| Title | Glacier contribution to the North and South Saskatchewan rivers |
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| Author | Comeau, L E L; Pietroniro, A; Demuth, M N |
| Source | Hydrological Processes vol. 23, 2009 p. 2640-2653, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7409  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2009 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20090115 |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Alberta |
| NTS | 82I; 82J; 82O; 83B; 83C |
| Lat/Long WENS | -118.5000 -113.0000 53.0000 50.0000 |
| Subjects | hydrogeology; Nature and Environment; hydrologic environment; hydrologic budget; hydrologic properties; basin analysis; ice; glaciers; North Saskatchewan River Basin; South Saskatchewan River
Basin |
| Illustrations | location maps; tables; graphs; plots |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience |
| Released | 2009 08 30 |
| Abstract | The hydrological model WATFLOOD and a separate volume - area scaling relationship are applied to estimate glacier wastage and seasonal Melt contribution to the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers
originating in the Canadian Rocky Mountains (1975-1998). Wastage is the ice melt volume that exceeds the volume of snow accumulation into the glacier system in a hydrological year, causing an annual net loss of glacier volume. Melt is the ice melt
volume that is equal to, or less than, the volume of snow that accumulates into the glacier system in a hydrological year. By our definition then, glacier Melt is a storage term and does not contribute to increased total annual streamflow. Water is
stored as snow on accumulation into the glacier system, and the water equivalent runoff is delayed until ice melts in the late summer months of the otherwise low streamflow. Wastage varied between basins with similar glacierized areas reflecting the
individual response of glaciers to climate, contributing over 10% to July-to-September streamflow in some headwater basins, but under 3% annually to the regulated flow at Edmonton and Calgary. Melt was positively correlated with basin glacierized
area and contributed over 27% to July-to-September flow from basins with greater than 1% glacierized area, and over double the wastage volume at Edmonton and Calgary. Future glacier decline is therefore expected to result mainly in an advancement of
peak flow towards a nonglacierized snowmelt regime hydrograph, resulting in significantly reduced late summer flows further reduced by decreasing wastage contributions. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 247591 |
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