Open AccessHydrologic modeling of an arctic tundra watershed: Toward Pan‐Arctic predictions
Author(s) -
Stieglitz Marc,
Hobbie John,
Giblin Anne,
Kling George
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/1999jd900845
Subject(s) - tundra , arctic , water cycle , snow , environmental science , climate model , watershed , permafrost , climatology , precipitation , hydrological modelling , climate change , physical geography , meteorology , geology , geography , oceanography , computer science , ecology , machine learning , biology
A simple land surface model is used to explore the dynamics of the hydrologic cycle operating in arctic tundra regions. The model accounts for the topographic control of surface hydrology, ground thermal processes, and snow physics. The approach described relies only on the statistics of the topography rather than the details of the topography and is therefore computationally inexpensive and compatible with the large spatial scales of today's climate models. As such, the model can easily be applied on an arctic‐wide basis to explore issues ranging from the delivery of seasonal melt water to the Arctic Ocean to impacts of climate change on the hydrologic cycle.