Hydrological Changes in Alpine Glacierized Catchments

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As climate warming drives rapid cryosphere decay in mountain environments, it is leading to major hydrological changes that affect biodiversity, water resources, and ecosystem services. These adverse impacts are observed as far as hundreds of kilometers downstream of the water sources as mountainous cryospheric features (e.g. glaciers) represent major sources of water in rivers during the hot and dry months of the year. Despite the urgent necessity for adaptation strategies, there is still a clear need for reliable projections of these hydrological changes. The lack of understanding of hydrological processes in glacierized catchments is the most cited cause for the limited accuracy in projections. In this context, the long-term objective of my proposed research program is to improve the understanding of hydrological processes in alpine glacierized catchments in order to improve predictions of future changes in water resources in a reliable way. Five sub-objectives are proposed, three focus on the scale of a study watershed: (i) quantifying the contributions and processes that control watershed outflows from features such as rock glaciers, debris-covered ice, and icings; (ii) characterizing the interconnections between these features, groundwater and surface runoff; and (iii) characterizing their susceptibility to climate change. And two sub-objectives focus on the regional scale: (iv) measuring and intercomparing the extent and evolution of those features across multiple watersheds; and (v) developing a regional overview of cryosphere-hydrologic interactions. My research program will focus on the St-Elias Mountains in southwest Yukon, and the study site will be the Grizzly Creek, a 32 km2 glacierized catchment situated in the Kluane National Park and Reserve. The study site has many interrelated cryospheric features which make it well suited for the proposed program's sub-objectives. Research will follow a multimethod approach utilizing a mix of existing techniques (e.g. geophysics, environmental tracers, remote sensing) and of new cutting-edge methods that will be developed through the program (e.g. thermal imagery, icing monitoring). The proposed research program integrates a unique combination of methods to be applied in a remote but hydrologically important region of Canada. Some of the proposed methods are very innovative and, once developed and tested, will be applicable for other fields of cold region hydrology. The program will provide Northern communities with improved understanding of hydrological processes in alpine glacierized catchments to better anticipate the coming hydrological changes due to climate warming. It will also serve the scientific community providing a new reference research site, and in developing a new generation of hydrological models. Finally, the programs will provide northern research expertise to at least five HQP, who will be prepared to support Canada in facing the adverse impacts of climate change.