HR: 0800h
AN: C31A-0299    [Abstracts]
TI: Distribution and Ablation Patterns of an Arctic Snowpack in a Windy Environment
AU: * Kane, D L
EM: ffdlk@uaf.edu
AF: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Water and Environmental Research Center, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Dalton, K A
EM: ftkad@uaf.edu
AF: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Water and Environmental Research Center, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Berezovskaya, S
EM: ffslb2@uaf.edu
AF: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Water and Environmental Research Center, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AB: Because of topographic variation, most catchments exhibit a degree of unevenness in their snow distribution patterns. For treeless environments in the high Arctic, additional heterogeneity is induced because of wind events. Quantifying this variability at the watershed scale is a challenge. Data has been collected at 80 plus sites over the whole of the north draining Kuparuk River basin on the North Slope of Alaska since 1996. Measurements, 50 depth and 5 snow water equivalent (SWE), have been made at numerous representative land types in/adjacent to the basin. In addition, seven sites on a north-south transect from the headwater foothills to the coast have been monitored to define the pattern of melt. Slope, aspect, elevation, direction of prevailing winds, and vegetation (shrubs, tussocks, grasses, etc.) are all variables that impact snow distribution. The average SWE over the watershed can vary by a factor of two or more between years. Although typically the melt pattern can progress from south (higher elevations) northward towards the coast, the opposite has been observed occasionally. Snowmelt has also started in the middle of the watershed with the melt both progressing southward towards the higher elevations and northward down to sea level. In this study, the patterns of snow distribution and end of winter ablation over eight years are presented.
DE: 1823 Frozen ground
DE: 1833 Hydroclimatology
DE: 1854 Precipitation (3354)
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
DE: 1878 Water/energy interactions
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting