproduction of these observed seasonal mass balance data requires, however, a model structure modification, in particular seasonal lapse rates and a separate snow accumulation and rainfall correction factor. This paper shows that a simple conceptual model can be a valuable tool to project the behavior of a glacier catchment but only if there is enough seasonal information to constrain the parameters that directly affect the water mass balance. The presented multi-signal model identification framework and the simple method to calibrate a semi-lumped model on point observations has potential for application in other modeling contexts.

scholarly journals Modelling 60 years of glacier mass balance and runoff for Chhota Shigri Glacier, Western Himalaya, Northern India

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (240) ◽  
pp. 618-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARKUS ENGELHARDT ◽  
AL. RAMANATHAN ◽  
TRUDE EIDHAMMER ◽  
PANKAJ KUMAR ◽  
OSKAR LANDGREN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Global Radiation ◽  
Western Himalaya ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Mass Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Melt ◽  
Chhota Shigri Glacier

ABSTRACTGlacier mass balance and runoff are simulated from 1955 to 2014 for the catchment (46% glacier cover) containing Chhota Shigri Glacier (Western Himalaya) using gridded data from three regional climate models: (1) the Rossby Centre regional atmospheric climate model v.4 (RCA4); (2) the REgional atmosphere MOdel (REMO); and (3) the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The input data are downscaled to the simulation grid (300 m) and calibrated with point measurements of temperature and precipitation. Additional input is daily potential global radiation calculated using a DEM at a resolution of 30 m. The mass-balance model calculates daily snow accumulation, melt and runoff. The model parameters are calibrated with available mass-balance measurements and results are validated with geodetic measurements, other mass-balance model results and run-off measurements. Simulated annual mass balances slightly decreased from −0.3 m w.e. a−1 (1955–99) to −0.6 m w.e. a−1 for 2000–14. For the same periods, mean runoff increased from 2.0 m3 s−1 (1955–99) to 2.4 m3 s−1 (2000–14) with glacier melt contributing about one-third to the runoff. Monthly runoff increases are greatest in July, due to both increased snow and glacier melt, whereas slightly decreased snowmelt in August and September was more than compensated by increased glacier melt.

scholarly journals Climate change and stream temperature projections in the Columbia River Basin: biological implications of spatial variation in hydrologic drivers

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 5793-5829 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Ficklin ◽  
B. L. Barnhart ◽  
J. H. Knouft ◽  
I. T. Stewart ◽  
E. P. Maurer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Thermal Sensitivity ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Physical Factor ◽  
Stream Temperature ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Columbia River Basin ◽  
Ecological Province

Abstract. Water temperature is a primary physical factor regulating the persistence and distribution of aquatic taxa. Considering projected increases in temperature and changes in precipitation in the coming century, accurate assessment of suitable thermal habitat in freshwater systems is critical for predicting aquatic species responses to changes in climate and for guiding adaptation strategies. We use a hydrologic model coupled with a stream temperature model and downscaled General Circulation Model outputs to explore the spatially and temporally varying changes in stream temperature at the subbasin and ecological province scale for the Columbia River Basin. On average, stream temperatures are projected to increase 3.5 °C for the spring, 5.2 °C for the summer, 2.7 °C for the fall, and 1.6 °C for the winter. While results indicate changes in stream temperature are correlated with changes in air temperature, our results also capture the important, and often ignored, influence of hydrological processes on changes in stream temperature. Decreases in future snowcover will result in increased thermal sensitivity within regions that were previously buffered by the cooling effect of flow originating as snowmelt. Other hydrological components, such as precipitation, surface runoff, lateral soil flow, and groundwater, are negatively correlated to increases in stream temperature depending on the season and ecological province. At the ecological province scale, the largest increase in annual stream temperature was within the Mountain Snake ecological province, which is characterized by non-migratory coldwater fish species. Stream temperature changes varied seasonally with the largest projected stream temperature increases occurring during the spring and summer for all ecological provinces. Our results indicate that stream temperatures are driven by local processes and ultimately require a physically-explicit modeling approach to accurately characterize the habitat regulating the distribution and diversity of aquatic taxa.

