Assessing the Contribution of Glacier Melt to Discharge in the Tropics: The Case of Study of the Antisana Glacier 12 in Ecuador

Abstract

Tropical glaciers are excellent indicators of climate variability due to their fast response to temperature and precipitation variations. At same time, they supply freshwater to downstream populations. In this study, a hydro-glaciological model was adapted to analyze the influence of meteorological forcing on melting and discharge variations at Glacier 12 of Antisana volcano (4,735–5,720 m above sea level (a.s.l.), 1.68 km2, 0°29′S; 78°9′W). Energy fluxes and melting were calculated using a distributed surface energy balance model using 20 altitude bands from glacier snout to the summit at 30-min resolution for 684 days between 2011 and 2013. The discharge was computed using linear reservoirs for snow, firn, ice, and moraine zones. Meteorological variables were recorded at 4,750 m.a.s.l. in the ablation area and distributed through the altitudinal range using geometrical corrections, and measured lapse rate. The annual specific mass balance (−0.61 m of water equivalent -m w.e. y−1-) and the ablation gradient (22.76 kg m−2 m−1) agree with the values estimated from direct measurements. Sequential validations allowed the simulated discharge to reproduce hourly and daily discharge variability at the outlet of the catchment. The latter confirmed discharge simulated (0.187 m3 s−1) overestimates the streamflow measured. Hence it did not reflect the net meltwater production due to possible losses through the complex geology of the site. The lack of seasonality in cloud cover and incident short-wave radiation force the reflected short-wave radiation via albedo to drive melting energy from January to June and October to December. Whereas the wind speed was the most influencing variable during the July-September season. Results provide new insights on the behaviour of glaciers in the inner tropics since cloudiness and precipitation occur throughout the year yielding a constant short-wave attenuation and continuous variation of snow layer thickness.