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Progress in glacier hydrology: a Canadian perspective
Author(s) -
Munro D. Scott
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/1099-1085(20000630)14:9<1627::aid-hyp79>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - glacier , meltwater , snow , glacier mass balance , climate change , precipitation , environmental science , physical geography , hydrology (agriculture) , cryosphere , cirque glacier , climatology , geology , geography , ice stream , meteorology , oceanography , sea ice , geotechnical engineering
Glacier variations are signals of global change. Current estimates are that ice is being lost from small glaciers of the world at the rate of approximately 130 mm year −1 and that the impact of this alone would be to change sea level upward, by 0·25 mm year −1 . The reduction in small glacier ice volume over the past century, which exceed 50% in many areas, are likely to significantly change freshwater resources and wildlife habitat on land. Progress in three areas is crucial to understanding the links between glacier variations and the changes which may occur: (i) the development of a comprehensive mass balance assessment network; (ii) the knowledge of how winter weather determines snow accumulation; and (iii) the processes of surface meltwater production and development of the internal hydrology that links melt to water yield from local streams. Almost 20% of the mass balance records that exceed a 20‐year time period come from Canada, but this does not signify the existence of a comprehensive network, particularly in view of the substantial loss of measurement sites that has occurred over the past 20 years. Snow accumulation is still understood mainly in terms of mass balance data that are gathered at the end of winter, but contributions by Canadian scientists to improving precipitation gauge accuracy, and the installation of automatic weather stations at glacier sites, offer the prospect of connecting the daily weather to the accumulation regime. The greatest progress has been made in relating summer ablation to glacier hydrology, such that Canadian scientists, in league with others, are now mapping the surface energy input over glacier surfaces and showing how meltwater generated from the energy passes through the internal hydrological system of the glacier to its snout. Although meltwater hydrology should continue to be a strong area of research, there is a need to bring knowledge about the accumulation regime up to par with that of the ablation regime and to improve the mass balance assessment network. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.