The role of meteorological forcing and snow model complexity in winter glacier mass balance estimation, Columbia River basin, Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (25) ◽  
pp. 5085-5103
Author(s):  
Marzieh Mortezapour ◽  
Brian Menounos ◽  
Peter L. Jackson ◽  
Andre R. Erler ◽  
Ben M. Pelto
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Model Complexity ◽  
Columbia River Basin ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Meteorological Forcing ◽  
Snow Model

scholarly journals Estimation of glacial melt contributions to the Bow River, Alberta, Canada, using a radiation-temperature melt model

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (66) ◽  
pp. 138-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor A. Bash ◽  
Shawn J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Radiation Temperature ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
Glacier Ice

AbstractAlberta’s Bow River has its headwaters in the glaciated eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies and is a major source of water in southern Alberta. Glacial retreat, declining snowpacks and increased water demand are all expected in the coming century, yet there are relatively few studies focusing on quantifying glacial meltwater in the Bow River. We develop a new radiation-temperature melt model for modelling distributed glacier mass balance and runoff in the Bow River basin. The model reflects physical processes through the incorporation of near-surface air temperature and absorbed radiation, while avoiding problems of collinearity through the use of a radiation-decorrelated temperature index. The model is calibrated at Haig Glacier in the southern portion of the basin and validated at Haig and Peyto Glaciers. Application of the model to the entire Bow River basin for 2000-09 shows glacier ice melt is equivalent to 3% of annual discharge in Calgary on average. Modelled ice melt in August is equal to 8-20% of the August Bow River discharge in Calgary. This emphasizes the importance of glacier runoff to late-summer streamflow in the region, particularly in warm, dry years.

scholarly journals The Influence of Air Temperature Inversions on Snowmelt and Glacier Mass Balance Simulations, Ammassalik Island, Southeast Greenland

2010 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian H. Mernild ◽  
Glen E. Liston
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Inversion Layer ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Simulation Domain ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Temperature Inversions

Abstract In many applications, a realistic description of air temperature inversions is essential for accurate snow and glacier ice melt, and glacier mass-balance simulations. A physically based snow evolution modeling system (SnowModel) was used to simulate 8 yr (1998/99–2005/06) of snow accumulation and snow and glacier ice ablation from numerous small coastal marginal glaciers on the SW part of Ammassalik Island in SE Greenland. These glaciers are regularly influenced by inversions and sea breezes associated with the adjacent relatively low temperature and frequently ice-choked fjords and ocean. To account for the influence of these inversions on the spatiotemporal variation of air temperature and snow and glacier melt rates, temperature inversion routines were added to MircoMet, the meteorological distribution submodel used in SnowModel. The inversions were observed and modeled to occur during 84% of the simulation period. Modeled inversions were defined not to occur during days with strong winds and high precipitation rates because of the potential of inversion breakup. Field observations showed inversions to extend from sea level to approximately 300 m MSL, and this inversion level was prescribed in the model simulations. Simulations with and without the inversion routines were compared. The inversion model produced air temperature distributions with warmer lower-elevation areas and cooler higher-elevation areas than without inversion routines because of the use of cold sea-breeze-based temperature data from underneath the inversion. This yielded an up to 2 weeks earlier snowmelt in the lower areas and up to 1–3 weeks later snowmelt in the higher-elevation areas of the simulation domain. Averaged mean annual modeled surface mass balance for all glaciers (mainly located above the inversion layer) was −720 ± 620 mm w.eq. yr−1 (w.eq. is water equivalent) for inversion simulations, and −880 ± 620 mm w.eq. yr−1 without the inversion routines, a difference of 160 mm w.eq. yr−1. The annual glacier loss for the two simulations was 50.7 × 106 and 64.4 × 106 m3 yr−1 for all glaciers—a difference of ∼21%. The average equilibrium line altitude (ELA) for all glaciers in the simulation domain was located at 875 and 900 m MSL for simulations with or without inversion routines, respectively.

scholarly journals Snow Distribution and Melt Modeling for Mittivakkat Glacier, Ammassalik Island, Southeast Greenland

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 808-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian H. Mernild ◽  
Glen E. Liston ◽  
Bent Hasholt ◽  
Niels T. Knudsen
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Solid Precipitation ◽  
Glacier Terminus ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Surface Melt

