HR: 0800h
AN: GC41A-0103    [Abstracts]
TI: The Hydrological Response of Snowmelt Dominated Catchments to Climate Change
AU: * Arrigoni, A S
EM: alicia.arrigoni@umontana
AF: University of Montana, Department of Geosciences University of Montana 32 Campus Dr #1296, Missoula, MT 59812, United States
AU: Moore, J N
EM: johnnie.moore@umontana.edu
AF: University of Montana, Department of Geosciences University of Montana 32 Campus Dr #1296, Missoula, MT 59812, United States
AB: Hydrological systems dominated by snowmelt discharge contribute greater than half the freshwater resource available to the western United States. Globally, the contribution of mountain discharge to total runoff is twice the expected for their geographical coverage. Therefore, snowmelt dominated mountain catchments have proportionally a more prominent role than other systems to our freshwater resource. A changing climate, or even a more variable climate, could have a significant impact on these systems, and consequently on our freshwater resource. Ergo, a better understanding of how changes and variations in climate will influence mountain catchments is a necessity for improving future water management under predicted/proposed climate change. The research presented here is a first order analysis to improve our understanding of these systems by monitoring and analyzing high mountain catchments along the entirety of the Mission Mountain Front, Montana USA. The Mission Mountain Range is an ideal location for conducting this research as it runs directly north to south with elevations progressively increasing from 7600 feet in the northern section, to over 9700 feet at the southern end. The lower elevation catchments will be used as surrogates for variable climate change, while the high elevation catchments will be used as surrogates for a more stable, cooler, climate regime. We use a combination of USGS and Tribal stream gauges, as well as stage gauge loggers in the headwaters of the catchments, SNOTEL datasets, and weather station datasets. This information is used to determine if, how, and why the snowmelt hydrographs vary between catchments, within the catchments between the upper and lower segments, and the dominant driver or drivers of the hydrograph form in relation to changing climatic variables such as temperature and precipitation. This research will improve current comprehension of how mountain catchments respond to climatic variables, and additionally will expand upon the current understanding of general catchment hydrology.
DE: 0740 Snowmelt
DE: 0744 Rivers (0483, 1856)
DE: 1879 Watershed
SC: Global Environmental Change [GC]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting