Inicio  /  Water  /  Vol: 10 Núm: 2 Par: 0 (2018)  /  Artículo
ARTÍCULO
TITULO

Hydrologic Regime Changes in a High-Latitude Glacierized Watershed under Future Climate Conditions

Melissa M. Valentin    
Terri S. Hogue and Lauren E. Hay    

Resumen

A calibrated conceptual glacio-hydrological monthly water balance model (MWBMglacier) was used to evaluate future changes in water partitioning in a high-latitude glacierized watershed in Southcentral Alaska under future climate conditions. The MWBMglacier was previously calibrated and evaluated against streamflow measurements, literature values of glacier mass balance change, and satellite-based observations of snow covered area, evapotranspiration, and total water storage. Output from five global climate models representing two future climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) was used with the previously calibrated parameters to drive the MWBMglacier at 2 km spatial resolution. Relative to the historical period 1949?2009, precipitation will increase and air temperature in the mountains will be above freezing for an additional two months per year by mid-century which significantly impacts snow/rain partitioning and the generation of meltwater from snow and glaciers. Analysis of the period 1949?2099 reveals that numerous hydrologic regime shifts already occurred or are projected to occur in the study area including glacier accumulation area, snow covered area, and forest vulnerability. By the end of the century, Copper River discharge is projected to increase by 48%, driven by 21% more precipitation and 53% more glacial melt water (RCP 8.5) relative to the historical period (1949?2009).

 Artículos similares

       
 
Narayanan Kannan    
Overall health of a stream is one of the powerful indicators for planning mitigation strategies. Currently, available methods to estimate stream health do not look at all the different components of stream health. Based on the statistical parameters obta... ver más
Revista: Hydrology

 
Christina Papadaki and Elias Dimitriou    
River flow alterations, caused by climate variability/change and intense anthropogenic uses (e.g., flow regulation by dams) are considered among the main global challenges of which hydrologists should be dealing with. For the purpose of this study, envir... ver más
Revista: Hydrology

 
Yuanyuan Sun, Cailing Liu, Yanwei Zhao, Xianqiang Mao, Jun Zhang and Hongrui Liu    
Reducing the degree of flow regime alteration is a basic principle for biodiversity conservation in rivers. The range of variability approach (RVA) is the most widely used method to assess flow regime alteration. Generally, researchers tend to put all of... ver más
Revista: Water

 
Tyler J. Carleton and Steven R. Fassnacht    
Transbasin diversions and dams allow for water uses when and where there is high demand and low supply, but can come with an expense to the environment. This paper presents a linkage of hydrologic and hydraulic modeling and datasets to assess the hydrolo... ver más
Revista: Hydrology

 
Mingqian Li, Xiujuan Liang, Changlai Xiao, Xuezhu Zhang, Guiyang Li, Hongying Li and Wenhan Jang    
Although they fulfill various needs of human beings, reservoirs also cause hydrological regime variation in the downstream regions, thus affecting ecological diversity. Therefore, studying the reservoir-induced hydrological alterations and ecological eff... ver más
Revista: Water