Abstract A physically based snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel) that includes four submodels—the Micrometeorological Model (MicroMet), EnBal, SnowPack, and SnowTran-3D—was used to simulate five full-year evolutions of snow accumulation, distribution, sublimation, and surface melt on the Mittivakkat Glacier, in southeast Greenland. Model modifications were implemented and used 1) to adjust underestimated observed meteorological station solid precipitation until the model matched the observed Mittivakkat Glacier winter mass balance, and 2) to simulate glacier-ice melt after the winter snow accumulation had ablated. Meteorological observations from two meteorological stations were used as model inputs, and glaciological mass balance observations were used for model calibration and testing of solid precipitation observations. The modeled end-of-winter snow-water equivalent (w.eq.) accumulation increased with elevation from 200 to 700 m above sea level (ASL) in response to both elevation and topographic influences, and the simulated end-of-summer location of the glacier equilibrium line altitude was confirmed by glaciological observations and digital images. The modeled test-period-averaged annual mass balance was 150 mm w.eq. yr−1, or ∼15%, less than the observed. Approximately 12% of the precipitation was returned to the atmosphere by sublimation. Glacier-averaged mean annual modeled surface melt ranged from 1272 to 2221 mm w.eq. yr−1, of which snowmelt contributed from 610 to 1040 mm w.eq. yr−1. The surface-melt period started between mid-May and the beginning of June, and lasted until mid-September; there were as many as 120 melt days at the glacier terminus. The model simulated a Mittivakkat Glacier recession averaging −616 mm w.eq. yr−1, almost equal to the observed −600 mm w.eq. yr−1.

scholarly journals Climate change and stream temperature projections in the Columbia River basin: habitat implications of spatial variation in hydrologic drivers

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 4897-4912 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Ficklin ◽  
B. L. Barnhart ◽  
J. H. Knouft ◽  
I. T. Stewart ◽  
E. P. Maurer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Thermal Sensitivity ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Stream Temperature ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Columbia River Basin ◽  
Ecological Province

Abstract. Water temperature is a primary physical factor regulating the persistence and distribution of aquatic taxa. Considering projected increases in air temperature and changes in precipitation in the coming century, accurate assessment of suitable thermal habitats in freshwater systems is critical for predicting aquatic species' responses to changes in climate and for guiding adaptation strategies. We use a hydrologic model coupled with a stream temperature model and downscaled general circulation model outputs to explore the spatially and temporally varying changes in stream temperature for the late 21st century at the subbasin and ecological province scale for the Columbia River basin (CRB). On average, stream temperatures are projected to increase 3.5 °C for the spring, 5.2 °C for the summer, 2.7 °C for the fall, and 1.6 °C for the winter. While results indicate changes in stream temperature are correlated with changes in air temperature, our results also capture the important, and often ignored, influence of hydrological processes on changes in stream temperature. Decreases in future snowcover will result in increased thermal sensitivity within regions that were previously buffered by the cooling effect of flow originating as snowmelt. Other hydrological components, such as precipitation, surface runoff, lateral soil water flow, and groundwater inflow, are negatively correlated to increases in stream temperature depending on the ecological province and season. At the ecological province scale, the largest increase in annual stream temperature was within the Mountain Snake ecological province, which is characterized by migratory coldwater fish species. Stream temperature changes varied seasonally with the largest projected stream temperature increases occurring during the spring and summer for all ecological provinces. Our results indicate that stream temperatures are driven by local processes and ultimately require a physically explicit modeling approach to accurately characterize the habitat regulating the distribution and diversity of aquatic taxa.

scholarly journals Altitudinal runoff assessment under variable lapse rates of temperature in the Hindu Kush, Karakorum and Himalaya ranges of Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Arshad Ashraf
Keyword(s):  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Glacier Area ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Elevation Range ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Glacier Melt ◽  
Hindu Kush ◽  
Lapse Rates ◽  
Effective Water

Snow and glaciers form a major source of fresh water for sustenance of millions of people in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya (HKH) region. The meltwater supplies are highly vulnerable to changing climate which may affect irrigated agriculture, livelihoods and natural ecosystems in the region. In the present study, a correlation between ice-melt runoff, glacier area and mean temperature was developed and applied to assess glacier-melt runoff using lapse rates of temperature (LRT) in 10 river basins of the HKH ranges of Pakistan. The LRT of ablation period was determined about –0.39°C/100 m in the Hindu Kush, –0.67°C/100 m in the Karakoram and –0.59°C/100 m in the Himalayas. Maximum ice-melt runoff was estimated from 4500–5000 m in seven basins, whereas it was maximum from 5000–5500 m elevation range in two basins. In Jhelum basin, the runoff was found maximum from 4000–4500 m elevation range. Overall, about 28.3% of the glacier-melt appears to generate from 5000–5500 m and 27.8% from 4500–5000 m elevation range in all three HKH ranges. However, thorough glacio-hydrological studies are essential in context of possible changes in climate and land use for effective water resource management in this region in future.  

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