Collaborative Research: What Role Do Glaciers Play in Terrestrial Sub-Arctic Hydrology?

该项目将根据预期随着气候变暖冰川损耗和冻土退化的增加，对冰川-冻土-水文系统进行全面评估。 目前对冰川和永久冻土对陆地水文的综合影响的了解有限，这阻碍了对冰冻圈变化对北极水资源影响的量化。永久冻土景观中的冰川为半干旱低地的含水层提供了水源和补给，尽管降水率相对较低，但这些低地含有广泛的湿地。 本研究的具体目标是：1）通过水文和地球化学现场测量，评估不连续多年冻土下的流域内冰川流失的水文途径，2）量化冰川和多年冻土对近期历史的影响，（1960年至今）结合冰川物质平衡，水文，和地球化学领域的测量与现有的热量和质量转移模型，耦合冰川质量平衡下游水文，和3）项目未来的水文制度，使用定制派生的缩小规模的气候预测（5公里）的塔纳纳河流域，阿拉斯加。 该项目的主要成果将包括对受冰川和永久冻土影响的流域水文过程的控制措施进行量化。

This project will develop a comprehensive assessment of the glacier-permafrost-hydrology system in light of anticipated increases in glacier wastage and permafrost degradation with climate warming. Current limited understanding of the integrated effects of glaciers and permafrost on terrestrial hydrology inhibits quantification of the impact of cryospheric changes on arctic water resources. Glaciers in permafrost landscapes feed and recharge aquifers in otherwise semi-arid lowlands, which despite relatively low precipitation rates, contain extensive wetlands. The specific objectives of this study are to 1) assess the hydrologic pathways of glacier wastage within a watershed underlain by discontinuous permafrost through hydrologic and geochemical field measurements, 2) quantify the effect of glaciers and permafrost on recent historical (1960-present) hydrologic fluxes and storage by combining glacier mass balance, hydrologic, and geochemical field measurements with an existing heat- and mass transfer model that couples glacier mass balance to downstream hydrology, and 3) project the future hydrologic regime using custom-derived downscaled climate projections (5 km) for the Tanana River basin, Alaska. The major products of the project will include a quantification of the controls that govern the hydrologic processes in glacier- and permafrost affected watersheds.