ABSTRACT: Hydrological modelling of a small alpine watershed in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

Alpine environments form the headwaters of many large river systems that supply a significant proportion of the world's population with water. Human reliance on the seasonal melt of snow packs and glaciers, coupled with the threat of climate warming, calls for the ability to accurately predict the hydrology of these high elevation regions. However, these efforts are often complicated by extreme heterogeneity with regards to land cover, slope, aspect, and elevation. In this study, a land-surface hydrological model (MESH) is used to simulate the Opabin watershed, a 5 km2 area within the Lake O'Hara Research Basin in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Ranging in elevation from 2,000 to 3,400 metres above sea level, the watershed consists of exposed bedrock, a large moraine, talus slopes, alpine tundra, and subalpine forest - as well as several small lakes and a glacier. A landscape-scale approach using a single grid cell and land class is initially employed; however, this basic model generates simulated variables that do not conform well to observed values. Performing simulations with an increased number of land class divisions helps to address land-surface heterogeneity while finer grid resolution allows for spatial variations in topography. Although these alterations lead to a more realistic model, both come at the expense of computational efficiency and therefore may not be feasible for larger areas. This presentation explores these methods and attempts to understand how the issues of heterogeneity and scale can be resolved in the mountainous terrain of the Canadian Rockies.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology